(1) (A) The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 makes it unlawful to sell, on or after July 1, 2004, a covered electronic device, as defined, in this state to a consumer, as defined, unless the California Integrated Waste Management Board (board) or the Department of Toxic Substances Control (department) determines that the manufacturer of that device is in compliance with the act.
(B) The act requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect a covered electronic waste recycling fee from the consumer, as specified. The act requires a manufacturer, on or before April 1, 2004, to inform the retailer if a covered electronic device is subject to the waste recycling fee.
This bill would require the department to adopt regulations to identify electronic devices, as defined, that the department determines are presumed to be, when discarded, a hazardous waste pursuant to the hazardous waste control laws.
The bill would require a manufacturer to inform a retailer and the State Board of Equalization, in accordance with a specified schedule, whether a device is a covered electronic device that is identified in the regulations adopted by the department and would require a covered electronic device identified in the regulations, to be subject to the act in a specified manner. The bill would specify a procedure for a manufacturer to obtain a written nonhazardous determination from the department that an electronic device would not be a hazardous waste when discarded. The bill would require a manufacturer to notify certain retailers with regard to that determination. The bill would authorize the department to adopt emergency regulations to implement these requirements.
The bill would, instead of (A) above, prohibit a person from selling a new or refurbished covered electronic device in this state, on and after January 1, 2005, if the board or department determines that the manufacturer of the covered electronic device is not in compliance with the act.
(2) Existing law, the act, requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect an electronic waste recycling fee from the consumer on and after November 1, 2004, and to transmit the fee to the board in accordance with a schedule and procedures that the board is required to establish. The act requires the board, in collaboration with the department, on and after July 1, 2005, and at least once every 2 years thereafter, to review and adjust the electronic waste recycling fee, based on specified factors.
This bill, under certain circumstances, would make inapplicable certain penalties relating to the sale of a covered electronic device for which a fee has not been paid to which retailers are otherwise subject under existing law.
The bill would revise the definitions of the terms “consumer,” “covered electronic device,” “covered electronic waste,” “person,” “retailer,” and “retail sale,” and would define the terms “discarded,” “recycling,” “refurbished,” and “video display device” for purposes of the act.
The bill would require a retailer to collect the fee on and after January 1, 2005, instead of November 1, 2004, except as specified.
The bill would revise the procedures for reviewing and adjusting the covered electronic waste recycling fee.
The bill would repeal the authorization for the board to collect the fee and would require the State Board of Equalization to collect the electronic waste recycling fees. The bill would require those fees to be deposited in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account. The bill would require the covered electronic waste recycling fee to be due and payable quarterly on or before the last day of the month following each calendar quarter.
(3) The act requires each manufacturer of an electronic device who sells a covered electronic device in this state to submit an annual report to the board on the number of electronic devices sold by the manufacturer.
This bill would authorize a manufacturer to report only on those covered electronic devices that include applications of specified compounds that are exempt from Directive 2002/95/EC, as specified.
(4) Under existing law, the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account is created in the Integrated Waste Management Fund and the board and the department are authorized to expend the moneys deposited in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes.
This bill would continuously appropriate the money in the account to pay refunds and make electronic waste recovery payments and recycling payments. The bill would additionally continuously appropriate the money to make specified payments to manufacturers. The bill would authorize the money in the account to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the other specified purposes.
The bill would establish the Electronic Waste Penalty Subaccount in the account, would require all fines or penalties collected pursuant to the act to be deposited in the subaccount, and would authorize the expenditure of the funds in the subaccount only upon appropriation by the Legislature.
(5) Existing law requires the board, in collaboration with the department, to establish an electronic waste recovery payment schedule to cover the net cost of an authorized collector in operating a free and convenient system for collecting, consolidating, and transporting covered electronic wastes. Existing law also requires the board to establish an electronic waste recycling payment schedule to cover an e-waste recycler’s net cost of receiving, processing, and recycling covered electronic waste. Existing law requires the board to make those payments, as specified.
The bill would, instead, require the board to make those payments for covered electronic waste collected for recycling on and after January 1, 2005.
The bill would require the amount of the electronic waste recycling payment to be equal to $0.28 per pound of the total weight of covered electronic waste received from an authorized collector and subsequently processed for recycling, until the board adopts an electronic waste recycling payment schedule for covered electronic waste.
This bill would require the board to adopt regulations specifying cancellation methods for the recovery, processing, or recycling of covered electronic waste and would revise the conditions under which the board may make those payments, including requiring the manufacturer or authorized collector or recycler to provide a cost-free and convenient opportunity to recycle electronic waste. The bill would also require the covered electronic waste, if processed, to be processed in this state according to the cancellation procedure adopted by the board and, would require, as a condition of making those payments, that the board declare that the state is a market participant in the business of the recycling of covered electronic waste, as specified. The bill would authorize the board to make a payment to a manufacturer who takes back covered electronic waste from a consumer in this state, as specified.
(6) Existing law requires a person who intends to export electronic waste to a foreign destination to comply with specified notification requirements and to demonstrate, among other things, that the handling of the exported electronic waste within the country of destination would meet certain standards adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
This bill would instead require a person who exports covered electronic waste, or a covered electronic device intended for recycling or disposal, to a foreign country, or to another state for ultimate export to a foreign country, to comply with specified notification requirements and make specified demonstrations, including a demonstration with regard to management of the waste in accordance with the decisions and implementing guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, notwithstanding that the country of destination is not a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(7) Existing law prohibits the board and the department from implementing the act if specified circumstances occur.
This bill would provide that the provisions of the act shall become inoperative on the date that one of those circumstances occurs, except for specified purposes.
(8) The bill would also make technical changes to the act.
(9) Because the act is incorporated into the hazardous waste control laws, a violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes.
(10) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires each operator of a disposal facility in the state to pay a quarterly fee to the State Board of Equalization, as specified, for all waste disposed of at each disposal site. The fees are deposited in the Integrated Waste Management Account, which may be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes regarding the regulation of solid waste.
This bill would require the board and the State Board of Equalization to ensure that the fees that are collected at a transfer station are paid to the State Board of Equalization
(11) The bill would require the Director of Finance to transfer, as a loan, up to $5,000,000 from the General Fund, and up to $25,000,000 from any special fund authorized by law, to the board to implement the bill. The bill would require any loan to be repaid on or before November 1, 2005, and prior to the making of specified expenditures.
(12) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(13) The bill would declare that it is an urgency statute, to take effect immediately.