SB 629

This bill imposes requirements on manufacturers that sell, or that have

previously sold, mercury-added lamps to households in this state. The bill defines

a mercury-added lamp as any electric lamp to which mercury is intentionally added

during the manufacturing process. The bill requires manufacturers, beginning on

January 1, 2013, to file an annual registration with the Department of Natural

Resources (DNR) and to pay an annual fee. The registration must also include an

annual report containing specific information required by DNR. Under the bill, a

manufacturer must implement a recycling plan approved by DNR for recycling

mercury-added lamps derived from households (household lamps). If a

manufacturer fails to annually register with DNR, pay an annual registration fee,

or fully implement an approved recycling plan, the manufacturer may not conduct

business of any kind in this state. All of these requirements cease to apply to a

manufacturer after the expiration of a ten-year period during which the

manufacturer does not sell any household lamps in this state.

In order for a manufacturer to comply with registration requirements

established under the bill, the manufacturer must submit a recycling plan to DNR

for approval. The bill provides that DNR may not approve a recycling plan unless

the plan contains certain information. The plan must contain, among other things,

information about the collection sites established by the manufacturer at which

household lamps may be deposited for recycling, information about the procedure

established by the manufacturer for the delivery of household lamps from collection

sites to a recycler, and information about public education provided by the

manufacturer that gives information about recycling and the safe storage and

handling of used household lamps. The bill authorizes manufacturers to establish

joint recycling programs or to participate in the creation of an entity to collect and

recycle household lamps.

Under this bill DNR must review a manufacturer's recycling plan within three

months of its submission. Within 30 days after completing its review, DNR must

notify the manufacturer of any deficiencies in the manufacturer's plan. If DNR

determines that an original or modified plan complies with the plan requirements

established in the bill, DNR must approve the plan. If the plan is deficient and the

manufacturer fails to remedy the plan, DNR must disapprove the plan. The bill

requires DNR, in approving recycling plans, to establish a goal of achieving by

January 1, 2015, an average yearly recycling rate of 70 percent of the total weight

of mercury-added lamps sold to households in this state.

The bill also requires each manufacturer to submit an annual report to DNR

that includes information about the total weight of household lamps recycled by the

manufacturer in the previous year and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the

manufacturer's plan. The bill requires a manufacturer upon submission of a plan,

and with each annual registration, to pay a recycling administration fee to DNR of