Changes to the electronic waste recycling program and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

The bill expands the definition of a covered school, for purposes of the program, to include all public elementary or secondary schools, including charter schools; all private elementary or secondary schools; and all tribal schools. The bill also narrows the types of consumer printers that are covered under the program.

Under current law, a manufacturer in the program must ordinarily pay a registration fee with its annual registration, based on the number of electronics it sold in the state during the previous year. The bill raises the threshold for requiring a manufacturer to pay a registration fee. Under the bill, a manufacturer's registration fee is $5,000 if it sold at least 500 electronics in this state during the previous program year, and $1,250 if it sold at least 250 but fewer than 500 electronics. There is no registration fee if the manufacturer sold fewer than 250 electronics during the previous program year.

Also under current law, a manufacturer must report certain information to DNR when it submits its annual registration under the program. This bill requires manufacturers, when reporting the total weight of electronics recycled by or on behalf of the manufacturer each year, to also report the weight of electronics collected from rural counties separately from electronics collected from urban counties.

The bill also requires DNR to create a program to provide grants to expand electronics recycling and recovery programs in underserved areas of the state.

Grants may be provided to local units of government, businesses, and nonprofit entities, including religious nonprofits, for hosting a collection site or collection event. The bill requires a grant recipient to provide matching funds equal to at least 20 percent of the cost of the project for which the grant is provided. The bill directs DNR to prioritize grants for projects that will take place in counties that do not have permanent electronics recycling collection sites.

Finally, under current law, a program year runs from July 1 to the following June 30. This bill creates an 18-month transition period (transition year) that runs from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023. After the transition year, a program year runs from January 1 to December 31.