Requiring battery stewardship organizations to administer battery collection and recycling programs and providing a penalty. (FE)

In addition, beginning on January 1, 2027, or one year after the bill’s enactment, whichever occurs first, no producer may sell a covered battery or battery containing product unless the covered battery or battery in the battery containing product is marked with an identification of the producer of the battery. Further, beginning on January 1, 2029, no producer may sell a covered battery or battery containing product unless the covered battery or battery in the battery containing product is marked to identify the chemistry of the battery and to indicate that the battery should not be disposed of as household waste.

To be approved by DNR, a proposed battery stewardship plan must include specific information, such as a list of all the brands of covered batteries sold in this state by producers that are members of the battery stewardship organization; performance goals under the plan, including target collection and recycling rates and goals for public awareness, and a process for achieving these goals; an education and outreach strategy; a process for making signage and other materials available to collection sites to inform consumers about management options for covered batteries; collection site safety training procedures relating to covered batteries; provisions for collecting covered batteries at no cost; the addresses of collection sites that will accept covered batteries under the plan; provisions for recordkeeping; and a method for fully funding the plan. The bill specifies that DNR may approve plans from more than one battery stewardship organization, and that DNR may approve plans that share the costs of implementing those plans among the battery stewardship organizations that benefit under those plans.

Under the bill, DNR must provide notice of a proposed battery stewardship plan. DNR has 120 days after receiving a proposed plan to approve, conditionally approve, or deny a proposed plan. Under the bill, a producer may not amend an approved battery stewardship plan unless the proposed amendments are approved by DNR. The bill provides that DNR must approve a plan or amendment if it meets the requirements of the bill.

The bill also requires DNR to maintain a website that includes a list of the names of producers with approved battery stewardship plans, copies of those plans and any reports submitted to DNR under such a plan, and a list of the brands of batteries covered under an approved plan.

The bill provides that a battery stewardship organization implementing a plan approved by DNR is responsible for all costs associated with implementing the plan, unless the approved plan allows for cost sharing among other battery stewardship organizations with approved plans. The bill requires a battery stewardship organization to collect reasonable fees from participating producers, and to reimburse local governmental units for costs incurred as a result of a local government facility or solid waste facility serving as a collection site under the plan.

Under the bill, a battery stewardship organization implementing a plan approved by DNR must provide for the collection of all covered batteries from any person, regardless of the chemistry or brand of the battery, on a free, continuous, convenient, visible, and accessible basis; provide free collection containers to collection sites under the plan; ensure that medium format batteries are collected only at certain staffed collection sites such as household hazardous waste collection sites; provide for the collection of damaged and defective batteries at certain sites; ensure statewide collection opportunities for all covered batteries; coordinate activities with other actors to provide efficient delivery of services and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and expense; and ensure a certain number and location of collection sites and collection events for both portable batteries and medium format batteries. The bill does not require a battery stewardship organization to provide for the collection of recalled batteries, battery containing products, or covered batteries that remain contained in a battery containing product at the time of delivery to a collection site or collection event.

The bill also requires a battery stewardship organization implementing an approved plan to undertake certain education and outreach activities to promote the implementation of the plan, including developing and maintaining a website; providing consumer-focused educational materials, to each collection site used under the plan, that are accessible by customers; providing safety information to collection sites; providing educational materials to the operators of collection sites for the management of recalled batteries; and providing educational materials describing collection opportunities for covered batteries to retailers and other potential collection sites. In addition, the bill provides that a battery stewardship organization implementing an approved plan may develop and distribute periodic press releases, articles, and advertisements; develop promotional materials about the plan and about the restriction on disposing of covered batteries; and conduct a survey, during the first year of implementing the plan and every five years thereafter, of public awareness of the provisions of this bill, and to share the results of the surveys with DNR.

Under the bill, a battery stewardship organization must submit annual reports to DNR with information about the implementation of its approved plan, including an independent financial disclosure of the organization’s revenue, expenditures, and liabilities relating to its activities in this state and assessment of implementing the plan; a summary financial statement documenting the financing of the plan and an analysis of plan costs and expenditures; the weight of covered batteries collected under the plan and the weight of materials recycled from covered batteries collected under the plan; a calculation of the collection rate and the recycling efficiency rate under the plan; a list of all facilities used in processing or disposing of covered batteries under the plan and, for domestic facilities, a summary of any violations of environmental laws and regulations during the previous three years at each facility; a description of how collected batteries were managed and recycled; a description of education and outreach efforts supporting plan implementation and an evaluation of their effectiveness; an up-to-date map indicating the location of all collection sites used to implement the plan; and a summary of progress made toward the performance goals under the plan, and an explanation of why performance goals were not met, if applicable. The bill also requires a battery stewardship organization to ensure that an annual audit is conducted, by an independent third party, of the approved battery stewardship plan and the operation of that plan. Annual audits and reports must be made available to the public on the battery stewardship organization’s website.

Under the bill, any person that intentionally and substantially violates the provisions of the bill relating to battery stewardship plans is subject to a civil forfeiture of up to $7,000 per violation. The bill clarifies that a failure to meet the requirements of the bill despite a good faith effort does not constitute a violation.

In addition, under the bill, beginning on January 1, 2028, a person may not 1) knowingly cause or allow the disposal of a covered battery in a landfill or the burning of a covered battery; 2) dispose of a covered battery other than by delivery to a collection site or collection event operated under an approved battery stewardship plan; or 3) knowingly cause or allow the mixing of a covered battery with recyclable materials that are intended for processing and sorting at a material recovery facility, with municipal waste that is intended for disposal at a landfill, or with waste that is intended for burning or incineration.

Finally, the bill requires a battery stewardship organization implementing an approved plan to submit, by July 1, 2027, a report to DNR on any assessments prepared in other states, if available, of the opportunities and challenges associated with the end-of-life management of certain portable and medium format batteries that are not intended or designed to be easily removed by a customer. Under the bill, DNR must submit this report to the legislature with recommendations as to whether the provisions of this bill can be applied to batteries that are not intended or designed to be easily removed from the device in which they are contained.