Mercury-Containing Lights Stewardship Program.
In 2010 the Legislature passed a law requiring producers of mercury-containing lights to create a stewardship program responsible for the collection, recycling, and disposal of mercury-containing lights used for illumination purposes, including compact fluorescent lights.
Mercury-containing light producers who do not participate in a stewardship plan approved by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) are prohibited from selling mercury-containing lights in the State of Washington. Ecology is responsible for reviewing and approving plans for the stewardship program submitted by a stewardship organization on behalf of producers and for ensuring the program's compliance with the submitted plan. The LightRecycle Washington program has been operating since January 1, 2015.
To finance the operations of the stewardship program, an environmental handling charge is applied to each mercury-containing light sold in the state. The handling charge:
The handling charge applied to sales of mercury-containing lights participating in the LightRecycle Washington program is currently 95 cents per bulb. The environmental handling charge added to the purchase price of mercury-containing lights is exempt from state Business and Occupation taxes. The stewardship organization must pay Ecology an administrative fee of $3,000 per producer to cover Ecology's administrative and enforcement costs associated with the stewardship program.
Stewardship programs must, at minimum, provide no cost services in all cities with a population of 10,000 or more and in all counties of the state.
Persons, facilities, and office buildings are required to recycle their end-of-life mercury-containing lights. Mercury-containing lights may not be knowingly placed in waste containers for disposal or mixed recycling containers. These requirements are not subject to penalties.
After July 1, 2025, the stewardship law and program will undergo a sunset review by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee. Without legislative action to extend the program, the law will be repealed effective July 1, 2026. In the event that the stewardship program is repealed, state law would retain the requirement to recycle mercury-containing lights. State law would also retain the prohibition on mercury-containing light disposal via incineration, waste-to-energy, or via landfills.
Other Restrictions on Mercury.
Certain types of mercury-containing lights must be labeled with an internationally recognized mercury symbol and information to purchasers that mercury is present in the item. Federally regulated medical equipment and reagents used in medical or research tests are not subject to these restrictions. Violations of these requirements are subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000, or $5,000 for repeat violations.
Pollution Control Hearings Board.
The Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) is an appeals board with jurisdiction to hear appeals of certain decisions, orders, and penalties issued by Ecology and several other state agencies. Parties aggrieved by a PCHB decision may obtain subsequent judicial review.
Restrictions on Mercury-Containing Lights.
Beginning January 1, 2029, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers may not knowingly sell at retail compact fluorescent lamps and linear fluorescent lamps that contain mercury. Exempt from these restrictions on mercury-containing lights are:
In-state distributors, wholesalers, and retailers in possession of prohibited mercury-containing lights as of January 1, 2029, may exhaust existing stock through sales to the public until July 1, 2029. Violations of restrictions on the sale of compact and linear fluorescent lamps are punishable by a civil penalty of up to $1,000, or $5,000 for repeat violations. The Department of Ecology (Ecology) may adopt rules to implement and enforce these restrictions. Penalties are appealable to the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB).
Changes to the Funding and Timelines of the Mercury-Containing Light Stewardship Program.
The 2025 sunset of the mercury-containing lights stewardship program is repealed. The requirement that producers of mercury-containing lights fund and implement a stewardship plan ceases to apply January 1, 2035, or upon a determination by Ecology that, under a cost-benefit analysis, the continued expense and environmental cost of implementing the program exceed the benefits. Ecology must complete cost-benefit analyses of the program in 2031, unless Ecology and a stewardship organization agree to an alternative early program cessation date.
Through calendar year 2028, the environmental handling charge must be applied to the sale of mercury-containing lights at retail in an amount approved by Ecology. The environmental handling charge may be used to finance current administrative and operational costs of the program, and a stewardship organization may plan to use, through calendar year 2029 of program implementation, reserve funds from environmental handling charges that were imposed prior to 2029. Additional stewardship organization costs through calendar year 2028 that are not adequately covered by the environmental handling charge must be funded by participant members of the stewardship organization. For program costs from planning and implementation of program requirements that must be implemented in calendar year 2030 and later, stewardship organizations must pay all administrative and operational costs with revenues from participating legacy producers that sold mercury-containing lights in Washington at any point between 2015 and 2028. Program funding must be based on the market share of legacy producers, using reasonable means and based on the best available information. A stewardship organization may require data from legacy producers or use other sources of information in determining legacy producer market share. The lights of legacy producers of mercury-containing lights that do not participate in the stewardship organization may not be sold in or into Washington.
Beginning in 2030 legacy producers are responsible for all costs of participating in the stewardship organization's covered light collection, transportation, processing, education, agency reimbursement, recycling, and end-of-life management.
Charges by stewardship organizations to producers participating in the mercury-containing lights stewardship program, in addition to environmental handling charges received from producers by stewardship organizations, are exempt from state Business and Occupation taxation.
Plan Submission, Collection Site, and Other Implementation Requirements for the Mercury-Containing Lights Stewardship Program.
The limit on the number of lights that a person may deliver to a collection site is amended to allow, beginning in 2025:
Ecology may relieve the stewardship organization of an obligation to operate a collection site or provide a collection opportunity when the stewardship organization demonstrates that it would result in the collection of less than 500 mercury-containing lights annually and not remove collection opportunities for people living in rural counties or overburdened communities.
Mercury-containing light stewardship organizations must undertake additional responsibilities with respect to providing public information about the stewardship program, including:
Stewardship organizations must submit plans to Ecology for approval by January 1, of the year prior to updated plan implementation. Plans must include a list of all current and proposed collection sites, including the latitude and longitude of each collection site. Plans must be updated at least every five years.
As part of stewardship plans submitted to Ecology, light stewardship organizations must newly:
Administration and Enforcement of Program Requirements.
The $3,000 per-producer limit on administrative costs paid to Ecology to oversee their implementation costs is eliminated beginning March 1, 2025.
Ecology must review new, updated, and revised plans following a specified process and within 120 days of receipt. After an initial plan submission and rejection by Ecology, if a stewardship organization's second submitted plan does not meet Ecology approval, Ecology may issue penalties or orders or amend the contents of the insufficient plan and require the stewardship organization to implement the plan as amended by Ecology.
Ecology may impose a civil penalty on persons that violate stewardship program requirements, including the failure to achieve performance goals, with penalties increased from up to $1,000 per violation per day to up to $10,000 per person per day for repeated violations. Prior to imposing penalties, Ecology must provide a written warning informing a person of a violation. Ecology may issue corrective action orders requiring compliance, revoke the stewardship organization's authority to implement the program, require a stewardship organization to report additional information, or require the stewardship organization to revise and resubmit its plan. Penalties and orders are appealable to the PCHB.
In 2033 Ecology must provide the Legislature with an update on the implementation of the mercury-containing light stewardship program.
Existing requirements for Ecology to solicit input from specified stakeholders on the impacts of the mercury-containing light stewardship program are eliminated. Ecology is no longer required to solicit information on the availability of alternatives to mercury-containing lights from specified stakeholders.
A severability clause is included.
(In support) Fluorescent bulbs containing mercury are hazardous to human health and are a unique and expensive challenge for recycling systems to address. Mercury is a toxin, and can be harmful when bulbs break and mercury is accidentally inhaled. Extending the existing stewardship program will make it easy and cost-effective for residents in Washington to continue to recycle their bulbs. The stewardship program must include full cost recovery for local governments that operate collection sites, and if the current program lapses it will cause financial hardships for local governments. There are ongoing negotiations among stakeholders regarding how long the mercury-containing light stewardship program should continue to be operated into the future. There should be a logical wind down of the stewardship program after mercury-containing lights are banned, including the need for fewer collection sites as mercury-containing light bulb use becomes less frequent. LED replacements for lights are widely available, cost-effective, and energy-saving. Replacing mercury-containing lights with LEDs can produce substantial energy cost savings.
(Opposed) Implementing stewardship programs on a state-by-state basis creates operational complexities for retailers. A national solution would be preferable.
(Other) The United States Department of Energy is likely to establish an energy efficiency standard that will result in the phaseout of most types of compact fluorescent lights. There will be costs to building owners associated with the change from some mercury-containing fluorescent tube lamps to LED tubes. The cost and longevity of obligations on producers in the current proposed substitute is untenable, but productive negotiations with proponents might lead to a path forward. The policy proposed in the bill is supported by the Department of Ecology, but there are costs to the agency that are not funded in the Governor's budget. An exemption from the sales prohibition should be made for mercury-containing lights used in older vehicles, and for which suitable replacements are not available.
(In support) Representative David Hackney, prime sponsor; Alessandra De la Torre, Northwest Energy Coalition; Brian Fadie, Appliance Standards Awareness Project; Pam Clough, Environment Washington; Heather Trim, Zero Waste Washington; Rick Gilbert, Kitsap County Solid Waste Division; Carl Schroeder, Association of Washington Cities; Maggie Yuse, Seattle Public Utilities; Preston Peck, City of Tacoma; and Joanna Grist, Hazardous Waste Management Program of Seattle King County.