BILL REQ. #:  H-4874.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/08/06.   

     AN ACT Relating to the removal of mercury-added components in motor vehicles; amending RCW 70.95M.010 and 42.56.270; adding new sections to chapter 70.95M RCW; prescribing penalties; providing an effective date; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) It is the intent of this act to reduce the quantity of mercury released into the environment by:
     (a) Removing mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles in the state of Washington; and
     (b) Creating a collection and recovery program for mercury switches that have been removed from end-of-life vehicles in the state of Washington.
     (2) A memorandum of understanding, dated January 10, 2006, and entered into jointly by the department of ecology, automotive recyclers of Washington, and the end-of-life vehicle solutions corporation, established a mercury switch assembly collection system. To the maximum extent possible and in keeping with the requirements of this chapter, elements of that memorandum of understanding must be utilized.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.95M.010 and 2003 c 260 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Automotive mercury switch" includes a convenience switch, such as a switch for a trunk or hood light, and a mercury switch in antilock brake systems.
     (2) "Capture rate" means the quantity of mercury removed, collected, or recovered, stated as a percentage of the total mercury available from end-of-life vehicles, computed annually.
     (3) "Department" means the department of ecology.
     (((3))) (4) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.
     (((4))) (5) "End-of-life vehicle" means any motor vehicle that is sold, given, or otherwise conveyed to a motor vehicle recycler or scrap recycling facility.
     (6) "Health care facility" includes a hospital, nursing home, extended care facility, long-term care facility, clinical or medical laboratory, state or private health or mental institution, clinic, physician's office, or health maintenance organization.
     (((5))) (7) "Manufacturer" includes any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, or joint venture that:
     (a) Produces a mercury-added product, other than a motor vehicle, or an importer or domestic distributor of a mercury-added product produced in a foreign country, other than a motor vehicle. In the case of a multicomponent product containing mercury other than a motor vehicle, the manufacturer is the last manufacturer to produce or assemble the product. If the multicomponent product or mercury-added product is produced in a foreign country, the manufacturer is the first importer or domestic distributor;
     (b) Is the last person in the production or assembly process of a new motor vehicle that utilizes mercury switches, or in the case of an imported vehicle, the importer or domestic distributor of the motor vehicle.
     (((6))) (8) "Mercury-added button-cell battery" means a button-cell battery to which the manufacturer intentionally introduces mercury for the operation of the battery.
     (((7))) (9) "Mercury-added novelty" means a mercury-added product intended mainly for personal or household enjoyment or adornment. Mercury-added novelties include, but are not limited to, items intended for use as practical jokes, figurines, adornments, toys, games, cards, ornaments, yard statues and figures, candles, jewelry, holiday decorations, items of apparel, and other similar products. Mercury-added novelty does not include games, toys, or products that require a button-cell or lithium battery, liquid crystal display screens, or a lamp that contains mercury.
     (((8))) (10) "Mercury-added product" means a product, commodity, or chemical, or a product with a component that contains mercury or a mercury compound intentionally added to the product, commodity, or chemical in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function, or for any other reason. Mercury-added products include, but are not limited to, mercury thermometers, mercury thermostats, and mercury switches in motor vehicles.
     (((9))) (11) "Mercury antilock braking system sensor" means the mercury-containing switch installed in a vehicle's antilock braking system.
     (12) "Mercury light switch assembly" means a convenience light switch assembly that contains a mercury switch. A mercury light switch assembly may include the housing, the mercury switch, a socket for a light bulb, and other attached components such as wires and a mounting bracket.
     (13) "Mercury manometer" means a mercury-added product that is used for measuring blood pressure.
     (((10))) (14) "Mercury switch" means a mercury-containing capsule, commonly known as a "bullet," that is part of a motor vehicle mercury light switch assembly or part of an antilock braking system assembly.
     (15) "Mercury thermometer" means a mercury-added product that is used for measuring temperature.
     (((11))) (16) "Motor vehicle" includes any passenger automobile, van, or truck with a gross weight rating of less than twelve thousand pounds.
     (17) "Motor vehicle recycler" means any person or entity required to be licensed under chapter 46.80 RCW and is engaged in the business of acquiring or dismantling, or both acquiring and dismantling, motor vehicles for the primary purpose of resale of their parts or materials.
     (18) "Person" means any individual, corporation, company, firm, partnership, association, trust, joint stock company or trust, venture, or municipal, state, or federal government or agency, or any other legal entity, however organized.
     (19) "Retailer" means a retailer of a mercury-added product.
     (20) "Scrap recycling facility" means a fixed location, where machinery and equipment are utilized for processing and manufacturing scrap metal into prepared grades and whose principal product is scrap iron, scrap steel, or nonferrous metallic scrap for sale for remelting purposes.
     (21) "Vehicle crusher" means any person who engages in the business of operating a fixed or transportable car crusher.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Manufacturers shall individually, or as part of a group, develop a system to facilitate and fund the removal, collection, and disposal or recycling of mercury switches before end-of-life vehicles are crushed or shredded, as required by this chapter.
     (1)(a) The removal, collection, and disposal system must include, at a minimum, the following elements:
     (i) An education program to inform vehicle recyclers, scrap recycling facilities, vehicle crushers, and other stakeholders about the purposes of the program to facilitate their participation;
     (ii) Information providing guidance as to which vehicles may contain mercury switch assemblies, where they are located, and recommended procedures for removing the mercury switch assemblies;
     (iii) A goal of achieving an overall capture rate of at least ninety percent of mercury light switch assemblies, consistent with the principle that they must be removed unless they are not reasonably accessible due to significant damage to the section of the vehicle where the mercury light switch assemblies are located;
     (iv) Performance measures will be used and reported by the manufacturer or group of manufacturers to demonstrate that the system is meeting the capture rate and other measures of program effectiveness. The performance measures must include, but are not limited to: The number of mercury light switch assemblies collected from end-of-life vehicles and the number of vehicles processed for recycling; the amount of mercury collected; the number of vehicles containing mercury light switch assemblies; and identification of barriers to implementation of the program, and steps to be taken to address those barriers;
     (v) A process to ensure that, upon request, the motor vehicle recycler or scrap recycling facility provide documentation to the department to show that the mercury light switch assemblies have been removed. This process must ensure that the information is treated as confidential business information, and will be released publicly only in the aggregate;
     (vi) A marking system to indicate the presence or absence of mercury light switch assemblies in vehicles to be processed for shredding or crushing;
     (vii) Training of employees on how to identify vehicles containing mercury light switch assemblies and how to remove, handle, and store them, on the human health risks associated with mercury, and on spill response;
     (viii) A plan to collect and transport mercury light switch assemblies and other mercury switches to disposal or recycling facilities.
     (b) Manufacturers shall, to the extent practicable, utilize the existing end-of-life vehicle recycling infrastructure in order to ensure that mercury light switch assemblies are removed and collected in a safe and consistent manner and elements of the memorandum of understanding must be utilized to the extent possible.
     (c) Each manufacturer or any entity carrying out the responsibilities for a group of manufacturers under this act shall provide proof to the department that it is maintaining a minimum of twenty-four million dollars of pollution liability insurance coverage for the collection, transportation, recycling, or disposal of the mercury from the mercury switches.
     (2) The total cost for the removal, collection, and disposal or recycling of mercury switches or mercury light switch assemblies must be borne by the manufacturers who installed them in their vehicles. Costs include, but are not limited to the following:
     (a) A minimum of three dollars for each mercury switch, mercury light switch assembly, or mercury antilock braking system sensor assembly removed by and collected from a vehicle recycling facility pursuant to this section as partial compensation for the labor and other costs incurred by a vehicle recycler;
     (b) A minimum of three dollars for each mercury switch, mercury light switch assembly, or mercury antilock braking system sensor assembly removed by and collected from a scrap recycling facility pursuant to this section as partial compensation for the labor and other costs incurred by a scrap recycler;
     (c) One dollar for each mercury switch, mercury light switch assembly, or mercury antilock braking system sensor assembly removed by and collected from a vehicle recycler or scrap recycler pursuant to this section as partial compensation to the department for costs incurred in administering and enforcing provisions of this chapter;
     (d) Training as described in subsection (1)(a)(vii) of this section;
     (e) Collection containers for mercury switches, mercury switch assemblies, and mercury antilock braking system sensors to be collected;
     (f) Costs for the collection and transportation system to allow for the periodic collection and replacement of filled containers;
     (g) Engagement of a qualified hazardous waste management contractor to carry out storage, recycling, or disposal of the mercury;
     (h) An outreach program to encourage participation that includes, but is not limited to, direct mailings, workshops, and site visits;
     (i) Maintenance of all appropriate systems and procedures to protect the environment from mercury contamination from mercury switches removed and collected under this act;
     (j) Any additional costs for documentation required of motor vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, and scrap recycling facilities.
     (3) Nothing in this section restricts the ability of a manufacturer, importer, or domestic distributor from transporting products through the state, or from storing products that contain mercury switches in the state for later distribution outside the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) Every reasonable effort must be made by vehicle manufacturers to facilitate the removal of mercury light switch assemblies from vehicles before they are crushed or shredded.
     (2) It is unlawful to shred or crush vehicles that have not had mercury light switch assemblies removed, except when the part is not reasonably accessible due to significant damage to the section of the vehicle where the mercury light switch assembly is located. To comply with this section, vehicle crushers or shredders may rely on, as reasonable evidence of removal, representations of certifications from motor vehicle recyclers that mercury light switch assemblies have been removed. Crushed vehicle hulks imported from out-of-state may be shredded provided that the scrap recycling facilities have, to the best of their abilities, ensured that their out-of-state suppliers have removed mercury light switch assemblies.
     (3) It is unlawful for any person to represent that mercury light switch assemblies have been removed from a vehicle or vehicle hulk being sold, given, or otherwise conveyed for recycling if the mercury light switch assemblies have not been removed.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) Every manufacturer of motor vehicles sold in this state shall, individually or as part of a group, submit a plan to the department, within ninety days of the effective date of this section, describing a program that meets the requirements established in this act.
     (2) The director shall approve or disapprove the entire plan.
     (a) If the entire plan is approved, the manufacturers shall implement the plan on July 1, 2006.
     (b) If the entire plan is disapproved, the director shall inform the manufacturers as to the reasons for the disapproval. The manufacturers have ninety days to submit a new plan.
     (c) The manufacturers are considered in violation of this chapter if they fail to have an approved plan in place by October 1, 2006, and are subject to the penalties in section 7 of this act.
     (d) The director shall periodically review any plan approved under this section and may require modifications to the plan as appropriate.
     (e) The director shall make available to the public and to the legislature reports required under this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A manufacturer subject to this chapter shall, individually or as part of a group, report to the department concerning the performance of the manufacturer's plan. The report must include, but is not limited to: (1) A detailed description and documentation of how the capture rate was achieved and how and where the mercury was disposed or recycled; (2) a plan to implement additional or alternative actions, if necessary, to improve the capture rate.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A violation of sections 3 through 6 of this act is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars per violation per day. Penalties collected under this section must be deposited in the state toxics control account created in RCW 70.105D.070. The civil penalties in this section are in addition to any other penalties authorized under other state or local laws governing the use of mercury in motor vehicles.

Sec. 8   RCW 42.56.270 and 2005 c 274 s 407 are each amended to read as follows:
     The following financial, commercial, and proprietary information is exempt from disclosure under this chapter:
     (1) Valuable formulae, designs, drawings, computer source code or object code, and research data obtained by any agency within five years of the request for disclosure when disclosure would produce private gain and public loss;
     (2) Financial information supplied by or on behalf of a person, firm, or corporation for the purpose of qualifying to submit a bid or proposal for (a) a ferry system construction or repair contract as required by RCW 47.60.680 through 47.60.750 or (b) highway construction or improvement as required by RCW 47.28.070;
     (3) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by private persons pertaining to export services provided under chapters 43.163 and 53.31 RCW, and by persons pertaining to export projects under RCW 43.23.035;
     (4) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by businesses or individuals during application for loans or program services provided by chapters 43.163, 43.160, 43.330, and 43.168 RCW, or during application for economic development loans or program services provided by any local agency;
     (5) Financial information, business plans, examination reports, and any information produced or obtained in evaluating or examining a business and industrial development corporation organized or seeking certification under chapter 31.24 RCW;
     (6) Financial and commercial information supplied to the state investment board by any person when the information relates to the investment of public trust or retirement funds and when disclosure would result in loss to such funds or in private loss to the providers of this information;
     (7) Financial and valuable trade information under RCW 51.36.120;
     (8) Financial, commercial, operations, and technical and research information and data submitted to or obtained by the clean Washington center in applications for, or delivery of, program services under chapter 70.95H RCW;
     (9) Financial and commercial information requested by the public stadium authority from any person or organization that leases or uses the stadium and exhibition center as defined in RCW 36.102.010;
     (10) Financial information, including but not limited to account numbers and values, and other identification numbers supplied by or on behalf of a person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or other entity related to an application for a liquor license, gambling license, or lottery retail license;
     (11) Proprietary data, trade secrets, or other information that relates to: (a) A vendor's unique methods of conducting business; (b) data unique to the product or services of the vendor; or (c) determining prices or rates to be charged for services, submitted by any vendor to the department of social and health services for purposes of the development, acquisition, or implementation of state purchased health care as defined in RCW 41.05.011; ((and))
     (12)(a) When supplied to and in the records of the department of community, trade, and economic development:
     (i) Financial and proprietary information collected from any person and provided to the department of community, trade, and economic development pursuant to RCW 43.330.050(8) and 43.330.080(4); and
     (ii) Financial or proprietary information collected from any person and provided to the department of community, trade, and economic development or the office of the governor in connection with the siting, recruitment, expansion, retention, or relocation of that person's business and until a siting decision is made, identifying information of any person supplying information under this subsection and the locations being considered for siting, relocation, or expansion of a business;
     (b) When developed by the department of community, trade, and economic development based on information as described in (a)(i) of this subsection, any work product is not exempt from disclosure;
     (c) For the purposes of this subsection, "siting decision" means the decision to acquire or not to acquire a site;
     (d) If there is no written contact for a period of sixty days to the department of community, trade, and economic development from a person connected with siting, recruitment, expansion, retention, or relocation of that person's business, information described in (a)(ii) of this subsection will be available to the public under this chapter; and
     (13) Records obtained from individual motor vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, and scrap recycling facilities under section 3(1)(a)(v) of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Sections 1 and 3 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 70.95M RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Section 8 of this act takes effect July 1, 2006.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   This act expires January 1, 2025.