BILL REQ. #:  S-0744.1 

Read first time 02/11/13.   Referred to Committee on Energy, Environment & Telecommunications.

     AN ACT Relating to electronic product recycling; and amending RCW 70.95N.020 and 70.95N.030.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.95N.020 and 2006 c 183 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) "Authority" means the Washington materials management and financing authority created under RCW 70.95N.280.
     (2) "Authorized party" means a manufacturer who submits an individual independent plan or the entity authorized to submit an independent plan for more than one manufacturer.
     (3) "Board" means the board of directors of the Washington materials management and financing authority created under RCW 70.95N.290.
     (4) "Collector" means an entity licensed to do business in the state that gathers unwanted covered electronic products from households, small businesses, school districts, small governments, and charities for the purpose of recycling and meets minimum standards that may be developed by the department.
     (5) "Contract for services" means an instrument executed by the authority and one or more persons or entities that delineates collection, transportation, and recycling services, in whole or in part, that will be provided to the citizens of the state within service areas as described in the approved standard plan.
     (6) "Covered electronic product" includes a cathode ray tube or flat panel computer monitor having a viewable area greater than four inches when measured diagonally, a desktop computer, a laptop or a portable computer, or a cathode ray tube or flat panel television having a viewable area greater than four inches when measured diagonally that has been used in the state by any covered entity regardless of original point of purchase. "Covered electronic product" does not include: (a) A motor vehicle or replacement parts for use in motor vehicles or aircraft, or any computer, computer monitor, or television that is contained within, and is not separate from, the motor vehicle or aircraft; (b) monitoring and control instruments or systems; (c) medical devices; (d) products including materials intended for use as ingredients in those products as defined in the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.) or the virus-serum-toxin act of 1913 (21 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.), and regulations issued under those acts; (e) equipment used in the delivery of patient care in a health care setting; (f) a computer, computer monitor, or television that is contained within a clothes washer, clothes dryer, refrigerator, refrigerator and freezer, microwave oven, conventional oven or range, dishwasher, room air conditioner, dehumidifier, or air purifier; or (g) hand-held portable voice or data devices used for commercial mobile services as defined in 47 U.S.C. Sec. 332 (d)(1).
     (7) "Covered entity" means any household, charity, school district, small business, or small government located in Washington state.
     (8) "Curbside service" means a collection service providing regularly scheduled pickup of covered electronic products from households or other covered entities in quantities generated from households.
     (9) "Department" means the department of ecology.
     (10) "Electronic product" includes a cathode ray tube or flat panel computer monitor having a viewable area greater than four inches when measured diagonally; a desktop computer; a laptop or a portable computer; or a cathode ray tube or flat screen television having a viewable area greater than four inches when measured diagonally.
     (11) "Equivalent share" means the weight in pounds of covered electronic products identified for an individual manufacturer under this chapter as determined by the department under RCW 70.95N.200.
     (12) "Household" means a single detached dwelling unit or a single unit of a multiple dwelling unit and appurtenant structures.
     (13) "Independent plan" means a plan for the collection, transportation, and recycling of unwanted covered electronic products that is developed, implemented, and financed by an individual manufacturer or by an authorized party.
     (14) "Manufacturer" means any person, in business or no longer in business but having a successor in interest, who, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance or remote sale:
     (a) Manufactures or has manufactured a covered electronic product under its own brand names for sale in or into this state. However, a licensor is not considered a manufacturer for the purposes of this chapter;
     (b) Assembles or has assembled a covered electronic product that uses parts manufactured by others for sale in or into this state under the assembler's brand names;
     (c) Resells or has resold in or into this state under its own brand names a covered electronic product produced by other suppliers, including retail establishments that sell covered electronic products under their own brand names;
     (d) Manufactures or manufactured a cobranded product for sale in or into this state that carries the name of both the manufacturer and a retailer;
     (e) Imports or has imported a covered electronic product into the United States that is sold in or into this state. However, if the imported covered electronic product is manufactured by any person with a presence in the United States meeting the criteria of manufacturer under (a) through (d) of this subsection, that person is the manufacturer. For purposes of this subsection, "presence" means any person that performs activities conducted under the standards established for interstate commerce under the commerce clause of the United States Constitution; or
     (f) Sells at retail a covered electronic product acquired from an importer that is the manufacturer as described in (e) of this subsection, and elects to register in lieu of the importer as the manufacturer for those products.
     (15) "New entrant" means: (a) A manufacturer of televisions that have been sold in the state for less than ten years; or (b) a manufacturer of desktop computers, laptop and portable computers, or computer monitors that have been sold in the state for less than five years. However, a manufacturer of both televisions and computers or a manufacturer of both televisions and computer monitors that is deemed a new entrant under either only (a) or (b) of this subsection is not considered a new entrant for purposes of this chapter.
     (16) "Orphan product" means a covered electronic product that lacks a manufacturer's brand or for which the manufacturer is no longer in business and has no successor in interest.
     (17) "Plan's equivalent share" means the weight in pounds of covered electronic products for which a plan is responsible. A plan's equivalent share is equal to the sum of the equivalent shares of each manufacturer participating in that plan.
     (18) "Plan's return share" means the sum of the return shares of each manufacturer participating in that plan.
     (19) "Premium service" means services such as at-location system upgrade services provided to covered entities and at-home pickup services offered to households. "Premium service" does not include curbside service.
     (20) "Processor" means an entity engaged in disassembling, dismantling, or shredding electronic products to recover materials contained in the electronic products and prepare those materials for reclaiming or reuse in new products in accordance with processing standards established by this chapter and by the department. A processor may also salvage parts to be used in new products.
     (21) "Product type" means one of the following categories: Computer monitors; desktop computers; laptop and portable computers; and televisions.
     (22) "Program" means the collection, transportation, and recycling activities conducted to implement an independent plan or the standard plan.
     (23) "Program year" means each full calendar year after the program has been initiated.
     (24) "Recycling" means transforming or remanufacturing unwanted electronic products, components, and by-products into usable or marketable materials for use other than landfill disposal or incineration. "Recycling" does not include energy recovery or energy generation by means of combusting unwanted electronic products, components, and by-products with or without other waste. Smelting of electronic materials to recover metals for reuse in conformance with all applicable laws and regulations is not considered disposal or energy recovery.
     (25) "Retailer" means a person who offers covered electronic products for sale at retail through any means including, but not limited to, remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogs, or the internet, but does not include a sale that is a wholesale transaction with a distributor or a retailer.
     (26) "Return share" means the percentage of covered electronic products by weight identified for an individual manufacturer, as determined by the department under RCW 70.95N.190.
     (27) "Reuse" means any operation by which an electronic product or a component of a covered electronic product changes ownership and is used for the same purpose for which it was originally purchased.
     (28) "Small business" means a business employing less than fifty people.
     (29) "Small government" means a city in the state with a population less than fifty thousand, a county in the state with a population less than one hundred twenty-five thousand, and special purpose districts in the state.
     (30) "Standard plan" means the plan for the collection, transportation, and recycling of unwanted covered electronic products developed, implemented, and financed by the authority on behalf of manufacturers participating in the authority.
     (31) "Transporter" means an entity that transports covered electronic products from collection sites or services to processors or other locations for the purpose of recycling, but does not include any entity or person that hauls their own unwanted electronic products.
     (32) "Unwanted electronic product" means a covered electronic product that has been discarded or is intended to be discarded by its owner.
     (33) "White box manufacturer" means a person who manufactured unbranded covered electronic products offered for sale in the state within ten years prior to a program year for televisions or within five years prior to a program year for desktop computers, laptop or portable computers, or computer monitors.
     (34) "Licensor" means any person, in business or no longer in business but having a successor in interest, who either directly licenses or licenses through its affiliates names, images, or intellectual property to a manufacturer of covered electronic products but who does not personally manufacture, assemble, or resell covered electronic products. A licensor may not be considered a manufacturer of covered electronic products.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.95N.030 and 2006 c 183 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A manufacturer must participate in an independent plan or the standard plan to implement and finance the collection, transportation, and recycling of covered electronic products. A licensor is not required to participate in an independent plan or standard plan.
     (2) An independent plan or the standard plan must be implemented and fully operational no later than January 1, 2009.
     (3) The manufacturers participating in an approved plan are responsible for covering all administrative and operational costs associated with the collection, transportation, and recycling of their plan's equivalent share of covered electronic products. If costs are passed on to consumers, it must be done without any fees at the time the unwanted electronic product is delivered or collected for recycling. However, this does not prohibit collectors providing premium or curbside services from charging customers a fee for the additional collection cost of providing this service, when funding for collection provided by an independent plan or the standard plan does not fully cover the cost of that service.
     (4) Nothing in this chapter changes or limits the authority of the Washington utilities and transportation commission to regulate collection of solid waste in the state of Washington, including curbside collection of residential recyclable materials, nor does this chapter change or limit the authority of a city or town to provide such service itself or by contract pursuant to RCW 81.77.020.
     (5) Manufacturers are encouraged to collaborate with electronic product retailers, certificated waste haulers, processors, recyclers, charities, and local governments within the state in the development and implementation of their plans.