SB 615

Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to convene the Lithium-Ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group to review, and advise the Legislature on, policies pertaining to the recovery and recycling of lithium-ion vehicle batteries sold with motor vehicles in the state. Existing law also requires the advisory group to submit policy recommendations to the Legislature aimed at ensuring that as close to 100% as possible of lithium-ion vehicle batteries in the state are reused or recycled at end of life in a safe and cost-effective manner. The hazardous waste control laws require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to regulate the handling and management of hazardous waste. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would require a battery supplier, as defined, to be responsible for, among other duties, ensuring the responsible end-of-life management of a vehicle traction battery if it is removed from a vehicle that is still in service, as provided, or if the vehicle traction battery is offered or returned to its battery supplier, and reporting information regarding the sale, transfer, or receipt of a vehicle traction battery or battery module to the department, as provided. The bill would impose related duties on a secondary user, as defined, and a secondary handler, as defined, including, among other duties, ensuring the responsible end-of-life management for a vehicle traction battery or returning a vehicle traction battery to the battery supplier, and reporting information regarding the sale, transfer, or receipt of a vehicle traction battery or battery module to the department, as provided. The bill would also require an auctioneer, as defined, and salvage disposal auction, as defined, to report similar information regarding a vehicle traction battery to the department. This bill would require the battery supplier to pay the department’s actual and reasonable regulatory costs to implement and enforce these provisions. The bill would establish the Vehicle Traction Battery Recovery Fund (fund) in the State Treasury and would require the department to deposit all moneys received from the battery supplier into the fund, as specified. Moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce these provisions. The bill would authorize, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Director of Finance to make a loan from an unspecified fund to the fund to meet regulatory and startup costs of the department’s activities pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund to be expended to reimburse loans made from other funds for those purposes. The bill would require the department to conduct a study to determine whether there is evidence of abandonment of orphaned batteries leading to environmental and health and safety hazards and, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, to post the results of its findings on its internet website. The bill would authorize the department to impose civil or administrative penalties for a violation of these requirements. The bill would exempt a violation of these requirements from the criminal penalties imposed pursuant to the hazardous waste control laws, but would require that all reports and records provided to the department pursuant to these provisions be provided under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would restrict public access to certain information collected for the purpose of administering this program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.