HB1628ham005 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Karen May

Filed: 4/12/2005

09400HB1628ham005 LRB094 02848 RSP 45034 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1628

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1628 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Mercury Switch Removal Act.

Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly finds:

(1) That mercury is a persistent and toxic pollutant that bioaccumulates in the environment.

(2) That 41 states, including Illinois, have issued fish advisories that warn certain individuals to restrict or avoid consuming fish from bodies of water contaminated with mercury.

(3) That the United States Food and Drug Administration has advised pregnant women and women of childbearing age who may become pregnant not to eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish due to methyl mercury contamination.

(4) That according to estimates of the National Research Council, over 600,000 babies are born annually at risk for adverse neurodevelopment effects from in utero exposure to methyl mercury resulting from the consumption of mercury contaminated fish. These children will have to struggle to keep up in school and might require remedial classes or special education.

(5) That automobile manufacturers ended their use of mercury switches in new vehicles with the model year 2003, but that a significant number of mercury switches still exist in U. S. motor vehicles currently on the road.

(6) That mercury switches in vehicles are vaporized and released into the environment when scrap metal, which includes shredded end-of-life vehicles, is melted in furnaces to make new steel. Recent findings show that current use of mercury in automobiles can cause the release of as much as 10 tons of mercury into the environment each year.

(7) That pollution prevention is more desirable than controlling pollution after the fact, and that removing mercury switches from vehicles before they are crushed or shredded is an effective way of preventing mercury from entering steel making furnaces, thereby reducing emissions into the environment.

(8) That manufacturers of mercury-added products appear to be in the best position to ensure that appropriate, practical, and cost-effective systems are available for end-of-life management of their products.

(9) That statewide mercury switch collection programs, in which mercury switches are removed before discarded vehicles are reused as scrap metal, are being established across the country to protect human health and the environment.

(10) That auto recyclers and dismantling facilities exist because many parts and other items have resale value, but that such facilities have limited ability to pass on the costs of removing mercury switches because the switches have no resale value. Monetary incentives are therefore needed to ensure significant recycling of mercury switches.

(11) That it is in the public interest of the residents of Illinois to reduce the quantity of mercury in the environment by removing switches from vehicles before they are scrapped.

Section 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to reduce the quantity of mercury in the environment by removing mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles and by creating a collection and recovery program for mercury switches removed from end-of-life vehicles in this State.

Section 15. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:

"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

"Board" means the Pollution Control Board.

"Capture rate" means removal, collection, and recovery of mercury switches as a percentage of the total number of mercury switches available for removal from end-of-life vehicles annually.

"End-of-life vehicle" means any vehicle that is sold, given, or otherwise conveyed to a vehicle recycler or scrap recycling facility for the purpose of recycling.

"Manufacturer" means a person that is the last person in the production or assembly process of a new motor vehicle that uses mercury switches or, in the case of an imported vehicle, the importer or domestic distributor of the vehicle. "Manufacturer" does not include any person engaged in the business of selling new motor vehicles at retail or converting or modifying new motor vehicles after the production or assembly process.

"Mercury switch" means each mercury-containing capsule, commonly known as a "bullet", that is part of a convenience light switch assembly or part of an anti-lock braking system assembly installed in a vehicle. An anti-lock braking system assembly may contain more than one mercury switch.

"Mercury switch collection and recovery plan" means a plan for removing, collecting, and recovering mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles that is prepared pursuant to Section 20 of this Act.

"Person" means any individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, combination, or joint venture, or other legal entity, however organized.

"Scrap recycling facility" means a fixed location where machinery and equipment are used for processing and manufacturing scrap metal into prepared grades and whose principal product is scrap iron, scrap steel, or nonferrous metallic scrap that is for sale for remelting purposes.

"Vehicle" means any passenger automobile or passenger car, station wagon, truck, van, or sport utility vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 12,000 pounds.

"Vehicle recycler" means any individual or entity engaged in the business of acquiring, dismantling, or destroying 6 or more vehicles in a calendar year for the primary purpose of resale of the parts.

Section 20. Removal, collection, and recovery.

(a) Within 180 days after the effective date of this Act, every manufacturer of vehicles sold in Illinois shall, individually or as part of a group, submit to the Agency for review and approval a mercury switch collection and recovery plan to remove, collect, and recover mercury switches in end-of-life vehicles.

(b) The mercury switch collection and recovery plan prepared and submitted pursuant to this Section shall include, at a minimum, the following:

(1) information identifying the make, model, and year of vehicles, including current or anticipated future production models that may contain one or more mercury switches; a description of the mercury switches; the locations of these switches; and the safe and environmentally sound methods for their removal from end-of-life vehicles. To the extent a manufacturer is uncertain as to the content of a switch installed during the manufacture of a vehicle, the mercury collection and recovery plan shall presume that the switch is a mercury switch;

(2) educational materials to assist a vehicle recycler or a scrap recycler in undertaking a safe and environmentally sound method for the removal of the mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles, including information on the hazards related to, and the proper handling of, mercury;

(3) a proposal for the method of storage or disposal of the mercury switches, including the method of packaging and shipping mercury switches to authorized recycling, storage, or disposal facilities;

(4) a proposal for the storage of mercury switches collected and recovered from end-of-life vehicles if environmentally appropriate management technologies are not available; and

(5) a plan for implementing and financing the mercury switch collection and recovery plan in accordance with subsection (e) of this Section.

(c) The mercury switch collection and recovery plan shall be designed with the goal of achieving a mercury switch capture rate of at least 90%, consistent with the principle that mercury switches shall be removed, unless the mercury switch is inaccessible due to significant damage to the end-of-life vehicle in the area surrounding where the mercury switch is located.

(d) To the extent practicable, a mercury switch collection and recovery plan shall use the existing end-of-life vehicle recycling infrastructure. If the existing end-of-life vehicle recycling infrastructure is not used, the mercury switch collection and recovery plan shall include the reasons for establishing a separate infrastructure.

(e) A mercury switch collection and recovery plan must provide for financing of the removal, collection, and recovery system for mercury switches installed in vehicles manufactured by the manufacture and its predecessors and affiliates as provided in this subsection. These costs shall be borne by the manufacturers of vehicles sold in the State, ensuring that additional financial burdens are not placed on businesses dealing with end-of-life vehicles. The manufacturers shall develop a method that ensures the prompt payment to vehicle recyclers and scrap recyclers. Costs shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) $3 for each mercury switch removed in this State by a vehicle recycler pursuant to Section 40 of this Act as partial compensation for the labor and other costs incurred by a vehicle recycler in the removal of the switch;

(2) $3 for each mercury switch removed in this State by a scrap recycling facility pursuant to Section 40 of this Act as partial compensation for the labor and other costs incurred by a scrap recycling facility in the removal of the switch;

(3) the cost of the packaging in which to transport mercury switches to recycling, storage, or disposal facilities;

(4) the cost of shipping of mercury switches to recycling, storage, or disposal facilities;

(5) the cost of recycling, storage, or disposal of the mercury switches; and

(6) the cost of preparation and distribution to vehicle recyclers and scrap recycling facilities of educational materials required pursuant to item (2) of subsection (b) of this Section.

(f) Within 30 days after the effective date of this Act, every manufacturer of vehicles sold within this State, individually or as part of a group, shall provide to vehicle recyclers and scrap recycling facilities containers suitable for storing mercury switches until such time that vehicle recyclers and scrap recycling facilities can be reimbursed pursuant to this Section.

(g) Manufacturers of vehicles sold within the State shall provide vehicle recyclers or scrap recycling facilities with reimbursement for each mercury switch in the amount established pursuant to this Section regardless of when these switches were removed from the vehicles, provided the vehicle recyclers or scrap recycling facilities maintain the records required by Section 40 of this Act.

Section 30. Plan approval and implementation.

(a) Within 120 days after receipt of a manufacturer's plan, the Agency shall do either of the following:

(1) Determine whether the entire plan complies with this Section. If the entire plan is approved, the manufacturer shall begin implementation within 30 days after receipt of approval. If the entire plan is rejected, the Agency shall inform the manufacturer as to the reasons for the rejection. The manufacturer shall have 30 days thereafter to submit a new plan.

(2) Determine whether any part of the plan meets the requirements of this Section and approve such compliant parts and disapprove such others that do not comply with the requirements of this Section. The manufacturer shall immediately implement the approved parts and submit a revised plan respecting the remaining parts within 30 days after receipt of notification of the Agency's disapproval. The Agency shall review a manufacturer's revised plan within 30 days after receipt.

(b) Two hundred and forty days after the effective date of this Act, the Agency shall prescribe any portion of the plan that has not been approved and the manufacturers shall immediately implement the parts of the plan prescribed by the Agency.

(c) The Agency shall review the plan 3 years after the original date of approval of the plan and every 3 years thereafter, and shall require modifications to the plan as appropriate.

(d) The Agency shall solicit input from representatives of vehicle recyclers, scrap recycling facilities, and other interested parties on the mercury switch collection and recovery plan. The comments shall be received within 60 days after receipt of the plan.

Section 40. Removal and proper management of mercury switches.

(a) Commencing 30 days after approval or conditional approval of a mercury switch collection and recovery plan pursuant to Section 30 of this Act, a vehicle recycler that sells, gives, or otherwise conveys ownership of an end-of-life vehicle to a scrap recycling facility shall remove all mercury switches identified in the approved mercury switch collection and recovery plan from the end-of-life vehicle prior to delivery to a scrap recycling facility, unless a mercury switch is inaccessible due to significant damage to the vehicle in the area surrounding the location of the mercury switch, in which case the damage shall be noted on the normal business records of the vehicle recycler who delivered the end-of-life vehicle to the scrap recycling facility.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this Section, a scrap recycling facility may agree to accept an end-of-life vehicle that has not been intentionally flattened, crushed, baled, or shredded containing mercury switches, in which case the scrap recycling facility shall be responsible for removing the mercury switches identified in the mercury switch collection and recovery plan approved pursuant to Section 30 before the end-of-life vehicle is intentionally flattened, crushed, baled, or shredded.

(c) A vehicle recycler or scrap recycling facility that removes mercury switches pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this Section shall maintain records documenting:

(1) the number of mercury switches collected;

(2) the number of end-of-life vehicles containing mercury switches;

(3) the number of end-of-life vehicles processed for recycling;

(4) the makes and models of vehicles from which mercury switches were removed; and

(5) the number of switches collected from each make. These records shall be retained for a minimum of 3 years and made available for review by the Agency during normal business hours upon request by the Agency.

(d) No person shall represent that mercury switches have been removed from an end-of-life vehicle being sold, given, or otherwise conveyed for recycling if that person has not removed the mercury switches or arranged with another person to remove the mercury switches. A mercury switch should be removed from an end-of-life vehicle on site in Illinois.

(e) Upon removal, mercury switches shall be collected, stored, transported, and otherwise handled in accordance with the:

(1) mercury switch collection and recovery plan approved pursuant to Section 30; and

(2) provisions of the rules concerning universal waste for mercury and mercury-added products adopted by the Board pursuant to Section 22.23b(e) of the Environmental Protection Act.

(f) No scrap recycling facility or other person that receives an intentionally flattened, crushed, baled, or shredded end-of-life vehicle shall be deemed in violation of this Act, if a mercury switch is found in the vehicle after its acquisition.

Section 55. General compliance with other provisions. Except as expressly provided in this Act, compliance with this Act shall not exempt a person from compliance with any other law.

Section 60. Rulemaking. The Agency may adopt rules concerning this Act.

Section 70. Reporting. One year after the implementation of the removal, replacement, collection, and recovery system, and annually thereafter, a manufacturer subject to Section 20 of this Act shall, individually or as part of a group, report to the Agency concerning the performance of the mercury switch collection and recovery plan. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) a detailed description and documentation of the capture rate achieved, consistent with the principle that mercury switches shall be recovered, unless the mercury switch is inaccessible due to significant damage to the end-of-life vehicle in the area surrounding where the mercury switch is located;

(2) a plan to implement additional or alternative actions, if necessary, to improve the capture rate;

(3) the number of switches collected, the number of end-of-life vehicles containing mercury switches, the number of end-of-life vehicles processed for recycling, and a description of how the mercury switches were managed; and

(4) a description of the amounts paid to cover the costs of implementing the mercury switch collection and recovery plan.

Section 75. Penalties. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Act or its rules shall be liable and subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per day of violation. A second offense under this Act shall subject the violator to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for the violation and an additional civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each day during which the violation continues.

Section 80. Universal waste. The Board shall modify it rules governing universal hazardous waste as appropriate to promote the collection, transport, recovery, and proper management of mercury switches. Any rules adopted by the Board under this Act shall not be inconsistent with federal law.

Section 90. Repealer. This Act is repealed 10 years after its effective date.".