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H.B. No. 2793
AN ACT
relating to the removal and collection of convenience switches from
motor vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 5, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 375 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 375. REMOVAL OF CONVENIENCE SWITCHES
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 375.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Capture rate" means the annual number of
convenience switches removed, collected, and recovered, expressed
as a percentage of the number of convenience switches estimated to
be available for removal in that year from end-of-life vehicles.
(2) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(3) "Convenience switch" means a capsule, commonly
known as a bullet, that:
(A) is part of a convenience light switch
assembly; and
(B) because of its mercury content, is the type
of switch subject to work practice standards promulgated by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency under Section 112 of
the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Section 7412).
(4) "Convenience switch recovery program" means a
program for removing, collecting, and recovering convenience
switches from end-of-life vehicles in accordance with Subchapter B.
(5) "Eligible vehicle" means a vehicle identified by
information provided by the manufacturer to the commission under
Section 375.051 as a vehicle that might contain a convenience
switch.
(6) "End-of-life vehicle" means a vehicle that:
(A) has not been intentionally flattened,
crushed, shredded, or baled; and
(B) is sold, given, or otherwise conveyed to a
vehicle recycler or scrap metal recycling facility for the purpose
of recycling.
(7) "Executive director" means the executive director
of the commission.
(8) "Manufacturer" means:
(A) a person who is the last entity in the
production or assembly process of a new vehicle; or
(B) the importer or domestic distributor of the
vehicle, in the case of an imported vehicle.
(9) "Scrap metal recycling facility" means a facility
at a fixed location that uses equipment to process and refabricate
scrap metal into prepared grades and principally produces scrap
iron, scrap steel, or nonferrous metallic scrap for sale.
(10) "Vehicle" means any automobile, station wagon,
truck, van, or sport utility vehicle with a gross vehicle weight
rating of less than 12,000 pounds.
(11) "Vehicle recycler" means a person engaged in the
business of acquiring, dismantling, or preparing for recycling six
or more end-of-life vehicles in a calendar year for the primary
purpose of reselling the vehicles' parts. The term includes a
salvage vehicle dealer licensed under Chapter 2302, Occupations
Code.
Sec. 375.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. (a) This chapter
applies only to:
(1) a manufacturer of vehicles sold in this state that
contain or contained convenience switches; and
(2) a vehicle recycler or scrap metal recycling
facility in this state.
(b) The requirements of this chapter do not apply to a
manufacturer on or after the 10th anniversary of the date on which
the manufacturer last installed a convenience switch in a vehicle
sold in this state.
Sec. 375.003. EXPIRATION. This chapter expires August 31,
2015.
[Sections 375.004-375.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. CONVENIENCE SWITCH RECOVERY PROGRAM
Sec. 375.051. MANUFACTURER PROGRAM COMPONENTS. (a) Each
manufacturer of vehicles sold in this state, individually or as
part of a group, shall, not later than January 1, 2006, implement a
program that provides the following:
(1) information identifying that manufacturer's
eligible vehicles, including:
(A) a description of the convenience switches
used by the manufacturer;
(B) the location on each vehicle of each
convenience switch;
(C) the safe and environmentally sound methods
for removing a convenience switch from an end-of-life vehicle; and
(D) the estimated number of convenience switches
available, for purposes of computing the capture rate;
(2) educational materials to assist a vehicle recycler
or scrap metal recycling facility in following a safe and
environmentally sound method to remove convenience switches from
end-of-life vehicles, including educational materials on hazards
presented by the content of a convenience switch and the proper
handling of that content;
(3) methods for recycling or disposing of the
manufacturer's convenience switches, including the method of
packaging and shipping a convenience switch to an authorized
recycling, storage, or disposal facility; and
(4) methods for the storage of a convenience switch
collected and recovered from an end-of-life vehicle if
environmentally appropriate recycling or disposal technologies are
not available.
(b) To the extent possible, a convenience switch recovery
program must use existing end-of-life vehicle infrastructure. If
that infrastructure is not used, the program must include reasons
for establishing a separate infrastructure.
Sec. 375.052. PACKAGING, SHIPPING, AND RECYCLING COSTS.
Each manufacturer, individually or as part of a group, shall pay the
costs of:
(1) packaging and shipping of the manufacturer's
convenience switches to recycling, storage, or disposal
facilities; and
(2) recycling, storing, or disposing of the
manufacturer's removed convenience switches.
Sec. 375.053. COSTS OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS. Each
manufacturer shall provide financing for:
(1) the preparation of educational materials required
under Section 375.051; and
(2) the distribution of those materials at workshops
that the commission is required to conduct as part of the
commission's technical assistance.
Sec. 375.054. PROVISION OF STORAGE CONTAINERS. Each
manufacturer, individually or as part of a group, shall pay for and
provide to each vehicle recycler and scrap metal recycling facility
containers suitable for the safe storage of convenience switches,
including switches encased in light assemblies from which the
switches cannot be removed.
[Sections 375.055-375.100 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER C. CONVENIENCE SWITCH RECOVERY PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Sec. 375.101. REMOVAL AND MANAGEMENT OF CONVENIENCE
SWITCHES. (a) A vehicle recycler or scrap metal recycling facility
that removes convenience switches from eligible vehicles in
accordance with educational materials received under this chapter
shall be provided regulatory incentives by the commission under
programs implemented pursuant to Section 5.755, Water Code,
including on-site technical assistance and compliance history
classification adjustments.
(b) In order to qualify for the regulatory incentives
provided by this section, a vehicle recycler or scrap metal
recycling facility must submit a report to the commission by
November 15 of each year documenting:
(1) the number of convenience switches collected
during the prior 12 months; and
(2) the total number of eligible vehicles processed
for recycling during the same time period.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require
scrap metal recycling facilities or vehicle recyclers to remove
convenience switches or maintain records regarding convenience
switches they have not removed, and the commission shall not
promulgate regulations that create such requirements.
Sec. 375.102. HANDLING OF CONVENIENCE SWITCHES. After
removal from a vehicle, a convenience switch shall be collected,
stored, transported, and otherwise handled in accordance with:
(1) the applicable convenience switch recovery
program; and
(2) the applicable solid waste rules of the
commission.
[Sections 375.103-375.150 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER D. REPORTS
Sec. 375.151. ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. (a) On or
before December 31 of each year, the commission shall:
(1) publish a report that documents the capture rate
achieved through the implementation of this chapter; and
(2) issue recommendations to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and the chair of each standing committee of the legislature with
jurisdiction over environmental issues, which identifies
legislative action that may be appropriate to improve the capture
rate referenced in Subsection (a)(1) while promoting vehicle
recycling and preventing the export of scrap metal from the state.
(b) The executive director may discontinue the requirement
for an annual report under this section if the executive director
determines that the convenience switches in end-of-life vehicles no
longer pose a significant threat to the environment or to public
health.
Sec. 375.152. ANNUAL MANUFACTURER'S IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.
On or before November 15 of each year, each manufacturer,
individually or as part of a group, shall report to the commission
the total number of convenience switches recovered in this state
and the total amount of mercury, by weight, recovered from those
convenience switches during the preceding 12 months.
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality shall adopt rules for regulating a convenience switch, as
defined by Section 375.001, Health and Safety Code, as added by this
Act, as universal waste under 30 T.A.C. Section 335.261.
(b) Until rules have been adopted and promulgated under
Subsection (a) of this section, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality shall regulate a convenience switch, as
defined by Section 375.001, Health and Safety Code, as added by this
Act, as a universal waste in accordance with 40 C.F.R. Part 273, and
as incorporated by reference in 30 T.A.C. Section 335.261.
SECTION 3. Not later than the 60th day after the effective
date of this Act, individually or as part of a group, a manufacturer
shall provide containers as required by Section 375.054, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act, to each vehicle recycler and
scrap metal recycling facility identified by the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality.
SECTION 4. The initial report described by Section 375.151,
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, shall be published as
required by that section on or before December 31, 2006.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect August 29, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2793 was passed by the House on May
13, 2005, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2793 on May 27, 2005, and requested
the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
conference committee report on H.B. No. 2793 on May 29, 2005, by a
non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2793 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2793 on May 29, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor