81R2315 JJT-D
 
  By: Allen H.B. No. 4056
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of a program for the collection,
  transportation, recycling, and disposal of mercury-added
  thermostats.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, is amended
  by adding Subchapter Z to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER Z. MERCURY-ADDED THERMOSTAT COLLECTION PROGRAM
         Sec. 361.971.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
               (1)  "Manufacturer" means a business concern that owns
  or owned a name brand of mercury-added thermostats sold in this
  state.
               (2)  "Mercury-added thermostat" means a thermostat
  that uses a mercury switch to sense and control room temperature.
               (3)  "Out-of-service mercury-added thermostat" means a
  mercury-added thermostat that is removed from a building in this
  state and is intended to be discarded.
               (4)  "Retailer" means a person who sells thermostats
  directly to a consumer through a selling or distribution mechanism,
  including a sale using a catalog or the Internet.
               (5)  "Thermostat" means a device that uses a switch to
  sense and control room temperature in a residential, commercial,
  industrial, or other building through communication with heating,
  ventilating, or air-conditioning equipment. The term does not
  include a thermostat used to sense and control temperature as part
  of a manufacturing process.
               (6)  "Wholesaler" means a person engaged in the
  distribution and wholesale selling of heating, ventilation, and
  air-conditioning components to contractors who install heating,
  ventilation, and air-conditioning components and whose total
  wholesale sales account for 80 percent or more of total sales. The
  term does not include a manufacturer.
         Sec. 361.972.  MANUFACTURER PROGRAMS FOR OUT-OF-SERVICE
  MERCURY-ADDED THERMOSTATS. (a)  A manufacturer shall establish,
  finance, manage, and maintain a program for the collection,
  transportation, recycling, and disposal of out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats in accordance with this subchapter,
  either individually or collectively with other manufacturers. Each
  manufacturer is responsible for collecting, handling,
  transporting, and recycling or disposing of out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats through a program in accordance with this
  subchapter and rules adopted under this subchapter.
         (b)  A manufacturer or a group of manufacturers operating a
  program collectively may contract with a retailer to provide a
  point of collection for out-of-service mercury-added thermostats,
  either in the retailer's place of business or elsewhere.
         Sec. 361.973.  COLLECTION BINS. A manufacturer's program
  established under Section 361.972 shall:
               (1)  provide collection bins for out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostat collection to:
                     (A)  wholesalers, at a cost not to exceed $25; and
                     (B)  a local government that requests a collection
  bin for use at a household hazardous waste collection facility or a
  household hazardous waste event, at no cost to the local
  government; and
               (2)  arrange to:
                     (A)  collect the contents of the collection bins
  provided under this section for proper handling, recycling, or
  disposal; or
                     (B)  pay the costs of shipping the contents of the
  collection bins provided under this section for proper handling,
  recycling, or disposal.
         Sec. 361.974.  PROGRAM EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.  (a)  A
  manufacturer's program established under Section 361.972, in
  accordance with commission rules, shall:
               (1)  make a public service announcement promoting the
  proper management of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats and
  provide copies of the announcement to the commission for its use and
  promotion;
               (2)  establish and provide to the commission the
  address of a public Internet website through which visitors can
  easily download templates of educational materials;
               (3)  to encourage greater participation in the proper
  management of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats throughout
  this state, undertake to engage other stakeholders, including
  waste, demolition, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
  organizations, and appropriate state agencies and local
  governments;
               (4)  work with utilities in this state that are
  participating in demand response programs involving thermostat
  replacement to encourage the utilities' participation in the
  collection and proper management of out-of-service mercury-added
  thermostats;
               (5)  encourage utilities to include an educational
  insert in customers' utility bills;
               (6)  encourage wholesalers to support and participate
  in educating customers on the proper management of out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats;
               (7)  encourage retailers' support and participation in
  educating consumers on the proper management of out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats; and
               (8)  undertake other educational or outreach efforts
  required by commission rule.
         (b)  This section expires January 1, 2013.
         Sec. 361.975.  EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH MATERIALS. (a)  A
  manufacturer's program established under Section 361.972, in
  accordance with commission rules, shall develop, update as
  necessary, and make available to retailers, wholesalers, and
  household hazardous waste programs educational and other outreach
  materials for:
               (1)  heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
  contractors, demolition contractors, and associations of those
  contractors;
               (2)  utilities and local governments that provide
  utility services or household hazardous waste programs; and
               (3)  homeowners.
         (b)  Materials developed and made available under Subsection
  (a) must include at least one of the following:
               (1)  signs designed for prominent, easily visible
  display for viewing by consumers and contractors;
               (2)  written materials and templates of materials for
  reproduction by retailers and wholesalers to be provided to the
  consumer at the time of purchase or delivery of a thermostat that
  include information on:
                     (A)  prohibited methods of disposing of
  mercury-added thermostats;
                     (B)  proper management of out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats; and
                     (C)  locations where out-of-service mercury-added
  thermostats are collected for proper handling, recycling, or
  disposal;
               (3)  advertising or promotional materials that inform
  about out-of-service mercury-added thermostat collection
  opportunities; or
               (4)  materials to be used in direct communications with
  the consumer and contractor at the time a mercury-added thermostat
  is purchased.
         Sec. 361.976.  COLLECTION INCENTIVES AND EDUCATION.  A
  manufacturer's program established under Section 361.972 shall
  provide incentives and education to contractors, service
  technicians, and homeowners to encourage the return of
  out-of-service mercury-added thermostats to established points of
  collection.
         Sec. 361.977.  PROGRAMMABLE REPLACEMENT THERMOSTATS. A
  manufacturer's program established under Section 361.972 shall
  encourage the purchase of programmable thermostats that comply with
  applicable building codes and that qualify for the Energy Star
  program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency as
  replacements for mercury-added thermostats.
         Sec. 361.978.  PROGRESS REPORT. On or before April 1 of each
  year, a manufacturer, through a program established under Section
  361.972, shall submit to the commission and post on the program's
  Internet website a report that includes:
               (1)  the number of out-of-service mercury-added
  thermostats the program collected in this state during the
  preceding calendar year;
               (2)  the estimated total amount of mercury contained in
  the out-of-service mercury-added thermostats the program collected
  during the preceding calendar year;
               (3)  an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program;
               (4)  beginning with the report due April 1, 2014, a
  comparison to the performance standards for collection established
  under Section 361.986;
               (5)  an accounting of the program's administrative
  costs that includes:
                     (A)  for a nonprofit organization's program, a
  copy of Internal Revenue Service Form 990; or
                     (B)  for a for-profit organization's program,
  independently audited financial statements detailing revenues and
  a full accounting of administrative costs incurred;
               (6)  a description of the outreach strategies employed
  to increase participation and collection rates;
               (7)  examples of outreach and educational materials
  used;
               (8)  names and locations of all participating points of
  collection;
               (9)  the number of out-of-service mercury-added
  thermostats collected at each point of collection;
               (10)  the Internet website address at which the annual
  report may be viewed online;
               (11)  a description of how the collected out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats were managed; and
               (12)  modifications that the manufacturer is proposing
  to make in its collection and recycling program.
         Sec. 361.979.  THERMOSTAT SALES PROHIBITED; LIST OF
  NONCOMPLIANT MANUFACTURERS. (a)  A person may not sell or offer for
  sale in this state a thermostat that is produced by a manufacturer
  that has been listed on the commission's Internet website as a
  noncompliant manufacturer for 120 or more consecutive days.
         (b)  On January 1 and July 1 of each year, the commission
  shall post a list on its Internet website of manufacturers that are
  not in compliance with this subchapter.
         (c)  A wholesaler or retailer that distributes or sells
  mercury-added thermostats shall monitor the commission's Internet
  website to determine whether the sale of a manufacturer's
  thermostats is in compliance with this subchapter.
         Sec. 361.980.  WHOLESALER DUTY: POINT OF COLLECTION.  A
  wholesaler that conducts business from a physical location in this
  state shall provide at each of its places of business in this state
  a point of collection for out-of-service mercury-added
  thermostats.
         Sec. 361.981.  DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION ON POINTS OF
  COLLECTION. A retailer or wholesaler that distributes new
  thermostats by mail to buyers in this state shall include with the
  sale of the new thermostat an Internet website address and
  toll-free telephone number with instructions on obtaining a prepaid
  mail-in label that a consumer may use to send an out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostat to a point of collection for mercury-added
  thermostats.
         Sec. 361.982.  WHOLESALER DISTRIBUTION OF EDUCATIONAL AND
  OUTREACH MATERIALS. A wholesaler shall distribute the educational
  and outreach materials developed and made available under Section
  361.975 to its customers.
         Sec. 361.983.  CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES. A contractor
  who installs heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components
  and who removes a mercury-added thermostat shall handle the
  thermostat in accordance with rules adopted under this subchapter
  and take the thermostat to a point of collection with a collection
  bin operating in accordance with those rules.
         Sec. 361.984.  RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSON WHO DEMOLISHES
  BUILDING. A person who demolishes a building shall remove any
  mercury-added thermostats from the building before demolition in
  accordance with all applicable rules adopted under this subchapter
  and take the thermostats to a point of collection that is authorized
  to collect out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
         Sec. 361.985.  COMMISSION ORDER. The commission may order a
  manufacturer or group of manufacturers operating a program to
  revise the program and to take other necessary actions to comply
  with this subchapter.
         Sec. 361.986.  COMMISSION PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.  The
  commission by rule shall:
               (1)  develop performance standards that specify
  collection rates expressed as a percentage of out-of-service
  mercury-added thermostats becoming waste annually; and
               (2)  establish a methodology to estimate the number of
  out-of-service mercury-added thermostats becoming waste annually.
         Sec. 361.987.  SURVEY REGARDING MERCURY-ADDED THERMOSTATS
  THAT BECOME WASTE. (a) Not later than March 1, 2010, a manufacturer
  or group of manufacturers operating a program shall present to the
  commission a survey plan and methodology for a survey to provide
  statistically valid data on the number of mercury-added thermostats
  made by the manufacturer or group of manufacturers that become
  waste annually in this state.
         (b)  The manufacturer or group of manufacturers shall
  complete the survey not later than December 1, 2010, and shall
  present all of the survey information to the commission not later
  than December 31, 2010.
         (c)  This section expires January 1, 2011.
         SECTION 2.  (a) A manufacturer's program established under
  Section 361.972, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, is
  required to provide collection bins as provided by Section 361.973,
  Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, only on and after July
  1, 2010.
         (b)  A manufacturer's program established under Section
  361.972, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, is required
  to perform the duties provided by Section 361.974, Health and
  Safety Code, as added by this Act, only on and after July 1, 2010.
         (c)  A manufacturer's program established under Section
  361.972, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, is required
  to develop, update, and make available educational and outreach
  materials as provided by Section 361.975, Health and Safety Code,
  as added by this Act, only on and after July 1, 2010.
         (d)  The first progress report required by Section 361.978,
  Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, is due April 1, 2011.
         (e)  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
  begin posting the commission's list of noncompliant manufacturers
  as provided by Section 361.979, Health and Safety Code, as added by
  this Act, on July 1, 2010.
         (f)  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
  adopt the commission's performance standards and methodology
  required by Section 361.986, Health and Safety Code, as added by
  this Act, not later than January 1, 2013.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.