BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3465

By: Bohac

Environmental Regulation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

When the state's computer recycling laws were originally passed, the laws required the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt the recycling and reuse standards that were developed in 2006 by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc., a trade association for recyclers. Interested parties note that the state's television recycling laws, which were enacted a few years later, required adoption of these same standards, even though more current and rigorous standards requiring third-party audited certifications standards had been developed.  

H.B. 3465 seeks to ensure that certain electronics are recycled responsibly by updating the state's standards for computer and television recycling laws to reflect more current certification standards.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 3465 amends the Health and Safety Code to remove provisions requiring the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt as standards for recycling or reuse of computer and television equipment in Texas the applicable standards for electronics recycling approved by the board of directors of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc., or a comparable nationally recognized organization, and to instead require a manufacturer, for the purposes of recycling, reusing, or otherwise disposing of collected computer and covered television equipment, either to follow the standards established under "Responsible Recycling Practices for Use in Accredited Certification Programs for Electronic Recyclers" or "e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment" or an equivalent independently audited certification standard for electronics recycling or to use a recycler that has a current certification indicating the recycler complies with such standards.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.