HB3374 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 26380 CPF 52742 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3374

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Electric Vehicle Recycling Act. Provides that, within 60 days after the Act's effective date, manufacturers of electric vehicles that contain hazardous components and batteries must begin to implement a collection program that facilitates the removal of hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles prior to the electric vehicles being flattened, crushed, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling and to collect and properly manage hazardous components and batteries in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that, within 90 days after the Act's effective date, manufacturers of vehicles that contain hazardous components and batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous, must submit to the Environmental Protection Agency an implementation plan that describes how the collection program will be carried out for the duration of the program. Requires the Agency to provide assistance to manufacturers in their implementation of the collection program. Contains provisions regarding violations and penalties under the Act and indemnification for manufacturers. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Electric Vehicle Recycling Act.

Section 3. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) A manufacturer of electric vehicles with components or batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous, and any component with no economical recyclable value that will end up in a landfill in the State of Illinois, should be solely responsible, at the manufacturer's expense, for proper removal, handling, and recycling. This should include proper training, ongoing education, and specialty equipment and tools required, at no expense, for a licensed auto recycler to complete the safe removal of all hazardous components and batteries under this Act.

(2) Hazardous components and batteries must be removed when end-of-life vehicles are flattened, crushed, baled, shredded, melted, or otherwise processed for recycling.

(3) Removing hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles is an effective way to prevent them from being released into the environment.

(4) It is in the interest of the residents of the State of Illinois to remove these hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Agency" means the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Battery" means a container consisting of one or more cells, modules, or any means of power storage in which chemical energy is converted into electricity and used as a source of power.

"Electric vehicle" has the same meaning as defined in Section 11-1308 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.

"End-of-life vehicle" means an electric vehicle that is sold, given, or otherwise conveyed to a vehicle recycler for the purpose of reselling its parts or for recycling.

"Hazardous component" means a component of an electric vehicle with any chemical, pollutant, waste, or substance that is classified or regulated under any environmental law as a hazardous substance, toxic substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

"Manufacturer" means a person who is the last person in the production or assembly process of a new electric vehicle that uses one or more hazardous components and batteries; in the case of an imported electric vehicle, the manufacturer is the importer or domestic distributor of the electric vehicle. "Manufacturer" does not include any person engaged in the business of selling new electric vehicles at retail or converting or modifying new electric vehicles after the production or assembly process.

"Person" means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, limited liability company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, political subdivision, State agency, or any other legal entity, or its legal representative, agent, or assign.

"Removal" means removing any number of hazardous components or batteries from an end-of-life vehicle prior to the vehicle being flattened, crushed, baled, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling or that are available to be removed from an end-of-life vehicle that is flattened, crushed, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling.

"Scrap metal recycler" means a person who engages in the business of shredding or otherwise processing end-of-life vehicles or other scrap metal into prepared grades and whose principal product is scrap iron, scrap steel, or nonferrous metallic scrap for sale or for remelting purposes.

"Vehicle recycler" means a person who engages in the business of acquiring, dismantling, removing parts from, or destroying 6 or more end-of-life vehicles in a calendar year for the primary purpose of reselling the vehicles' parts.

Section 10. Removal requirements.

(a) Hazardous components and batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous from end-of-life vehicles must be managed in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder.

(b) No person shall represent that all hazardous components and batteries have been removed from an electric vehicle if hazardous components and batteries have not been removed from the electric vehicle, except where a hazardous component or battery cannot be removed from the electric vehicle because it is inaccessible due to significant damage to the electric vehicle in the area surrounding a mercury switch or hazardous component or battery.

(c) Consistent with the protection of confidential business information, vehicle recyclers who remove hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles must maintain records documenting the removal and disposal of hazardous components and batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous as set forth by the manufacturers' collection program established under Section 15, including, but not limited to, the make and model of each car from which one or more hazardous components or batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous are removed by a vehicle recycler. The records required under this subsection must be retained at the vehicle recycler's place of business for a minimum of 3 years and made available for inspection and copying by the Agency during normal business hours.

Section 15. Hazardous components and battery collection program.

(a) Within 60 days after the effective date of this Act, manufacturers of electric vehicles that contain hazardous components, nonrecyclable components, or batteries must begin implementing a program that facilitates the removal of hazardous components and batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous from end-of-life vehicles prior to the vehicles being flattened, crushed, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling and to collect and properly manage hazardous components and batteries in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder. In order to ensure that hazardous components and batteries are removed and collected in a safe and consistent manner, manufacturers must provide training and certification, at no expense, to licensed vehicle recyclers in accordance with the Illinois Vehicle code for end-of-life vehicle recycling infrastructure. The collection program must be designed to comply with the following:

(1) Develop and provide educational materials that include guidance as to which electric vehicles may contain hazardous components and batteries and procedures for locating and removing them for proper recycling, as set forth by the manufacturers. The educational materials may include, but are not limited to, brochures, fact sheets, and videos.

(2) Conduct outreach activities to encourage vehicle recyclers and vehicle crushers to participate in the recycling program. The activities may include, but are not limited to, direct mailings, workshops, and site visits.

(3) Provide storage containers to participating vehicle recyclers and vehicle crushers for proper collection under the program.

(4) Provide a collection and transportation system to periodically collect and replace filled storage containers from vehicle recyclers either upon notification that a storage container is full or on a schedule predetermined by the manufacturers.

(5) Establish an entity that will serve as a point of contact for the collection program and that will establish, implement, and oversee the collection program on behalf of the manufacturers.

(6) Track participation in the collection program and the progress of collections.

(b) Within 90 days after the effective date of this Act, manufacturers of electric vehicles that contain hazardous components and batteries that cannot be reused and are deemed to be hazardous must submit to the Agency an implementation plan that describes how the collection program under subsection (a) will be carried out for the duration of the collection program. At a minimum, the implementation plan must comply with the following:

(1) Identify the educational materials and procedures that will assist, at no expense to vehicle recyclers in identifying, removing, and properly managing hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles.

(2) Describe the outreach program that will be undertaken to encourage vehicle recyclers to participate in the collection program.

(3) Describe how the manufacturers will ensure that hazardous components and batteries removed from end-of-life vehicles are managed in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder.

(4) Describe how the manufacturers will collect and document the information required under this Act.

(5) Describe how the collection program will be financed and implemented.

(6) Identify the manufacturers' addresses to which the Agency should send notice to the manufacturers of the collection program. The Agency shall review the collection program implementation plans it receives for completeness and shall notify each manufacturer in writing if a collection program implementation plan is incomplete. Within 30 days after receiving a notification of incompleteness from the Agency, the manufacturers shall submit to the Agency an implementation plan that contains all of the required information.

(c) The Agency must provide assistance to manufacturers in their implementation of the collection program required under this Section. The assistance shall include providing manufacturers with information about businesses likely to be engaged in vehicle recycling conducting site visits to promote participation in the collection program, and assisting with the scheduling, locating, and staffing of workshops conducted to encourage vehicle recyclers to participate in the collection program.

(d) Manufacturers subject to the requirements of this Section shall provide, to the extent practicable, the opportunity for trade associations of vehicle recyclers to be involved in the delivery and dissemination of educational materials, at no expense, regarding the identification, removal, collection, and proper management of electric vehicle batteries and hazardous components in end-of-life vehicles.

(e) The Agency shall provide notice under this Section by posting a statement on its website and by sending a written notice via certified mail to the manufacturers, subject to the requirements of this Section, at the addresses provided in the manufacturers' collection program plan under paragraph (6) of subsection (b).

(f) Beginning 30 days after the Agency first provides notice under this Section, the following shall apply:

(1) Vehicle recyclers must remove all hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles prior to delivering the vehicles to a scrap metal recycler, provided that a vehicle recycler is not required to remove hazardous components or batteries that are inaccessible due to significant damage to the vehicle in the area surrounding the hazardous components or batteries that occurred prior to the vehicle recycler's receipt of the vehicle, in which case the damage must be noted in the records the vehicle recycler is required to maintain under subsection (c) of Section 10.

(2) No vehicle recycler, or scrap metal recycler shall flatten, crush, or otherwise process an end-of-life vehicle for recycling unless all hazardous components and batteries have been removed from the vehicle, provided that hazardous components or batteries that are inaccessible due to significant damage to the vehicle in the area surrounding the hazardous components or batteries that occurred prior to the vehicle recycler's receipt of the vehicle are not required to be removed. The damage must be noted in the records the vehicle recyclers required to maintain under this Act.

(g) Manufacturers subject to the requirements of this Section must provide to vehicle recyclers the following compensation for all hazardous components and batteries removed from end-of-life vehicles on or after the date of notice provided by the Agency under this Act:

(1) For each hazardous component and battery removed by the vehicle recycler or scrap metal recycler, an amount based upon the manufacturers' warranties, procedures, and the shop rate.

(2) The costs of the containers in which hazardous components and batteries are collected and the costs of packaging and transporting hazardous components and batteries off-site. Payment of this compensation must be provided in a prompt manner.

(h) In meeting the requirements of this Section, manufacturers may work individually or as part of a group of 2 or more manufacturers.

Section 20. Agency recommendations. Every 3 years the Agency shall make a recommendation to the General Assembly as to whether the compensation required under subsection (g) of Section 15 should be modified to ensure adequate compensation for the removal of hazardous components and batteries from end-of-life vehicles. In developing its recommendations, the Agency shall seek comments and information from interested persons, including, but not limited to, representatives of vehicle recyclers, vehicle manufacturers, and environmental groups.

Section 25. Submission to the Agency. All information required to be submitted to the Agency under this Act must be submitted on forms prescribed by the Agency.

Section 30. Investigation of violations; penalties.

(a) The Agency shall investigate violations of this Act.

(b) Any manufacturer that willfully or knowingly violates any provision of this Act or willfully or knowingly fails to perform any duty imposed under this Act shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for the violation and an additional civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each day the violation continues, and shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation and an additional civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each day the second or subsequent violation continues.

(c) Any vehicle recycler or scrap metal recycler who willfully or knowingly violates any provision of this Act or fails to perform any duty imposed under this Act shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $250 for the first violation and a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for a second or subsequent violation.

(d) The penalties provided in this Section may be recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the People of the State of Illinois by the State's Attorney of the county in which the violation occurred or by the Attorney General.

Without limiting any other authority that may exist for the awarding of attorneys' fees and costs, a court of competent jurisdiction may award costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, including the reasonable costs of expert witnesses and consultants, to the State's Attorney or the Attorney General in a case where he or she has prevailed against a person who has committed a willful, knowing, or repeated violation of this Act. Any funds collected under this Section in an action in which the Attorney General has prevailed shall be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Fund. Any funds collected under this Section in an action in which a State's Attorney has prevailed shall be retained by the county in which he or she serves.

(e) The State's Attorney of the county in which a violation occurs or the Attorney General may, at the request of the Agency or on his or her own motion, institute civil action for an injunction, prohibitory or mandatory, to restrain a violation of this Act or to require such other action as may be necessary to address a violation of this Act.

(f) The penalties and injunctions provided in this Act are in addition to any penalties, injunctions, or other relief provided under any other law. Nothing in this Act shall bar a cause of action by the State for any other penalty, injunction, or relief provided by any other law.

Section 35. Indemnification. Manufacturers subject to the requirements of this Act shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless vehicle recyclers and scrap metal recyclers for any liability arising from the release from hazardous components and batteries after they are transferred under the manufacturers' collection program to a manufacturer or its agent, provided that it has been managed in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder prior to the transfer.

Section 40. Federal requirements. If the Agency determines that the requirements of this Act are no longer necessary because a federal program provides equal or greater protection to human health and safety and the environment in this State, the Agency shall submit a report of its determination to the General Assembly. In making its determination, the Agency shall seek comments or information from interested persons, including, but not limited to, representatives of vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, scrap metal recyclers, vehicle manufacturers, and environmental groups.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.