Section 42451.

(a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The Department of Toxic Substances Control has determined that, due to their hazardous material content, the solid waste disposal of all household and rechargeable batteries should be prohibited. A regulation authorizing a temporary householder exemption to this prohibition will expire, by its own terms, in February 2006.

(2) The purpose of this chapter is to enact a comprehensive and innovative system for the reuse, recycling, and proper and legal disposal of previously used rechargeable batteries.

(3) It is the further purpose of this chapter to enact a law that establishes a program that is convenient for consumers and the public to return, recycle, and ensure the safe and environmentally sound disposal of used rechargeable batteries, and that provides for a system that does not charge the consumer when a rechargeable battery is returned.

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that the cost associated with the handling, recycling, and disposal of used rechargeable batteries be the responsibility of the producers and consumers of rechargeable batteries, and not local government or their service providers, state government, or taxpayers.

(5) In order to reduce the likelihood of illegal disposal of hazardous materials, it is the intent of this chapter to ensure that all costs associated with the proper management of used rechargeable batteries is internalized by the producers and consumers of rechargeable batteries at or before the point of purchase, and not at the point of discard.

(6) Manufacturers and retailers of rechargeable batteries, in working to achieve the goals and objectives of this chapter, should have the flexibility to partner with each other and with those private and nonprofit business enterprises that currently provide collection and processing services to develop and promote a safe and effective used rechargeable battery recycling system for California.

(7) The producers of household and rechargeable batteries should reduce and, to the extent feasible, ultimately phase out the use of hazardous materials in household and rechargeable batteries.

(8) Household and rechargeable batteries, to the greatest extent feasible, should be designed for extended life and reuse.

(9) The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the safe, cost free, and convenient collection, reuse, and recycling of 100 percent of the rechargeable batteries discarded or offered for recycling in the state.

(10) In establishing a cost-effective system for the recovery, reuse, recycling, and proper disposal of used rechargeable batteries, it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage manufacturers and retailers to build on the retailer take-back systems initiated by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation and others.

(Added by Stats. 2005, Ch. 572, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2006.)