Minnesota Session Laws - 1992, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1992 

                        CHAPTER 560-H.F.No. 2147 
           An act relating to the environment; banning placement 
          of mercury in solid waste; regulating the sale and use 
          of mercury; requiring recycling of mercury in certain 
          products; requiring a report on fluorescent and high 
          intensity discharge lamps; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1991 Supplement, section 115A.9561, subdivision 2; 
          proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
          chapters 115A; and 116. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  [115A.932] [MERCURY PROHIBITION.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [PROHIBITIONS.] (a) A person may not place 
mercury or a thermostat, thermometer, electric switch, 
appliance, or medical or scientific instrument from which the 
mercury has not been removed for reuse or recycling: 
    (1) in solid waste; or 
    (2) in a wastewater disposal system. 
    (b) A person may not knowingly place mercury or a 
thermostat, thermometer, electric switch, appliance, or medical 
or scientific instrument from which the mercury has not been 
removed for reuse or recycling: 
    (1) in a solid waste processing facility; or 
    (2) in a solid waste disposal facility, as defined in 
section 115.01, subdivision 8. 
    Subd. 2.  [ENFORCEMENT.] (a) Except as provided in 
paragraph (b), a violation of subdivision 1 is subject to 
enforcement under sections 115.071 and 116.072. 
    (b) A violation of subdivision 1 by a generator of 
household hazardous waste, as defined in section 115A.96, is not 
subject to enforcement under section 115.071, subdivision 3. 
    (c) An administrative penalty imposed under section 116.072 
for a violation of subdivision 1 by a generator of household 
hazardous waste, as defined in section 115A.96, may not exceed 
$700. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1991 Supplement, section 
115A.9561, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [RECYCLING REQUIRED.] Major appliances must be 
recycled or reused.  Each county shall ensure that its residents 
have the opportunity to recycle used major appliances.  For the 
purposes of this section, recycling includes: 
    (1) the removal of capacitors that may contain PCBs; 
    (2) the removal of ballasts that may contain PCBs; 
    (3) the removal of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant gas; and 
    (4) the recycling or reuse of the metals, including mercury.
    Sec. 3.  [116.92] [MERCURY EMISSIONS REDUCTION.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [SALES.] A person may not sell mercury to 
another person in this state without providing a material safety 
data sheet, as defined in United States Code, title 42, section 
11049, and requiring the purchaser to sign a statement that the 
purchaser: 
    (1) will use the mercury only for a medical, dental, 
instructional, research, or manufacturing purpose; and 
    (2) understands the toxicity of mercury and will 
appropriately store and use it and will not place, or allow 
anyone under the purchaser's control to place, the mercury in 
the solid waste stream or in a wastewater disposal system, as 
defined in section 115.01, subdivision 8. 
    Subd. 2.  [USE OF MERCURY.] A person who uses mercury in 
any application may not place, or deliver the mercury to another 
person who places residues, particles, scrapings, or other 
materials that contain mercury in solid waste or wastewater, 
except for traces of materials that may inadvertently pass 
through a filtration system during a dental procedure. 
    Subd. 3.  [LABELING; PRODUCTS CONTAINING MERCURY.] A 
manufacturer or wholesaler may not sell and a retailer may not 
knowingly sell any of the following items in this state that 
contain mercury unless the item is labeled in a manner to 
clearly inform a purchaser or consumer that mercury is present 
in the item and that the item may not be placed in the garbage 
until the mercury is removed and reused, recycled, or otherwise 
managed to ensure that it does not become part of solid waste or 
wastewater: 
    (1) a thermostat or thermometer; 
    (2) an electric switch, individually or as part of another 
product, other than a motor vehicle; 
    (3) an appliance; and 
    (4) a medical or scientific instrument. 
    Subd. 4.  [REMOVAL FROM SERVICE; PRODUCTS CONTAINING 
MERCURY.] (a) When an item listed in subdivision 3 is removed 
from service the mercury in the item must be reused, recycled, 
or otherwise managed to ensure compliance with section 1. 
    (b) A person who is in the business of replacing or 
repairing an item listed in subdivision 3 in households shall 
ensure, or deliver the item to a facility that will ensure, that 
the mercury contained in an item that is replaced or repaired is 
reused or recycled or otherwise managed in compliance with 
section 1. 
    Subd. 5.  [THERMOSTATS.] A manufacturer of thermostats that 
contain mercury or that may replace thermostats that contain 
mercury shall, in addition to the requirements of subdivision 3, 
provide incentives for and sufficient information to purchasers 
and consumers of the thermostats for the purchasers or consumers 
to ensure that mercury in thermostats being removed from service 
is reused or recycled or otherwise managed in compliance with 
section 1.  A manufacturer that has complied with this 
subdivision is not liable for improper disposal by purchasers or 
consumers of thermostats. 
    Subd. 6.  [THERMOMETERS.] A medical facility may not 
routinely distribute thermometers containing mercury. 
     Subd. 7.  [FLUORESCENT AND HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE LAMPS; 
LARGE USE APPLICATIONS.] (a) A person who sells fluorescent or 
high intensity discharge lamps that contain mercury to the owner 
or manager of an industrial, commercial, office, or multiunit 
residential building, or to any person who replaces or removes 
from service outdoor lamps that contain mercury, shall clearly 
inform the purchaser in writing on the invoice for the lamps, or 
in a separate writing, that the lamps contain mercury, a 
hazardous substance that is regulated by federal or state law.  
This paragraph does not apply to a person who incidentally sells 
fluorescent or high intensity discharge lamps at retail to the 
specified purchasers. 
    (b) A person who contracts with the owner or manager of an 
industrial, commercial, office, or multiunit residential 
building, or with a person responsible for outdoor lighting, to 
remove from service fluorescent or high intensity discharge 
lamps that contain mercury shall clearly inform, in writing, the 
person for whom the work is being done that the lamps being 
removed from service contain mercury and what the contractor's 
arrangements are for the management of the mercury in the 
removed lamps. 
    Subd. 8.  [BAN; TOYS OR GAMES.] A person may not sell for 
resale or at retail in this state a toy or game that contains 
mercury. 
    Subd. 9.  [ENFORCEMENT; GENERATORS OF HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS 
WASTE.] (a) A violation of subdivision 2 or 4, paragraph (a), by 
a generator of household hazardous waste, as defined in section 
115A.96, is not subject to enforcement under section 115.071, 
subdivision 3. 
    (b) An administrative penalty imposed under section 116.072 
for a violation of subdivision 2 or 4, paragraph (a), by a 
generator of household hazardous waste, as defined in section 
115A.96, may not exceed $700. 
    Sec. 4.  [FLUORESCENT AND HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE LAMPS; 
REPORT.] 
    The office of waste management, in consultation with the 
pollution control agency and manufacturers of fluorescent or 
high intensity discharge lamps that contain mercury, shall study 
and report to the legislative commission on waste management by 
January 1, 1993, with recommendations for fully implementing, by 
January 1, 1996, a system for ensuring that the toxic materials 
contained in lamps that are replaced are reused, recycled, or 
otherwise managed to ensure they are not placed in the solid 
waste stream or a wastewater disposal system, as defined in 
Minnesota Statutes, section 115.01, subdivision 8.  The director 
of the office of waste management shall submit a preliminary 
report to the commission by October 1, 1992. 
    Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATES.] 
    Section 3, subdivisions 1, 3, and 5, are effective January 
1, 1993, and subdivision 3 applies to items manufactured on and 
after that date.  Section 3, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), is 
effective July 1, 1993. 
    Presented to the governor April 17, 1992 
    Signed by the governor April 29, 1992, 8:10 a.m.