1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to the environment; providing for electronic
1.3 	waste recycling; proposing coding for new law as
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 114D.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [114D.05] DEFINITIONS.
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Scope. For the purposes of this chapter,
1.8 	the words in this section have the meanings given.
1.9 		Subd. 2.Cathode ray tube. "Cathode ray tube" means a
1.10 	vacuum tube or picture tube used to convert an electronic signal
1.11 	into a visual image.
1.12 		Subd. 3.Collection and recycling system. "Collection
1.13 	and recycling system" means the system for the collection,
1.14 	packaging, transportation, and recycling of products discarded
1.15 	by consumers.
1.16 		Subd. 4.Computer monitor. "Computer monitor" means a
1.17 	cathode ray tube or flat panel display primarily intended to
1.18 	display information from a central processing unit, network, or
1.19 	the internet.
1.20 		Subd. 5.Electronic product. "Electronic product"
1.21 	includes but is not limited to computer equipment such as
1.22 	cathode ray tubes, display monitors, central processing units,
1.23 	keyboards, printers, and peripherals; televisions, computer
1.24 	monitors, liquid crystal displays or other flat panel
1.25 	television, computer monitor, or similar video display products;
2.1 	telecommunication equipment such as telephones, cellular phones,
2.2 	facsimile machines, and answering machines; small electronic
2.3 	devices and appliances containing one or more circuit boards or
2.4 	other similar operating unit; video and stereo equipment; toys,
2.5 	games, and educational devices containing one or more printed
2.6 	circuit boards or similar operating unit; and major household
2.7 	appliances containing one or more printed circuit board or
2.8 	similar operating unit and all its components, constituent
2.9 	subunits, and materials from which the subunits are made.
2.10 		Subd. 6.Electronic waste. "Electronic waste" means an
2.11 	electronic product that has been discarded, become obsolete,
2.12 	ceased to function, is no longer wanted by its owner, or for any
2.13 	other reason enters the collection, recovery, treatment,
2.14 	processing, or recycling system.
2.15 		Subd. 7.Environment. "Environment" includes but is not
2.16 	limited to all the state's natural resources including land,
2.17 	air, and water resources, and plant and animal species, and the
2.18 	habitat upon which they depend.
2.19 		Subd. 8.Generator. "Generator" means schools,
2.20 	governmental units, businesses with six or fewer employees, and
2.21 	nonprofit organizations, as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the
2.22 	Internal Revenue Code, with 30 or fewer employees.
2.23 		Subd. 9.Hazardous electronic waste. "Hazardous
2.24 	electronic waste" means electronic waste and its components,
2.25 	constituent subunits, or materials from which the subunits are
2.26 	made, that contain concentrations of toxic materials exceeding
2.27 	the regulatory levels established in Code of Federal
2.28 	Regulations, title 40, section 261.24, as it exists on January
2.29 	1, 2006, using the toxic characteristic leaching procedure.
2.30 		Subd. 10.Historic waste. "Historic waste" means a
2.31 	covered electronic product that was put on the market prior to
2.32 	July 1, 2005.
2.33 		Subd. 11.Household. "Household" means a single detached
2.34 	dwelling unit or a single unit of a multiple dwelling unit and
2.35 	appurtenant structures.
2.36 		Subd. 12.Orphan waste. "Orphan waste" means electronic
3.1 	waste manufactured by or bearing the brand name of a company
3.2 	that is no longer in business as of the January 1, 2006,
3.3 	requirements of this act.
3.4 		Subd. 13.Plan. "Plan" means the plan for
3.5 	producer-financed collection, recovery, and recycling of
3.6 	electronic waste as provided for in section 114D.15.
3.7 		Subd. 14.Producer. "Producer" means any person,
3.8 	irrespective of the sales techniques or channels used to sell
3.9 	products, including by means of distance communication, that:
3.10 	(1) manufactures and sells electronic equipment under its
3.11 	own brand;
3.12 	(2) resells under its own brand equipment produced by other
3.13 	suppliers, unless the brand of the actual manufacturer appears
3.14 	on the equipment;
3.15 	(3) imports electronic equipment for first sale in
3.16 	Minnesota; or 
3.17 	(4) manufactures and sells electronic equipment without
3.18 	affixing a brand.
3.19 		Subd. 15.Producer-abandoned waste. "Producer-abandoned
3.20 	waste" means electronic waste for which the manufacturer or a
3.21 	successor exists for which the state is unable to enforce this
3.22 	chapter for any reason, including because electronic equipment
3.23 	from the manufacturer or successor is no longer sold in
3.24 	Minnesota.
3.25 		Subd. 16.Pro rata share. "Pro rata share" means a
3.26 	percentage of all electronic waste delivered to intermediate
3.27 	consolidation points excluding orphan waste and
3.28 	producer-abandoned waste.  Pro rata shares are calculated by
3.29 	return weight and differentiated by type of product.  Each
3.30 	manufacturer shall have the pro rata share represented by the
3.31 	brands it manufactures among the types of electronic products it
3.32 	manufactures.
3.33 		Subd. 17.Recycling. "Recycling" means the reprocessing
3.34 	of electronic waste materials for the original purpose or for
3.35 	other purposes, excluding energy recovery or energy generation
3.36 	by means of combusting electronic waste with or without other
4.1 	waste.
4.2 		Subd. 18.Reuse. "Reuse" means an operation by which
4.3 	electronic waste or components thereof are used for the same
4.4 	purpose for which they were conceived, including the continued
4.5 	use of the equipment or components thereof which are returned to
4.6 	collection points, recyclers, or producers.

4.7 	Sec. 2. [114D.10] HISTORIC ELECTRONIC WASTE.
4.8 	(a) Each producer is responsible for financing the
4.9 	management of electronic waste in accordance with this chapter.
4.10 	For all products put on the market prior to January 1, 2006,
4.11 	producer responsibility for historic and orphan waste must be
4.12 	determined annually by the return share of the producer during
4.13 	the current year.  "Return share" means a percentage of all
4.14 	covered electronic products collected, calculated by return
4.15 	weight differentiated by type of product.  Each producer must
4.16 	have the return share represented by the brands it sells among
4.17 	the type of products it manufactures.  The producer may choose
4.18 	to fulfill this obligation either individually or collectively
4.19 	where one or more third-party organizations may be established
4.20 	by producers to collectively take back historic and orphan waste.
4.21 	(b) A limited advance collection fee, for the sole purpose
4.22 	of paying for a collection program implemented by any
4.23 	governmental or nongovernmental entity that serves the
4.24 	collection function, may be used until July 1, 2009.  Producers
4.25 	have full responsibility for collection, transport, and
4.26 	recycling of electronic waste.  Producers may use an advance
4.27 	collection fee visible to the consumer, when selling a similar
4.28 	new electronic product, for up to two years in an amount
4.29 	sufficient to pay actual costs of collection and transport of
4.30 	historic waste, but all collection and transport costs must be
4.31 	internalized into the product price after this period.
4.32 	(c) A producer may fulfill its individual responsibility
4.33 	under this subdivision either individually or by joining a
4.34 	representative organization of producers.  An organization of
4.35 	producers must meet the same standards and requirements of the
4.36 	plans submitted by individual producers.

5.1 	Sec. 3. [114D.15] COLLECTION; RECYCLING PLAN AND
5.2 	REQUIREMENTS.
5.3 	(a) Beginning July 1, 2007, producers of electronic
5.4 	products sold in Minnesota, including those products sold by
5.5 	means of distance communication, but not including cathode ray
5.6 	tubes, must:
5.7 	(1) register with the Pollution Control Agency as described
5.8 	in paragraph (f);
5.9 	(2) no later than nine months after a product enters the
5.10 	market, provide information to recyclers and processors
5.11 	regarding the end-of-life treatment of the new product relating
5.12 	to disassembly, material content, and safety concerns so as to
5.13 	facilitate the correct and environmentally sound treatment of
5.14 	electronic waste;
5.15 	(3) label each product identifying hazardous materials
5.16 	contained in the product and its parts or subunits;
5.17 	(4) provide information clearly stating that the product
5.18 	must be kept out of landfills and incinerators and other
5.19 	combustion processes and be placed in the producer's recycling
5.20 	or reuse program;
5.21 	(5) provide a toll-free phone number or Web site address
5.22 	where consumers can obtain information and instructions about
5.23 	the safe disposition of the electronic product through the
5.24 	producer's recycling or reuse plan;
5.25 	(6) certify that electronic products, including whole units
5.26 	of electronic waste as well as the constituent subunits or
5.27 	materials from which the units are made, will not and do not
5.28 	enter landfills, incinerators, cement kilns, or other forms of
5.29 	energy recovery or energy generation dependent on combustion of
5.30 	electronic waste;
5.31 	(7) document and certify that the program has not resulted
5.32 	in the overseas export of electronic waste to any
5.33 	non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
5.34 	country and complies with the Basel Ban Amendment decision
5.35 	(Decision III/1) of the Basel Convention on the Control of
5.36 	Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal;
6.1 	(8) certify that the collection, recycling, and reuse
6.2 	system, and all necessary parties, operate in compliance with
6.3 	local, state, and federal waste management rules and
6.4 	regulations;
6.5 	(9) accept electronic waste from households and generators
6.6 	at no charge;
6.7 	(10) submit a plan to the agency that:
6.8 	(i) describes the implementation and financing for the
6.9 	collection, treatment, recovery, reuse, and disposition of all
6.10 	the producer's products, including orphan and producer-abandoned
6.11 	waste, sold in Minnesota;
6.12 	(ii) describes the producer's method for reimbursing local
6.13 	governments, nonprofit corporations, and retailers for the cost
6.14 	of collection and recycling of the producer's covered electronic
6.15 	products;
6.16 	(iii) certifies that no prison labor is used unless those
6.17 	involved are provided with compensation equivalent to market
6.18 	rate wages for the work performed and are afforded the
6.19 	protections of state occupational safety and health laws and
6.20 	regulations, as well as those protections required by this
6.21 	chapter;
6.22 	(iv) demonstrates that the producer has adequate measures
6.23 	to provide information in accordance with clause (2); and 
6.24 	(v) describes the performance measures used and reported by
6.25 	the producer to demonstrate that the plan is meeting the
6.26 	required recovery and recycling rates for its own brand of
6.27 	covered electronic products and describes alternative actions
6.28 	that will be taken should performance measures not be met; and 
6.29 	(11) certify, by affidavit, that the producer is in
6.30 	compliance with this paragraph.
6.31 	(b) The agency must, within 30 days of receiving a plan,
6.32 	approve or disapprove the plan.
6.33 	(c) Each producer is responsible for collection, and reuse
6.34 	or recycling each year, of its waste electronic products and its
6.35 	pro rata share of orphan waste and producer-abandoned waste.
6.36 	(d) A producer may fulfill its responsibilities under this
7.1 	section through a representative third-party organization of
7.2 	producers.  An organization of producers must meet the same
7.3 	standards and requirements of the plans submitted by individual
7.4 	producers.
7.5 	(e) Effective July 1, 2005, producers of cathode ray tubes
7.6 	must comply with paragraphs (a) to (d) and all other provisions
7.7 	in this chapter.
7.8 	(f) Registration includes, but is not limited to, a listing
7.9 	of all brand labels owned by the producer, its subsidiaries, or
7.10 	any companies acquired by the producer.  The commissioner of the
7.11 	Pollution Control Agency may, at any time, revoke a registration
7.12 	upon being presented with evidence that the producer is not in
7.13 	compliance with the requirements of this chapter.  After
7.14 	revocation, a producer may not sell its product in the state.
7.15 	(g) The Pollution Control Agency shall not approve any plan
7.16 	that includes:
7.17 	(1) a fee imposed at the time of sale of the product except
7.18 	for the limited purpose established in section 114D.10;
7.19 	(2) a fee at the time the discarded electronic product is
7.20 	delivered by a household or generator to a collection point or
7.21 	is collected from the consumer;
7.22 	(3) a fee imposed at the time of sale for the purpose of
7.23 	funding producer recycling; or 
7.24 	(4) a cost to be imposed on a local unit of government
7.25 	unless the cost is agreed to by the local unit of government and
7.26 	the agreement is published on the agency's Web site and gives
7.27 	legal notice to the affected taxpayers.

7.28 	Sec. 4. [114D.20] REPORTING.
7.29 	(a) All information required under section 114D.15, as well
7.30 	as agency decisions and orders, must be made available to the
7.31 	public, in an easy-to-access manner and convenient format, via
7.32 	the agency's Web site within three business days after receipt
7.33 	of such information by the agency and agency decisions.
7.34 	(b) A retailer is not responsible for an unlawful sale
7.35 	pursuant to section 114D.15 if the certification relied upon by
7.36 	the retailer in making the unlawful sale was incorrect, or if
8.1 	the registration expired or was revoked and the retailer took
8.2 	possession of the electronic product prior to the expiration or
8.3 	revocation of the registration and the unlawful sale occurred
8.4 	within 30 days after the expiration or revocation.

8.5 	Sec. 5. [114D.25] ENFORCEMENT.
8.6 	The Pollution Control Agency may enforce this chapter under
8.7 	sections 115.071 and 116.072.

8.8 	Sec. 6. [114D.30] PRIVATE RIGHT OF ENFORCEMENT.
8.9 	Each person may enforce this right, as well as enforce the
8.10 	provisions and requirements of this chapter, against any party,
8.11 	government or private, through appropriate legal proceedings,
8.12 	including declaratory and equitable relief, civil penalties, and
8.13 	restoration damages, to protect the public health and
8.14 	environment of Minnesota from pollution, impairment, or
8.15 	destruction resulting from electronic waste.  The court may
8.16 	award the full costs of litigation, including but not limited to
8.17 	reasonable expert witness and attorney's fees, to the prevailing
8.18 	plaintiffs.  This provision supplements existing rights and
8.19 	procedures provided by law.

8.20 	Sec. 7. [114D.35] HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTECTIONS.
8.21 	All persons collecting, recovering, and recycling
8.22 	electronic waste as part of the producer plan in section 114D.15
8.23 	must protect the health and safety of their workers and
8.24 	contractors by:
8.25 	(1) providing clear evidence of compliance with all state
8.26 	and federal occupational safety and health laws and regulations;
8.27 	(2) performing routine industrial hygiene monitoring and
8.28 	quarterly reporting for all facilities for all hazardous
8.29 	materials of concern, including but not limited to monitoring
8.30 	for airborne lead and bromine, chlorine, and mercury compounds;
8.31 	and 
8.32 	(3) performing routine human health monitoring and
8.33 	quarterly reporting, in accordance with all applicable privacy
8.34 	protections, for all workers and contractors, including but not
8.35 	limited to blood testing for exposure to lead and bromine,
8.36 	chlorine, and mercury compounds.

9.1 	Sec. 8. [114D.40] SERVICE.
9.2 	(a) Producers selling electronic products in Minnesota,
9.3 	under an approved plan described in section 114D.15, must
9.4 	provide:
9.5 	(1) within 24 months of financial responsibility, three
9.6 	collection and recovery points per 10,000 persons population;
9.7 	and 
9.8 	(2) within 50 months of financial responsibility, six
9.9 	collection and recovery points per 10,000 persons population;
9.10 	(b) Producers must include direct collection, but
9.11 	generators and households may be responsible for delivering
9.12 	electronic waste into the collection system, as contained in the
9.13 	producer's plan.

9.14 	Sec. 9. [114D.45] HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PHASEOUT.
9.15 	(a) No later than January 1, 2007, producers selling
9.16 	electronic equipment in Minnesota must phase out the use of
9.17 	lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, brominated flame
9.18 	retardants, and polyvinyl chloride and only offer for sale
9.19 	products that contain less harmful alternatives.
9.20 	(b) If a producer provides sufficient demonstration to the
9.21 	department that it is technically impossible to use an
9.22 	alternative substance, a limited-term exemption may be issued by
9.23 	the agency.  An exemption must be rescinded by the agency when
9.24 	the agency determines that a less harmful alternative for the
9.25 	substance can be used.
9.26 	(c) If the exemption is granted by the agency, the agency
9.27 	may assign a limited amount of time before the exemption expires
9.28 	to ensure that producers are investing in research and
9.29 	development to identify an appropriate less harmful alternative.

9.30 	Sec. 10. [114D.50] PERFORMANCE GOALS; PROTECTIONS FOR
9.31 	HUMAN HEALTH; ENVIRONMENT; TAXPAYERS.
9.32 	(a) By January 1, 2007, or upon approval of the producer's
9.33 	plan, whichever is sooner, producers of electronic equipment
9.34 	sold in this state shall provide to the agency a financial
9.35 	guarantee to ensure that no costs for program evaluation,
9.36 	enforcement, or for the management of orphan and historic waste
10.1 	is borne by taxpayers.  The guarantee may take the form of
10.2 	participation by the producer in a third-party organization for
10.3 	financing the management of waste electrical and electronic
10.4 	equipment, a recycling insurance, or a blocked bank account.
10.5 	(b) Producers must manage their take-back programs so as to
10.6 	ensure that by July 1, 2007, electronic waste recovery is equal
10.7 	to or exceeds 75 percent by number of the producer's products
10.8 	sold in this state and 65 percent or greater reuse or recycling
10.9 	of the components and materials contained in their products; and
10.10 	by January 1, 2010, recovery equal to or greater than 90 percent
10.11 	by number of their products sold in this state and 95 percent or
10.12 	greater reuse or recycling of the components and materials
10.13 	contained in their products.
10.14 	(c) By January 1, 2007, the commissioner of administration
10.15 	shall establish purchasing and procurement policies requiring
10.16 	vendors of electronic equipment sold to the state to take back
10.17 	electronic waste when the equipment becomes obsolete, is
10.18 	discarded, or is otherwise taken out of service.  The policies
10.19 	must also establish a preference for electronic equipment that
10.20 	meets specified environmental performance standards relating to
10.21 	the reduction or elimination of hazardous materials.
10.22 	(d) The Pollution Control Agency must establish a
10.23 	multistakeholder Oversight and Advisory Committee by January 1,
10.24 	2007, for the purpose of overseeing producer program plan
10.25 	implementation, reviewing producer plan annual reports, and
10.26 	identifying and recommending additional products to be included
10.27 	as electronic waste.  An annual report consistent with this
10.28 	section must be submitted to the legislature commencing in
10.29 	February 2006.

10.30 	Sec. 11. REPEALER.
 10.31 	Sections 1 to 10 are repealed 90 days after the director
10.32 	publishes a notice in the State Register that a national program
10.33 	for collecting, transporting, and reusing or recycling
10.34 	electronic waste is established and implemented and is
10.35 	determined to be functioning in a manner that complies with
10.36 	environmental and health laws without shifting fiscal burdens to
11.1 	state agencies or local units of government.

11.2 	Sec. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.
 11.3 	Sections 1 to 11 are effective January 1, 2006.