Recycling: hazardous waste: photovoltaic panels: collection and recycling programs.

(1) The Hazardous Waste Control Law, among other things, vests the Department of Toxic Substances Control with the authority to regulate the generation and disposal of hazardous waste. Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control to exempt, by regulations adopted until January 1, 2008, a hazardous waste management activity from certain statutory requirements related to hazardous waste management if specified conditions for exemption are met, including that the regulations identify the waste as a universal waste. A violation of the Hazardous Waste Control Law, including a regulation adopted pursuant to that law, is a crime. This bill would require a photovoltaic panel that is classified as hazardous waste solely because it exhibits the characteristic of toxicity to be considered a universal waste. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations by January 1, 2016, to allow photovoltaic panels to be managed as universal waste and would require the standards for the management of universal waste photovoltaic panels to be identical to the standards for the management of universal waste electronic devices, except as specified. Because a violation of these regulations would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires a retailer of various specified products, such as rechargeable batteries and cell phones, sold in the state to have in place a system for the acceptance and collection of those products for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. This bill would establish the California Photovoltaic Panel Collection and Recycling Act of 2014, and would require a producer of photovoltaic panels, on or before July 1, 2016, to establish and operate a take-back program to provide for the collection, transportation, recovery, and recycling of end-of-life photovoltaic panels, or to participate as a member in a take-back program operated by, or on behalf of, 2 or more producers. The bill would allow a producer to enter an agreement with a business consumer to establish an alternative contractual arrangement with regard to the end-of-life photovoltaic panels that are sold by the producer to the business consumer. The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to adopt regulations, by January 1, 2016, to set reasonably achievable collection targets for take-back programs and to establish a high-value recycling rate and a bulk recycling rate that take-back programs would be required to meet. The bill would also require the department to set the amount of the fee that a consumer submitting an end-of-life historic or orphan photovoltaic panel, as defined, to a take-back program would be required to pay to the program, based upon the reasonable costs of the program to handle, transport, and recycle the end-of-life photovoltaic panel. The bill would require the operator of a take-back program to submit to the department for approval a proposal to establish a take-back program containing specified elements no less than 60 days before beginning operation of the program. The operator would be required to submit an annual report to the department and pay an annual administrative fee to the department, which the department would be required to set at an amount to cover the department's reasonable costs of implementing and enforcing the act. The department would be required to deposit the fee revenues in the Photovoltaic Panel Collection Administration Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. The department would be authorized to expend the funds in the Photovoltaic Panel Collection Administration Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce the act. The bill would require a person that removes an end-of-life photovoltaic panel from a building or structure, other than the take-back program operator or the operator's employee, contractor, or representative, to contact the take-back program operator and follow all instructions received from the operator for participation in the take-back program. The bill would require a person removing an end-of life historic or orphan photovoltaic panel to submit the photovoltaic panel to a take-back program and pay the fee established by the department. The bill would provide for the imposition of civil penalties and administrative penalties upon a person who intentionally violates the act or a regulation adopted pursuant to the act, or who knowingly makes a false statement or representation in an application, record, report, or other document filed, maintained, or used for purposes of compliance with the act. The department would be required to deposit the penalties in the Photovoltaic Panel Penalty Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. The bill would authorize the department to expend the funds in the Photovoltaic Panel Penalty Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce the act. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.