AB 2: Recycling: solar photovoltaic modules.

The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (act) requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect from a consumer at the time of retail sale a covered electronic waste recycling fee or a covered battery-embedded waste recycling fee, as specified. The act defines covered electronic device to include certain video display devices and battery-embedded products. The act requires all charges collected pursuant to the act to be deposited into specified subaccounts within the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, and outlines certain other requirements related to the establishment, adjustment, and administration of the charge. Moneys in the subaccounts are continuously appropriated for specified purposes, including, but not limited to, paying covered electronic waste recycling fee refunds and making electronic waste recovery and recycling payments. Moneys in the account may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for other specified purposes, including the administration of the act by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and to provide funding to DTSC to implement and enforce the hazardous waste control laws as they relate to covered electronic devices.

Existing law incorporates the requirements and other provisions of the act by reference as requirements and provisions of the hazardous waste control laws. The act also expressly authorizes DTSC to enforce the act, and all regulations adopted pursuant to the act, through the hazardous waste control laws. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime.

This bill would, among other things, expand the definition of covered electronic device to include a customer-owned solar PV module, as defined, thereby expanding the scope of the act to include covered solar photovoltaic (PV) module products, for limited purposes, as provided. The bill would also require, on or before October 1, 2026, and on or before October 1 each year thereafter, CalRecycle to establish a covered solar PV recycling fee based on the reasonable regulatory costs to administer covered electronic waste recycling. The bill would require the charge to be imposed upon a consumer or a service provider serving the consumer for the purchase of a new or refurbished covered solar PV module product. The bill would also require the charge to be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index. The bill would create the Covered Solar PV Module Recycling Fee Subaccount as a continuously appropriated fund in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account. Because the funds deposited to the Covered Solar PV Module Recycling Fee Subaccount would be a new source of funds in the continuously appropriated subaccount within the continuously appropriated Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, the bill would make an appropriation. By expanding the scope of the act to make it applicable to covered solar PV module products, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.

Beginning January 1, 2028, the bill would require a solar photovoltaic module, that is not a customer-owned solar PV module, to be included in a plan that describes how the module will be managed at the end of its useful life, who is responsible for managing it, and how it will be recycled, refurbished, or reused.

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.