Secure E-Waste Export and Recycling Act

I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2998 To control the export of electronic waste in order to ensure that such waste does not become the source of counterfeit goods that may reenter military and civilian electronics supply chains in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 24, 2025 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself and Mr. D IAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To control the export of electronic waste in order to ensure that such waste does not become the source of counter- feit goods that may reenter military and civilian elec- tronics supply chains in the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure E-Waste Ex-4 port and Recycling Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPORT CONTROLS ON ELECTRONIC WASTE. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2998 IH (1) ELECTRONIC WASTE .— 1 (A) I N GENERAL .—The term ‘‘electronic 2 waste’’ means any of the following used items 3 containing electronic components, or fragments 4 thereof, including parts or subcomponents of 5 such items: 6 (i) Computers and related equipment. 7 (ii) Data center equipment (including 8 servers, network equipment, firewalls, bat-9 tery backup systems, and power distribu-10 tion units). 11 (iii) Mobile computers (including note-12 books, netbooks, tablets, and ebook read-13 ers). 14 (iv) Televisions (including portable 15 televisions and portable DVD players). 16 (v) Video display devices (including 17 monitors, digital picture frames, and port-18 able video devices). 19 (vi) Digital imaging devices (including 20 printers, copiers, facsimile machines, image 21 scanners, and multifunction machines). 22 (vii) Consumer electronics— 23 (I) including digital cameras, 24 projectors, digital audio players, cel-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2998 IH lular phones and wireless internet 1 communication devices, audio equip-2 ment, video cassette recorders, DVD 3 players, video game systems (includ-4 ing portable systems), video game 5 controllers, signal converter boxes, 6 and cable and satellite receivers; and 7 (II) not including appliances that 8 have electronic features. 9 (viii) Portable global positioning sys-10 tem navigation devices. 11 (ix) Other used electronic items that 12 the Secretary determines to be necessary 13 to carry out this section. 14 (B) EXEMPT ITEMS .—The term ‘‘electronic 15 waste’’ does not include— 16 (i) exempted electronic waste items; 17 (ii) electronic parts of a motor vehicle; 18 or 19 (iii) electronic components, or items 20 containing electronic components, that are 21 exported or reexported to an entity under 22 the ownership or control of the person ex-23 porting or reexporting the components or 24 items, with the intent that the components 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2998 IH or items be used for the purpose for which 1 the components or items were used in the 2 United States. 3 (2) EXEMPTED ELECTRONIC WASTE ITEMS .— 4 (A) I N GENERAL .—The term ‘‘exempted 5 electronic waste items’’ means the following: 6 (i) Tested, working used electronics. 7 (ii) Low-risk counterfeit electronics. 8 (iii) Recalled electronics. 9 (B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 10 (i) T ESTED, WORKING USED ELEC -11 TRONICS.—The term ‘‘tested, working used 12 electronics’’ means any used electronic 13 items that— 14 (I) are determined, through test-15 ing methodologies established by the 16 Secretary, to be— 17 (aa) fully functional for the 18 purpose for which the items were 19 designed; or 20 (bb) in the case of multi-21 function devices, fully functional 22 for at least one of the primary 23 purposes for which the items 24 were designed; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2998 IH (II) are exported with the intent 1 to reuse the products as functional 2 products; and 3 (III) are appropriately packaged 4 for shipment to prevent the items 5 from losing functionality as a result of 6 damage during shipment. 7 (ii) L OW-RISK COUNTERFEIT ELEC -8 TRONICS.—The term ‘‘low-risk counterfeit 9 electronics’’ means any electronic compo-10 nents or items that— 11 (I) have been subjected to de-12 struction processes that render the 13 items unusable for their original pur-14 pose; and 15 (II) are exported as a feedstock, 16 with no additional mechanical or hand 17 separation required, in a reclamation 18 process to render the electronic com-19 ponents or items recycled consistent 20 with the laws of the foreign country 21 performing the reclamation process. 22 (iii) R ECALLED ELECTRONICS .—The 23 term ‘‘recalled electronics’’ means any elec-24 tronic items that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2998 IH (I) because of a defect in the de-1 sign or manufacture of the items— 2 (aa) are subject to a recall 3 notice issued by the Consumer 4 Product Safety Commission or 5 other pertinent Federal authority 6 and have been received by the 7 manufacturer or its agent and re-8 paired by the manufacturer or its 9 agent to cure the defect; or 10 (bb) have been recalled by 11 the manufacturer as a condition 12 of the validity of the warranty on 13 the items and have been repaired 14 by the manufacturer or its agent 15 to cure the defect; and 16 (II) are exported by the manufac-17 turer of the items. 18 (iv) F EEDSTOCK.—The term ‘‘feed-19 stock’’ means any raw material consti-20 tuting the principal input for an industrial 21 process. 22 (3) C OUNTERFEIT GOOD .—The term ‘‘counter-23 feit good’’ means any good on which, or in connec-24 tion with which, a counterfeit mark is used. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2998 IH (4) C OUNTERFEIT MILITARY GOOD .—The term 1 ‘‘counterfeit military good’’ means a counterfeit good 2 that— 3 (A) is falsely identified or labeled as meet-4 ing military specifications; or 5 (B) is intended for use in a military or na-6 tional security application. 7 (5) C OUNTERFEIT MARK .—The term ‘‘counter-8 feit mark’’ has the meaning given that term in sec-9 tion 2320 of title 18, United States Code. 10 (6) E XPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS .— 11 The term ‘‘Export Administration Regulations’’ 12 means the regulations set forth in subchapter C of 13 chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, 14 or successor regulations. 15 (7) E XPORT; REEXPORT.—The terms ‘‘export’’ 16 and ‘‘reexport’’ have the meanings given such terms 17 in section 1742 of the Export Control Reform Act 18 of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801). 19 (8) S ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 the Secretary of Commerce. 21 (9) U SED.—The term ‘‘used’’, with respect to 22 an item, means the item has been operated or em-23 ployed. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2998 IH (b) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsections 1 (c) and (d), no person or entity may export or reexport 2 electronic waste or exempted electronic waste items. 3 (c) E XPORT PROHIBITION EXEMPTIONS.—A person 4 or entity may export or reexport exempted electronic waste 5 items, but only if the following requirements are met: 6 (1) R EGISTRATION.—The person or entity is 7 listed on a publicly available registry maintained by 8 the Secretary. 9 (2) F ILING OF EXPORT INFORMATION .—For 10 each export transaction, the person or entity files in 11 the Automated Export System, in accordance with 12 part 758 of the Export Administration Regulations 13 (or any corresponding similar regulation or ruling), 14 electronic export information that contains at least 15 the following information: 16 (A) A description of the type and total 17 quantity of exempted electronic waste items ex-18 ported. 19 (B) The name of each country that re-20 ceived the exempted electronic waste items for 21 reuse or recycling. 22 (C)(i) The name of the ultimate consignee 23 to which the exempted electronic waste items 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2998 IH were received for reclamation, recall, or reuse; 1 and 2 (ii) documentation and a declaration that 3 such consignee has the necessary permits, re-4 sources, and competence to manage the exempt-5 ed electronic waste items as reusable products 6 or recyclable feedstock and prevent its release 7 as a counterfeit good or counterfeit military 8 good. 9 (3) C OMPLIANCE WITH EXISTING LAWS .—The 10 export or reexport of exempted electronic waste 11 items otherwise comply with applicable international 12 agreements to which the United States is a party 13 and with other trade and export control laws of the 14 United States. 15 (4) E XPORT DECLARATIONS AND REQUIRE -16 MENTS.—The exempted electronic waste items are 17 accompanied by— 18 (A) documentation of the registration of 19 the exporter required under paragraph (1); 20 (B) a declaration signed by an officer or 21 designated representative of the exporter assert-22 ing that the exempted electronic waste items 23 meet the applicable requirements for exempted 24 electronic waste items under this section; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2998 IH (C) a description of the contents and con-1 dition of the exempted electronic waste items in 2 the shipment; 3 (D) for tested, working electronics, a de-4 scription of the testing methodologies and test 5 results for each item; 6 (E) the name of the ultimate consignee 7 and declaration of the consignee’s applicable 8 permits, resources, and competence to process 9 or use the items as intended; and 10 (F) with respect to low-risk counterfeit 11 electronics only and when required by the im-12 porting country, the written consent of the com-13 petent authority of the receiving country to 14 allow the products in such country. 15 (d) E XCEPTION FOR PERSONAL USE.—The Sec-16 retary may provide for an exception to the requirements 17 of this section, subject to such recordkeeping requirements 18 as the Secretary may impose, for the export or reexport 19 of 20 or fewer items that are or contain electronic compo-20 nents intended for personal use. 21 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 22 (1) I N GENERAL .—Subject to paragraph (2), 23 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2998 IH the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enact-1 ment of this Act. 2 (2) M ODIFICATION OF EAR .—The Secretary 3 shall, not later than the effective date under para-4 graph (1), ensure that the Export Administration 5 Regulations are modified to carry out this section. 6 (f) P ENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—Any person who 7 violates this section or the regulations issued under sub-8 section (e)(2) shall be subject to the same penalties as 9 those that apply to any person violating any other provi-10 sion of the Export Administration Regulations. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 May 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB