USHB-9615Introduced

BRACE Act Battery Recycling for America’s Competitive Economy Act

Jurisdiction:: United States (federal)
Type:: EPR · Disposal Ban
Last action:: Jul 9, 2026

Batteries

Next steps for producers

Review this measure’s obligations and confirm whether they reach your products

Applies toNot specified in the bill

Obligations under this law

·Destination facilities that store lithium-ion batteries prior to recycling must comply with 40 CFR 273.33(a)(1), 273.35, 273.36, and 273.37 (requirements applicable to large quantity handlers of universal waste) in lieu of 40 CFR 273.60(a)
·Destination facilities that store lithium-ion batteries prior to recycling must also comply with 40 CFR 273.60(b) as if they did not store the batteries prior to recycling

No designated program action is recorded for this measure yet — treat the above as the general obligation and verify against the source text.

Bill establishes end-of-life lithium-ion battery management requirements under universal waste regulations, imposing handling and recycling obligations on destination facilities—a producer/importer responsibility mechanism for battery end-of-life; introduced July 2026, no passage yet.

Covered Products

·Lithium-ion batteries (batteries that use the movement of lithium ions between two electrodes to store and release energy)

Producer Obligations

·Destination facilities that store lithium-ion batteries prior to recycling must comply with 40 CFR 273.33(a)(1), 273.35, 273.36, and 273.37 (requirements applicable to large quantity handlers of universal waste) in lieu of 40 CFR 273.60(a)
·Destination facilities that store lithium-ion batteries prior to recycling must also comply with 40 CFR 273.60(b) as if they did not store the batteries prior to recycling

Producer Definition

Not specified in the bill

Enforcement

Not specified in the bill: Not specified in the bill

Preemption Notes

The bill modifies federal universal waste regulations under RCRA for lithium-ion battery destination facilities and updates the Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act (42 U.S.C. 14323(a)) to reference current CFR part 273 rather than the 1995 Federal Register citation. No explicit preemption of state law is included.

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Full bill text

I 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 9615 To support the recycling and recovery of lithium-ion batteries. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2026 Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To support the recycling and recovery of lithium-ion batteries. 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 ‘‘Battery Recycling for 4 America’s Competitive Economy Act’’ or the ‘‘BRACE 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. END OF LIFE LITHIUM-ION BATTERY MANAGEMENT. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 8 (1) D ESTINATION FACILITY .—The term ‘‘des-9 tination facility’’ has the meaning given such term 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Jul 09, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9615.IH H9615kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 9615 IH in section 273.9 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula-1 tions (or any successor regulations). 2 (2) L ARGE QUANTITY HANDLER OF UNIVERSAL 3 WASTE.—The term ‘‘large quantity handler of uni-4 versal waste’’ has the meaning given such term in 5 section 273.9 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula-6 tions (or any successor regulations). 7 (3) L ITHIUM-ION BATTERY .—The term ‘‘lith-8 ium-ion battery’’ means a battery that uses the 9 movement of lithium ions between two electrodes to 10 store and release energy. 11 (b) UNIVERSAL WASTE REGULATIONS FOR LITHIUM- 12 ION BATTERIES.—In lieu of the requirements described 13 in section 273.60(a) of title 40, Code of Federal Regula-14 tions (or any successor regulations), a destination facility 15 that stores lithium-ion batteries prior to recycling such 16 lithium-ion batteries shall comply with— 17 (1) the requirements described in sections 18 273.33(a)(1), 273.35, 273.36, and 272.37 of title 19 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 20 regulations), which would apply if the destination fa-21 cility were a large quantity handler of universal 22 waste; and 23 (2) the requirements described in section 24 273.60(b) of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Jul 09, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9615.IH H9615kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 9615 IH (or any successor regulations), which would apply if 1 the destination facility did not store the lithium-ion 2 batteries prior to recycling such lithium-ion bat-3 teries. 4 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL UPDATES TO THE MERCURY-CON-5 TAINING AND RECHARGEABLE BATTERY 6 MANAGEMENT ACT. 7 Section 104(a) of the Mercury-Containing and Re-8 chargeable Battery Management Act (42 U.S.C. 9 14323(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘60 Fed. Reg. 25492 10 (May 11, 1995), as effective on May 11, 1995’’, and in-11 serting ‘‘part 273 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations 12 (or any successor regulations)’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Jul 09, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H9615.IH H9615kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

Full text as ingested · via legiscan. Verify against the official source above.