Expands the types of batteries included in the rechargeable battery recycling program

STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1340 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to recy- cling certain rechargeable batteries The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 27-1803 of the environmental 2 conservation law, as added by chapter 562 of the laws of 2010, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 4. "rechargeable battery" means any rechargeable nickel-cadmium, 5 sealed lead, lithium ion, nickel metal hydride battery, or any other 6 such dry cell battery capable of being recharged [ weighing less than 7 twenty-five pounds ], or battery packs containing such batteries[ ; but 8 shall not include a battery used as the principal electric power source 9 for a vehicle, such as, but not limited to, an automobile, boat, truck, 10 tractor, golf cart or wheelchair; for storage of electricity generated 11 by an alternative power source, such as solar or wind-driven generators; 12 or for memory backup that is an integral component of an electronic 13 device ]; 14 § 2. Section 27-1807 of the environmental conservation law is amended 15 by adding a new subdivision 1-a to read as follows: 16 1-a. a. Any consumer purchasing a new rechargeable nickel-cadmium, 17 sealed lead, lithium ion, nickel metal hydride battery, or any other 18 such dry cell battery capable of being recharged who does not return a 19 used rechargeable battery to the retailer at the time of such purchase 20 shall pay such retailer a return incentive payment of five dollars per 21 rechargeable battery sold. 22 b. A retailer shall refund to a consumer the five dollar return incen- 23 tive payment collected pursuant to this subdivision if, within thirty 24 days of the date of the purchase of a new rechargeable battery, the 25 consumer returns to such retailer a used rechargeable battery of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03408-01-5 A. 1340 2 1 same type as the newly purchased rechargeable battery. Any return incen- 2 tive payment not refunded to the consumer pursuant to this subdivision 3 shall be retained by the retailer. 4 c. In collecting a return incentive payment pursuant to this subdivi- 5 sion, the retailer shall inform the consumer of the retailer's obli- 6 gation to refund such return incentive payment to such consumer should 7 the consumer return a used rechargeable battery within thirty days. 8 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.