Battery Stewardship Program Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2021

1 __________________________ 1 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh 2 3 4 5 A BILL 6 7 ___________ 8 9 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 10 11 _______________ 12 13 To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Sustainable Solid 14 Waste Management Amendment Act of 2014 to extend the deadline for the submission of 15 proposed battery stewardship plans by battery stewardship organizations to January 1, 16 2023. 17 18 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 19 resolution may be cited as the “Battery Stewardship Program Emergency Declaration Resolution 20 of 2021”. 21 Sec. 2. (a) Section 129(b) of the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act 22 of 2014, effective March 16, 2021 (D.C. Law 20-154; D.C. Official Code § 8-771.02), requires 23 battery stewardship organizations to submit proposed battery stewardship plans to the 24 Department of Energy and the Environment (“DOEE”) by January 1, 2022. These provisions 25 were funded in the Fiscal Year 2022 Local Budget Act of 2021 and became effective on October 26 1, 2021. 27 (b) A proposed battery stewardship plan must include a list of producers and brands, an 28 anticipated annual budget for the battery stewardship plan, performance goals for each of the 29 first 3 years of implementation, a description of how the battery stewardship organization will 30 provide for the collection of batteries from consumers, a description of how the organization will 31 arrange for components of the batteries to be recycled, a list of key participants in the battery 32 2 collection program, a description of the education and outreach that will be used to inform 33 consumers about the battery collection program, and any other information required by the 34 Mayor through rulemaking. 35 (c) It has recently come to light that the January 1, 2021, deadline does not give battery 36 stewardship organizations sufficient time to develop their proposed battery stewardship plans for 37 submission to DOEE because DOEE has not yet issued the regulations necessary to instruct the 38 battery stewardship organizations on what to include in their proposed plans. 39 (d) This emergency legislation is necessary to give DOEE sufficient time to issue the 40 regulations and to give battery stewardship organizations sufficient time to develop and submit 41 their proposed battery stewardship plans to DOEE. 42 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 43 enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Battery 44 Stewardship Program Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 be adopted after a single reading. 45 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 46