Expands the types of batteries included in the rechargeable battery recycling program to include certain car batteries and requires consumers to pay a five dollar incentive payment when purchasing a new rechargeable battery if the consumer does not return an old rechargeable battery for recycling.
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.
