No. CS/SB 912
Filed under Environment & Water.
Battery Collection and Recovery; Creating the "Safe Battery Collection and Recovery Act"; requiring a producer to fulfill certain requirements, beginning on a specified date, before selling, offering for sale, or distributing for sale in this state any covered battery or battery-containing product; requiring a BSO operating in this state to submit a battery stewardship plan to the Department of Environmental Protection for review and approval, beginning on a specified date; providing fiscal duties for a BSO implementing an approved battery stewardship plan; requiring a BSO to submit a report to the department annually beginning on a specified date, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDStarting January 1, 2028, a producer may not sell, offer, or distribute a covered battery or battery-powered product in Florida unless it has joined an approved stewardship organization running a statewide collection plan.
The stewardship organization pays for collection, recycling, and public education, and must reimburse local governments that host drop-off sites. Producers, retailers, and the organization itself may not charge shoppers a point-of-sale fee for this.
Within three years of plan approval, portable-battery drop-off points must reach 95 percent of residents within a 15-mile radius, and at least ten sites statewide must take larger batteries.
Starting the same date, throwing a covered battery in the trash, a landfill, or an incinerator becomes illegal. Violators face a $1,000 civil fine per incident, and lying to regulators about a stewardship plan is a felony.
AIBeginning January 1, 2028, a company that makes, brands, or imports a covered battery or battery-powered product cannot legally sell or distribute it in Florida unless it belongs to a battery stewardship organization operating under a plan the state has approved.
AIThe stewardship organization is financially responsible for the whole program, including reimbursing a local government or solid-waste facility for demonstrable costs when it serves as a collection site, so long as that site collects more than 200 pounds a year.
AIWithin three years of a plan's approval, a stewardship organization must have a permanent portable-battery collection site within 15 miles of at least 95 percent of Florida residents, plus at least ten sites statewide for larger batteries.
AIBeginning January 1, 2028, disposing of a covered battery anywhere other than an approved collection site or event becomes illegal, including placing one in a landfill, an incinerator, or a recycling stream not meant for batteries.
AIAny violation of the act carries a $1,000 civil penalty per instance, and a person who knowingly lies to the state about a battery stewardship plan commits a third-degree felony.
AIProducers, retailers, and stewardship organizations cannot pass the cost of running the collection and recycling program to consumers through a separate point-of-sale charge; the industry itself must absorb the expense.
AIA producer, retailer, or stewardship organization cannot be sued for an antitrust or unfair-competition violation for conduct that complies with an approved stewardship plan, even though the plan coordinates pricing and operations among competitors.
AIThe existing battery statute, section 403.7192, is eliminated outright as this new fourteen-section framework takes its place, replacing whatever requirements the old law imposed.