A California bill requiring battery suppliers to pay the costs of moving electric vehicle batteries through their lifecycles has been set for an initial committee hearing by the state legislature April 2.
State Sen. Ben Allen introduced SB 615 on Feb. 20. It was referred to two committees, on transportation and on environmental quality, on March 5. The latter committee will hold the April 2 hearing.
The measure aims “to ensure all vehicle traction batteries are reused, repaired, repurposed, remanufactured, and eventually recycled” and would “require the battery supplier to pay the … actual and reasonable regulatory costs to implement and enforce” the new law, according to a legislative counsel’s digest of the bill.
Transaction reporting by battery suppliers, secondary users and handlers, and recyclers could also be affected.
The new bill is like one vetoed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year. Newsom said in his veto message on that measure, also SB 615, “I agree with the intent of this bill,” then cited “significant burden” on the state for the costs of implementing it. He favored “building on the success of existing producer responsibility models.”
Focus Likely to Fall on Costs and Reporting
This phrasing alludes to EPR, or “extended producer responsibility” for product lifecycles. In California and other states, manufacturers in some industries -- packaging, textiles, pharmaceuticals, mattresses, paint and some batteries, in California -- are responsible for recycling and related activities. Allen, for instance, in February introduced a bill to cover household hazardous waste via EPR.
This can mean manufacturers and suppliers pay the costs of a new program. SB 615 defines these groups and if passed establishes a Vehicle Traction Battery Fund financed by them.
Newsom’s veto cited the state’s “many reuse and recycling systems [that] significantly reduce waste and create jobs by turning a challenging product into a resource.” He said “new innovative industries” could form, “that use repurposed or recycled batteries.”
Media reports have projected growth in “battery-swapping” and “second-life” uses. The first is an alternative to drivers waiting for batteries to recharge; the second refers to reusing recycled batteries for other storage needs.
Veto message phrasing on how “to report EV battery transactions” echoed by one environmental group seemed also to seek strengthened battery recycling reporting protocols for and by those involved.
Allen after last year’s veto told Autobody News through a spokesperson he “would like to reintroduce the bill” after discussions with others “to see what needs to be tweaked and to chart out the best path forward.”
Currently Quite Similar and a Watchful Industry Eye
A comparison shows last year’s bill reads essentially similarly to this year’s, but now producer responsibility is noted first in the legislative counsel’s digest. Last year it first said batteries would move through a lifecycle “as provided,” followed by a reference to suppliers. Changes are expected through the process.
This year’s bill more broadly applies a definition of “responsible end-of-life management,” and it currently doesn’t include wording from last year mandating “all vehicle traction batteries in the state” be recovered.
A new law also means a unique ID for every battery, and includes provisions to reconcile the state law with future federal battery recycling rules. National proposals have been on-and-off active for at least five years.
The U.S. Department of Energy has been funding up to $200 million in projects to “improve the economics of electric drive vehicle battery recovery and re-use.” The third, final phase had been set to start late last year.
Allen’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on SB 615. Body shop industry groups including SEMA and the California Autobody Association declined comment.
CAA in a state legislation and regulation update in March noted the bill requires “automotive repair dealers” -- including collision repairers -- who remove a battery would be required to properly dispose of it.
The association also cited two related EV battery bills, AB 841 and AB 855, which cover battery storage by private businesses and planning for and preventing wildfires.
Newsom told media this year that EV batteries had complicated clean-up of this year’s wildfires.
Paul Hughes