(a)By July 1, 2025, each battery stewardship organization must submit to the Agency for approval a plan for covered batteries. The Agency shall review and approve a plan based on whether it:
(1)lists and provides contact information for each producer, battery brand, and battery-containing product brand covered in the plan, including identifying producers who have contractually accepted responsibility as a producer in accordance with paragraph (3) of the definition of producer in this Act;
(2)proposes performance goals, consistent with Section 30, including establishing performance goals for each of the next 3 upcoming calendar years of program implementation;
(3)describes how the battery stewardship organization will make retailers aware of their obligation to sell only covered batteri
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(a) By July 1, 2025, each battery stewardship organization must submit to the Agency for approval a plan for covered batteries. The Agency shall review and approve a plan based on whether it: (1) lists and provides contact information for each producer, battery brand, and battery-containing product brand covered in the plan, including identifying producers who have contractually accepted responsibility as a producer in accordance with paragraph (3) of the definition of producer in this Act; (2) proposes performance goals, consistent with Section 30, including establishing performance goals for each of the next 3 upcoming calendar years of program implementation; (3) describes how the battery stewardship organization will make retailers aware of their obligation to sell only covered batteries and battery-containing products containing one or more covered batteries of producers participating in an approved plan; (4) describes the education and communications strategy being implemented to promote participation in the approved covered battery stewardship program and provide the information necessary for effective participation of consumers, retailers, and others; (5) describes how the battery stewardship organization will make available to collection sites, for voluntary use, signage, written materials, and other promotional materials that collection sites may use to inform consumers of the available end-of-life management options for covered batteries collected by the battery stewardship organization; (6) lists promotional activities to be undertaken, and the identification of consumer awareness goals and strategies that the program will employ to achieve these goals after the program begins to be implemented; (7) includes collection site safety training procedures related to covered battery collection activities at collection sites, including a description of operating protocols to reduce risks of spills or fires, response protocols in the event of a spill or fire, and protocols for safe management of damaged batteries that are returned to collection sites; (8) describes the method to establish and administer a means for fully funding the program in a manner that equitably distributes the program's costs among the producers that are part of the battery stewardship organization. For producers that choose to meet the requirements of this Act individually, without joining a battery stewardship organization, the plan must describe the proposed method to establish and administer a means for fully funding the program; (9) describes the financing methods used to implement the plan, consistent with Section 35; (10) describes how the program will collect all covered battery chemistries and brands on a free, continuous, convenient, visible, and accessible basis, and consistent with the requirements of Section 40, including a description of how the statewide convenience standard will be met and a list of collection sites supported by the battery stewardship program, including the address of collection sites supported by the battery stewardship program; (11) provides explanation for any delay anticipated by the battery stewardship organization for the implementation of the management of medium-format batteries such that implementation will begin later than January 1, 2026, including a delay in the ability to collect, package, transport, or process medium-format batteries in accordance with the requirements of this Act, and establishes an expected date of compliance for management of medium-format batteries that is not later than January 1, 2028 if a delay occurs; (l2) describes the criteria to be used in the program to determine whether an entity may serve as a collection site for covered batteries under the program; (13) establishes collection rate goals for each of the first 3 years of implementation of the battery stewardship plan that are based on the estimated total weight of primary and rechargeable covered batteries that have been sold in the State in the previous 3 calendar years by the producers participating in the battery stewardship plan; (14) identifies proposed service providers, such as sorters, transporters, and processors, to be used by the program for the final disposition of batteries and proposed provisions for recordkeeping, tracking, and documenting the fate of collected covered batteries; (15) details how the program will achieve a recycling efficiency rate, calculated in accordance with Section 50, of at least 60% for rechargeable batteries and at least 70% for primary batteries; and (16) proposes goals for increasing public awareness of the program and describes how the public education and outreach components of the program under Section 45 will be implemented. (b) A battery stewardship organization must submit a new plan to the Agency for approval no less than every 5 years. If the performance goals under Section 30 of this Act and as approved in the plan have not been met, the new plan shall include corrective measures to be implemented by the battery stewardship organization to meet the performance goals, which may include improvements to the collection site network or increased expenditures dedicated to education and outreach. (c) A battery stewardship organization must provide plan amendments to the Agency for approval when proposing changes to the performance goals under Section 30 based on the up-to-date experience of the program or when there is a change to the method of financing plan implementation under Section 35. This does not include changes to the fees or fee structure established in the plan, or the addition or removal of a collection location to the battery stewardship program because of changes to an Agency-sponsored household battery recycling program. (d) The Agency shall review stewardship plans and stewardship plan amendments for compliance with this Act and shall approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve the plans or plan amendments in writing within 120 days of their receipt. If the Agency disapproves a stewardship plan or plan amendment submitted by a battery stewardship organization, the Agency shall explain how the stewardship plan or plan amendment does not comply with this Act. The battery stewardship organization shall resubmit to the Agency a revised stewardship plan or plan amendment or notice of plan withdrawal within 60 days of the date the written notice of disapproval is issued, and the Agency shall review the revised stewardship plan or plan amendment within 90 days of resubmittal. If a revised stewardship plan is disapproved by the Agency, a producer operating under the stewardship plan shall not be in compliance with this Act until the Agency approves a stewardship plan submitted by a battery stewardship organization that covers the producer's products. (e) When a stewardship plan or an amendment to an approved plan is submitted under this Section, the Agency shall make the proposed plan or amendment available for public review and comment for at least 30 days. (f) A battery stewardship organization must provide written notification to the Agency within 30 days of a producer beginning or ceasing to participate in a battery stewardship organization or of adding or removing a processor or transporter.