Recycling: household batteries pilot projects.

(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, authorizes the department to conduct a study on the disposal and recyclability of household batteries. This bill would require the department to develop and fund up to 3 local battery recycling pilot projects, which would be required to provide data to the department regarding the implementation and outcomes of the pilot projects. The department would be required, on or before 6 months after the pilot projects are complete, to review and compile the information collected from the pilot projects, make the information available to local agencies, and develop informational guidelines to assist local governments. (2) Existing law requires an operator of a solid waste disposal facility to pay a quarterly fee to the State Board of Equalization based on the amount of solid waste disposed of at each disposal site. The fees and all money received by the department, unless otherwise specified, are required to be deposited in the Integrated Waste Management Account in the Integrated Waste Management Fund, and the department is authorized to expend the money in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to administer and implement the act. This bill would appropriate $1,500,000 from certain fees deposited in the account to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to develop and fund battery recycling pilot projects pursuant to the bill.