Illinois Compiled Statutes 415 ILCS 97 Mercury Switch Removal Act. Section 15

    (415 ILCS 97/15)

    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2017)

    Sec. 15. Mercury switch collection programs.

    (a) Within 60 days of the effective date of this Act, manufacturers of vehicles in Illinois that contain mercury switches must begin to implement a mercury switch collection program that facilitates the removal of mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles before the vehicles are flattened, crushed, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling and to collect and properly manage mercury switches in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and regulations adopted thereunder. In order to ensure that the mercury switches are removed and collected in a safe and consistent manner, manufacturers must, to the extent practicable, use the currently available end-of-life vehicle recycling infrastructure. The collection program must be designed to achieve capture rates of not less than (i) 35% for the period of July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007; (ii) 50% for the period of July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008; and (iii) 70% for the period of July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009 and for each subsequent period of July 1 through June 30. At a minimum, the collection program must:

        (1) Develop and provide educational materials

    that include guidance as to which vehicles may contain mercury switches and procedures for locating and removing mercury switches. The materials may include, but are not limited to, brochures, fact sheets, and videos.

        (2) Conduct outreach activities to encourage

    vehicle recyclers and vehicle crushers to participate in the mercury switch collection program. The activities may include, but are not limited to, direct mailings, workshops, and site visits.

        (3) Provide storage containers to

    participating vehicle recyclers and vehicle crushers for mercury switches removed under the program.

        (4) Provide a collection and transportation

    system to periodically collect and replace filled storage containers from vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, and scrap metal recyclers, either upon notification that a storage container is full or on a schedule predetermined by the manufacturers.

        (5) Establish an entity that will serve as a

    point of contact for the collection program and that will establish, implement, and oversee the collection program on behalf of the manufacturers.

        (6) Track participation in the collection

    program and the progress of mercury switch removals and collections.

    (b) Within 90 days of the effective date of this Act, manufacturers of vehicles in Illinois that contain mercury switches must submit to the Agency an implementation plan that describes how the collection program under subsection (a) of this Section will be carried out for the duration of the program and how the program will achieve the capture rates set forth in subsection (a) of this Section. At a minimum, the implementation plan must:

        (A) Identify the educational materials that

    will assist vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, and scrap metal processors in identifying, removing, and properly managing mercury switches removed from end-of-life vehicles.

        (B) Describe the outreach program that will be

    undertaken to encourage vehicle recyclers and vehicle crushers to participate in the mercury switch collection program.

        (C) Describe how the manufacturers will ensure

    that mercury switches removed from end-of-life vehicles are managed in accordance with the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and regulations adopted thereunder.

        (D) Describe how the manufacturers will collect

    and document the information required in the quarterly reports submitted pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section.

        (E) Describe how the collection program will be

    financed and implemented.

        (F) Identify the manufacturer's address to

    which the Agency should send the notice required under subsection (f) of this Section.

    The Agency shall review the collection program plans it receives for completeness and shall notify the manufacturer in writing if a plan is incomplete. Within 30 days after receiving a notification of incompleteness from the Agency the manufacturer shall submit to the Agency a plan that contains all of the required information.

    (c) The Agency must provide assistance to manufacturers in their implementation of the collection program required under this Section. The assistance shall include providing manufacturers with information about businesses likely to be engaged in vehicle recycling or vehicle crushing, conducting site visits to promote participation in the collection program, and assisting with the scheduling, locating, and staffing of workshops conducted to encourage vehicle recyclers and vehicle crushers to participate in the collection program.

    (d) Manufacturers subject to the collection program requirements of this Section shall provide, to the extent practicable, the opportunity for trade associations of vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, and scrap metal recyclers to be involved in the delivery and dissemination of educational materials regarding the identification, removal, collection, and proper management of mercury switches in end-of-life vehicles.

    (e) (Blank).

    (f) If the reports required under this Act indicate that the capture rates set forth in subsection (a) of this Section for the period of July 1, 2007, though June 30, 2008, or for any subsequent period have not been met the Agency shall provide notice that the capture rate was not met; provided, however, that the Agency is not required to provide notice if it determines that the capture rate was not met due to a force majeure. The Agency shall provide the notice by posting a statement on its website and by sending a written notice via certified mail to the manufacturers subject to the collection program requirement of this Section at the addresses provided in the manufacturers' collection plans. Once the Agency provides notice pursuant to this subsection (f) it is not required to provide notice in subsequent periods in which the capture rate is not met.

    (g) Beginning 30 days after the Agency first provides notice pursuant to subsection (f) of this Section, the following shall apply:

        (1) Vehicle recyclers must remove all mercury

    switches from each end-of-life vehicle before delivering the vehicle to an on-site or off-site vehicle crusher or to a scrap metal recycler, provided that a vehicle recycler is not required to remove a mercury switch that is inaccessible due to significant damage to the vehicle in the area surrounding the mercury switch that occurred before the vehicle recycler's receipt of the vehicle in which case the damage must be noted in the records the vehicle recycler is required to maintain under subsection (c) of Section 10 of this Act.

        (2) No vehicle recycler, vehicle crusher, or scrap

    metal recycler shall flatten, crush, or otherwise process an end-of-life vehicle for recycling unless all mercury switches have been removed from the vehicle, provided that a mercury switch that is inaccessible due to significant damage to the vehicle in the area surrounding the mercury switch that occurred before the vehicle recycler's, vehicle crusher's, or scrap metal recycler's receipt of the vehicle is not required to be removed. The damage must be noted in the records the vehicle recycler or vehicle crusher is required to maintain under subsection (c) of Section 10 of this Act.

        (3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (2) of

    this subsection (g), a scrap metal recycler may agree to accept an end-of-life vehicle that contains one or more mercury switches and that has not been flattened, crushed, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling provided the scrap metal recycler removes all mercury switches from the vehicle before the vehicle is flattened, crushed, shredded, or otherwise processed for recycling. Scrap metal recyclers are not required to remove a mercury switch that is inaccessible due to significant damage to the vehicle in the area surrounding the mercury switch that occurred before the scrap metal recycler's receipt of the vehicle. The damage must be noted in the records the scrap metal recycler is required to maintain under subsection (c) of Section 10 of this Act.

        (4) Manufacturers subject to the collection program

    requirements of this Section must provide to vehicle recyclers, vehicle crushers, and scrap metal recyclers the following compensation for all mercury switches removed from end-of-life vehicles on or after the date of the notice: $2.00 for each mercury switch removed by the vehicle recycler, vehicle crusher, or the scrap metal recycler, the costs of the containers in which the mercury switches are collected, and the costs of packaging and transporting the mercury switches off-site. Payment of this compensation must be provided in a prompt manner.

    (h) In meeting the requirements of this Section manufacturers may work individually or as part of a group of 2 or more manufacturers.

(Source: P.A. 97-459, eff. 7-1-12.)

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Last modified: February 18, 2015