I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2284 

To prohibit the export from the United States of certain electronic waste, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 22, 2011 

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 

LATOURETTE, and Mr. TERRY) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit the export from the United States of certain 

electronic waste, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsible Elec5 tronics Recycling Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC WASTE EXPORT RESTRICTIONS. 

2 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle C of the Solid Waste 

3 Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 3024. ELECTRONIC WASTE EXPORT RESTRICTIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 24 

7 months after the date of enactment of this section, no per8 son shall export restricted electronic waste to a country 

9 described in subsection (e). 

10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For 

11 purposes of this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) CONSIGNEE.—The term ‘consignee’ means 

13 the ultimate repair, refurbishment, treatment, stor14 age, or disposal facility in a receiving country to 

15 which restricted electronic waste will be sent. 

16 ‘‘(2) COVERED ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 

18 electronic equipment’ means the following used 

19 items, whole or in fragments, including parts, 

20 components, or assemblies thereof: 

21 ‘‘(i) Computers. 

22 ‘‘(ii) Central processing units. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Mobile computers (including 

24 notebooks, netbooks, tablets, and e-book 

25 readers). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Computer accessories (including 

2 input devices, webcams, speakers, data 

3 storage devices, servers, and monitors). 

4 ‘‘(v) Televisions (including portable 

5 televisions and portable DVD players). 

6 ‘‘(vi) Video display devices (including 

7 digital picture frames and portable video 

8 devices). 

9 ‘‘(vii) Digital imaging devices (includ10 ing printers, copiers, facsimile machines, 

11 image scanners, and multifunction ma12 chines). 

13 ‘‘(viii) Television peripheral devices 

14 (including video cassette recorders, DVD 

15 players, video game systems, game control16 lers, signal converter boxes, and cable and 

17 satellite receivers). 

18 ‘‘(ix) Digital cameras and projectors. 

19 ‘‘(x) Digital audio players. 

20 ‘‘(xi) Telephones and electronic com21 munication equipment (including cellular 

22 phones and wireless Internet communica23 tion devices). 


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1 ‘‘(xii) Networking devices (including 

2 routers, network cards, modems, and 

3 hubs). 

4 ‘‘(xiii) Audio equipment. 

5 ‘‘(xiv) Portable video game systems. 

6 ‘‘(xv) Personal digital assistants. 

7 ‘‘(xvi) Portable global positioning sys8 tem navigation devices. 

9 ‘‘(xvii) Other used electronic products 

10 the Administrator determines to be similar 

11 under the procedures promulgated in ac12 cordance with subsection (c). 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘covered elec14 tronic equipment’ shall not include parts of a 

15 motor vehicle. 

16 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTED ELECTRONIC WASTE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘restricted 

18 electronic waste’ means— 

19 ‘‘(i) items of covered electronic equip20 ment, that include, contain, are derived 

21 from, or consist of— 

22 ‘‘(I) cathode ray tubes or cathode 

23 ray tube glass in any form, or cathode 

24 ray tube phosphor residues or dusts in 

25 any form; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a lamp or other device con2 taining mercury phosphor; 

3 ‘‘(III) batteries containing— 

4 ‘‘(aa) lead, cadmium, or 

5 mercury; or 

6 ‘‘(bb) organic solvents exhib7 iting the characteristic of ignit8 ability, as defined in section 

9 261.21 of title 40, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations; 

11 ‘‘(IV) switches or any other de12 vices containing mercury; 

13 ‘‘(V) hexavalent chromium; 

14 ‘‘(VI) other than batteries de15 scribed in subclause (III), items con16 taining antimony, barium, cadmium, 

17 lead, thallium, beryllium, arsenic, or 

18 selenium, including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) circuit boards; 

20 ‘‘(bb) printer drums; 

21 ‘‘(cc) liquid crystal displays; 

22 ‘‘(dd) flatscreen glass; and 

23 ‘‘(ee) light emitting diodes; 

24 or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) any other covered electronic 

2 equipment, or materials derived therefrom, 

3 containing any other toxic material, in ele4 mental or compound form, identified by 

5 the Administrator under subsection (c). 

6 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘restricted 

7 electronic waste’ shall not apply to items de8 scribed in this subparagraph. 

9 ‘‘(i) DE MINIMIS.—Covered electronic 

10 equipment described in subparagraphs 

11 (A)(i)(VI) and (A)(ii), including separated 

12 component streams (such as plastics or 

13 metals), which does not exceed de minimis 

14 levels set by the Administrator under sub15 section (d). 

16 ‘‘(ii) REUSE.—Covered electronic 

17 equipment that is— 

18 ‘‘(I) tested prior to export pursu19 ant to subsection (i)(1), and found to 

20 be— 

21 ‘‘(aa) functional for the pur22 pose for which the equipment 

23 was designed, or, in the case of 

24 multifunction devices, fully func25 tional for at least one of the priVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:36 Jun 25, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2284.IH H2284

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1 mary purposes for which the 

2 equipment was designed; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) appropriately pack4 aged for shipment to prevent the 

5 equipment from losing 

6 functionality due to damage dur7 ing transit; and 

8 ‘‘(II) appropriately labeled or 

9 marked pursuant to subsection 

10 (i)(3)(A). 

11 ‘‘(iii) CERTAIN CATHODE RAY TUBE

12 GLASS.—Furnace-ready cathode ray tube 

13 glass cullet, cleaned of all phosphors, to be 

14 used as a direct feedstock in a lead-glass 

15 manufacturing furnace without further 

16 processing or preparation required other 

17 than quality control, which the competent 

18 authority in the importing country states 

19 in writing is not waste. 

20 ‘‘(iv) WARRANTIES.—Customer re21 turns, to point of sale, to original equip22 ment manufacturers, or to contractual 

23 warranty collectors, of recently purchased 

24 covered electronic equipment that is ei25 ther— 


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1 ‘‘(I) under original equipment 

2 manufacturer warranty to customers; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(II) under warranty from the 

5 original design manufacturer or origi6 nal component manufacturer to the 

7 original equipment manufacturer, or 

8 otherwise returned by the original 

9 purchaser of the electronic equipment, 

10 due to defect or customer dissatisfac11 tion, and the manufacturer accepts 

12 such returns for the purposes of re13 pair or replacement in order to return 

14 to the customer a functional working 

15 product or part of the same type and 

16 model, except that products and parts 

17 covered in this subparagraph shall not 

18 include— 

19 ‘‘(aa) covered electronic 

20 equipment accepted for return 

21 from individuals or businesses 

22 under general takeback, recy23 cling, trade-in (for purposes of 

24 recycling, disposal, sales pro25 motions, or obtaining credit for 


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1 product purchases or leases) or 

2 buy-back programs, events, or 

3 policies designed to collect used 

4 or waste electronic equipment; 

5 ‘‘(bb) covered electronic 

6 equipment returned at the end of 

7 leases to customers; or 

8 ‘‘(cc) covered electronic 

9 equipment collected by asset re10 covery programs. 

11 ‘‘(v) RECALLS.—Recalls of covered 

12 electronic equipment by an original equip13 ment manufacturer, original design manu14 facturer, or original component manufac15 turer where— 

16 ‘‘(I) the covered electronic equip17 ment is subject to recall notice issued 

18 by the Consumer Product Safety 

19 Commission or other pertinent Fed20 eral authority; 

21 ‘‘(II) the original design manu22 facturer or original component manu23 facturer requires the defective covered 

24 electronic equipment to be physically 


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1 returned to that manufacturer as a 

2 term of the warranty; and 

3 ‘‘(III) any export of recalled cov4 ered electronic equipment is to a 

5 country from whose competent au6 thority the Administrator receives 

7 written consent pursuant to sub8 section (h)(2). 

9 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING

10 CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.—Any reference to a chemical 

11 element shall be construed to be a reference to that 

12 element in compound or elemental form. 

13 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL COVERED ELECTRONIC EQUIP14 MENT AND RESTRICTED MATERIALS.—Not later than 18 

15 months after the date of enactment of this section, the 

16 Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity for pub17 lic comment, and after consultation with appropriate Fed18 eral and State agencies, develop and promulgate proce19 dures for identifying— 

20 ‘‘(1) similar electronic equipment to add to the 

21 list of covered electronic equipment under subsection 

22 (b)(2); and 

23 ‘‘(2) additional restricted toxic materials to add 

24 to the list in subsection (b)(3)(A)(ii), the presence of 


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1 which in covered electronic equipment poses a poten2 tial hazard to human health or the environment. 

3 Such procedures shall include a method for any interested 

4 party to propose a new product or material for review by 

5 the Administrator. 

6 ‘‘(d) DE MINIMIS LEVELS.—Not later than 18 

7 months after the date of enactment of this section, the 

8 Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity for pub9 lic comment, and after consultation with appropriate Fed10 eral and State agencies, develop and promulgate proce11 dures for identifying de minimis levels for restricted elec12 tronic waste described in subparagraphs (A)(i)(VI) and 

13 (A)(ii) of subsection (b)(3), below which such waste is de14 termined by the Administrator not to pose a potential haz15 ard to human health or the environment. 

16 ‘‘(e) COUNTRIES TO WHICH PROHIBITION AP17 PLIES.—The countries referred to in subsection (a) are all 

18 countries which are not— 

19 ‘‘(1) members of the Organization for Economic 

20 Co-operation and Development or the European 

21 Union; or 

22 ‘‘(2) Liechtenstein. 

23 ‘‘(f) NOTICE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—No person shall 

24 export covered electronic equipment described in sub25 section (b)(3)(B) to a country described in subsection (e) 


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1 unless, not later than 60 days before the initial export 

2 shipment, such person transmits to the Administrator 

3 written notice of an intended export. Such a notification 

4 may cover export activities extending over a maximum of 

5 12 months for the same type of covered electronic equip6 ment, exported to the same facility via the same transit 

7 countries. The notification shall include the following in8 formation: 

9 ‘‘(1) The name, mailing address, telephone 

10 number, and if applicable, the Environmental Pro11 tection Agency or Resource Conservation and Recov12 ery Act identification number. 

13 ‘‘(2) Documentation of licensing of the exporter 

14 under subsection (g). 

15 ‘‘(3) The name and site address of the con16 signee and any alternate consignee. 

17 ‘‘(4) A statement from the exporter that in18 cludes— 

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the type and total 

20 quantity of covered electronic equipment that 

21 will be exported to the consignee; 

22 ‘‘(B) the estimated frequency or rate at 

23 which such covered electronic equipment is to 

24 be exported, and the period of time over which 


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1 such covered electronic equipment is to be ex2 ported; 

3 ‘‘(C) all points of entry to and departure 

4 from each country through which the covered 

5 electronic equipment will pass in transit; 

6 ‘‘(D) a description of the means by which 

7 each shipment of the covered electronic equip8 ment will be transported, including the mode of 

9 transportation and type or types of container; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(E) a description of the manner in which 

12 the covered electronic equipment will be treated, 

13 stored, or disposed of in the receiving country. 

14 ‘‘(5) A list of all transit countries through 

15 which the covered electronic equipment will be trans16 ported, and a description of the approximate length 

17 of time the covered electronic equipment will remain 

18 in each country and the nature of its handling while 

19 there. 

20 ‘‘(g) LICENSE.—Covered electronic equipment may 

21 only be exported to a country described in subsection (e) 

22 under the exceptions to restricted electronic waste in sub23 section (b)(3)(B) by an entity licensed by the Adminis24 trator under regulations issued under subsection (i)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL EXPORT CONDITIONS FOR WAR2 RANTIES AND RECALLS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person shall export cov4 ered electronic equipment to a country described in 

5 subsection (e) under the exceptions to restricted 

6 electronic waste in subsections (b)(3)(B) (iv) or (v) 

7 unless— 

8 ‘‘(A) the export is made by an original 

9 equipment manufacturer or its contractual 

10 agent to the original design manufacturer or 

11 original component manufacturer’s site of last 

12 assembly, or to a company contracted to make 

13 warranty repairs, for the purposes of business 

14 credit to the original equipment manufacturer, 

15 repair or refurbishment and subsequent reuse, 

16 or replacement; 

17 ‘‘(B) the original equipment manufacturer 

18 has a presence and assets in the United States; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) the person who exports the covered 

21 electronic equipment— 

22 ‘‘(i) keeps copies of normal business 

23 records, such as contracts, demonstrating 

24 that each shipment of exported covered 

25 electronic equipment is intended for repair 


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1 or refurbishment and subsequent reuse, or 

2 replacement, which documentation shall be 

3 retained for a period of at least 3 years 

4 after the date of export; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) submits an annual report to the 

6 Administrator on the amount and types of 

7 waste resulting from the refurbishment or 

8 replacement process, and how it was dis9 posed of or recycled, which shall include— 

10 ‘‘(I) number and weight of units 

11 of products returned by the original 

12 equipment manufacturer for repair, 

13 refurbishment, or replacement listed 

14 by category and country of destina15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(II) the covered electronic 

17 equipment, or materials derived there18 from, sent onward to further reuse, 

19 disposal, or recycling following repair, 

20 refurbishment, or replacement, listed 

21 by weight, a description of the wastes, 

22 and the ultimate country destination. 

23 ‘‘(2) ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CONSENT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—No person shall ex25 port covered electronic equipment to a country 


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1 described in subsection (e) under the exceptions 

2 to restricted electronic waste in subsections 

3 (b)(3)(B) (iv) or (v) until the Administrator— 

4 ‘‘(i) obtains the written consent of the 

5 competent authority of the receiving coun6 try, and of each country through which the 

7 covered electronic equipment will pass in 

8 transit; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) transmits to the exporter an Ac10 knowledgment of Consent reflecting receipt 

11 of each country’s consent. 

12 ‘‘(B) COUNTRY NOTIFICATION.—In co13 operation with other appropriate agencies, the 

14 Administrator shall provide notification in writ15 ing of an intended export submitted under sub16 section (f) to the receiving country and any 

17 transit countries. 

18 ‘‘(C) CONSENT AND EXPORTER NOTIFICA19 TION.—When the receiving country and all 

20 transit countries consent in writing to the re21 ceipt or transit of the covered electronic equip22 ment, the Administrator shall transmit an Ac23 knowledgment of Consent to the exporter. The 

24 consent from a receiving or transit country may 

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1 fied duration as described in subsection (f). The 

2 exporter shall attach a copy of the Acknowledg3 ment of Consent to the shipping papers or 

4 equivalent documents to ensure that the Ac5 knowledgment of Consent accompanies the ship6 ment of covered electronic equipment. 

7 ‘‘(3) WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT.—Where the 

8 receiving country or a transit country objects to re9 ceipt or transit of the covered electronic equipment, 

10 or withdraws a prior consent, the Administrator 

11 shall notify the exporter in writing. 

12 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 

13 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 

14 shall issue regulations for carrying out this section, includ15 ing— 

16 ‘‘(1) testing requirements for covered electronic 

17 equipment proposed to be exported under subsection 

18 (b)(3)(B)(ii); 

19 ‘‘(2) establishing a process for licensing entities 

20 under subsection (g); 

21 ‘‘(3) in consultation with the appropriate Fed22 eral agency or agencies, provisions for an efficient 

23 export control regime which will allow for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) requiring a person exporting under 

2 this section to use appropriate labeling or 

3 marking, distinguishing among— 

4 ‘‘(i) covered electronic equipment as 

5 permitted under this section; 

6 ‘‘(ii) restricted electronic waste de7 scribed in this section; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) tested working covered electronic 

9 equipment as permitted under this section; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) enforcement mechanisms, tests, and 

12 procedures in coordination with enforcement 

13 procedures administered by other appropriate 

14 Federal agencies; and 

15 ‘‘(4) establishing a registry of violators, where16 by any person or entity found to be exporting re17 stricted electronic waste in violation of this section 

18 shall be listed on a public registry on a website 

19 maintained by the Administrator for a period of 5 

20 years after each violation. 

21 ‘‘(j) CIRCUIT BOARDS.—For the purposes of export 

22 to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop23 ment member countries, circuit boards shall be subject to 

24 the Amber Control Procedure as described in the OrganiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:36 Jun 25, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2284.IH H2284

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1 zation for Economic Co-operation and Development Con2 trol System for waste recovery.’’. 

3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

4 of contents for the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended 

5 by adding after the item relating to section 3023 the fol6 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec 3024. Electronic waste export restrictions.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 

8 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 3008(d) of the 

9 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6928(d)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

12 (6); 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (7)(B); and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol16 lowing new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(8) knowingly exports restricted electronic 

18 waste in violation of section 3024;’’. 

19 (b) INSPECTIONS.—Section 3007(a) of the Solid 

20 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6927(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘or restricted electronic 

22 wastes’’ after ‘‘or has handled hazardous wastes’’; 

23 and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘or restricted electronic 

2 wastes’’ after ‘‘or other place where hazardous 

3 wastes’’. 

4 SEC. 4. RARE EARTH MATERIALS RECYCLING RESEARCH 

5 INITIATIVE. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ9 mental Protection Agency. 

10 (2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 

11 the Rare Earth Materials Recycling Research Initia12 tive established under subsection (b). 

13 (3) RARE EARTH MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘rare 

14 earth material’’ means any of the following chemical 

15 elements in any physical form or chemical combina16 tion: 

17 (A) Scandium. 

18 (B) Yttrium. 

19 (C) Lanthanum. 

20 (D) Cerium. 

21 (E) Praseodymium. 

22 (F) Neodymium. 

23 (G) Promethium. 

24 (H) Samarium. 

25 (I) Europium. 


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1 (J) Gadolinium. 

2 (K) Terbium. 

3 (L) Dysprosium. 

4 (M) Holmium. 

5 (N) Erbium. 

6 (O) Thulium. 

7 (P) Ytterbium. 

8 (Q) Lutetium. 

9 (R) Other elements identified by the Sec10 retary as rare or in critical supply. 

11 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Energy. 

13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con15 sultation with the Administrator and the heads of other 

16 appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish the Rare 

17 Earth Materials Recycling Research Initiative to assist in 

18 and coordinate the development of research in the recy19 cling of rare earth materials found in electronic devices. 

20 (c) GRANTS.—Under the Initiative, the Secretary 

21 shall establish a competitive research application program 

22 under which the Secretary shall provide grants to appli23 cants to conduct research on one or more of the following 

24 activities: 


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1 (1) The safe removal, separation, and recycling 

2 of rare earth material from electronics. 

3 (2) Technology, component, and material design 

4 of electronics more suitable for disassembly and re5 cycling of rare earth material. 

6 (3) Collection, logistics, and reverse supply 

7 chain optimization as related to recycling rare earth 

8 materials from electronics. 

9 (d) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

10 issue requirements for applying for grants under the Ini11 tiative. 

Æ 


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