I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2595 

To restrict certain exports of electronic waste. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

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

BONO MACK, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To restrict certain exports of electronic waste. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ELECTRONIC WASTE EXPORT RESTRICTIONS. 

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

5 Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following new section: 

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

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 12 months after the 

9 date of enactment of this section, except as provided in 

10 subsection (e) or (f), no person shall export any restricted 

11 electronic waste to a country described in subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec3 tion— 

4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered electronic equip5 ment’ means used personal computers, servers, 

6 monitors, televisions, other video display prod7 ucts, printers, copiers, facsimile machines, video 

8 cassette recorders, digital video disc players, 

9 video game systems, digital audio players, per10 sonal digital assistants, telephones, image scan11 ners, and other used electronic products the Ad12 ministrator determines to be similar; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the term ‘restricted electronic waste’ 

14 means items of covered electronic equipment, 

15 whole or in fragments, that include, contain, or 

16 consist of— 

17 ‘‘(i) circuit boards, lamps, switches, or 

18 other parts, components, assemblies, or 

19 materials derived therefrom containing 

20 mercury or polychlorinated biphenyls; 

21 ‘‘(ii) circuit boards, lamps, switches, 

22 or other parts, components, assemblies, or 

23 materials derived therefrom containing— 

24 ‘‘(I) antimony in concentrations 

25 greater than 1.0 mg/L; 


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1 ‘‘(II) beryllium in concentrations 

2 greater than .007 mg/L; 

3 ‘‘(III) cadmium, in concentra4 tions greater than 1.0 mg/L; 

5 ‘‘(IV) chromium in concentra6 tions greater than 5.0 mg/L; or 

7 ‘‘(V) lead in concentrations 

8 greater than 5.0 mg/L; 

9 ‘‘(iii) circuit boards, lamps, switches, 

10 or other parts, components, assemblies, or 

11 materials derived therefrom containing any 

12 other toxic material identified by the Ad13 ministrator under paragraph (2); 

14 ‘‘(iv) cathode ray tubes or cathode ray 

15 tube glass in any form; or 

16 ‘‘(v) batteries containing lead, cad17 mium, mercury, or flammable organic sol18 vents. 

19 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL RESTRICTED MATERIALS.— 

20 The Administrator shall establish procedures for 

21 identifying additional restricted materials, the pres22 ence of which in covered electronic equipment poses 

23 a substantial hazard to human health or the environ24 ment at the end of the life of the equipment. 


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1 ‘‘(c) COUNTRIES TO WHICH PROHIBITION AP2 PLIES.—The countries referred to in subsection (a) are all 

3 countries which are not— 

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

5 Cooperation and Development or the European 

6 Union; or 

7 ‘‘(2) Liechtenstein. 

8 ‘‘(d) GENERAL EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under 

9 this section shall not apply to— 

10 ‘‘(1) the export of used electronic equipment or 

11 parts, for use or reuse, if— 

12 ‘‘(A) such export is to a country that the 

13 Administrator finds under subsection (e) will 

14 permit trade in such equipment or parts; and 

15 ‘‘(B) such equipment or parts are tested 

16 prior to export and found to be functional for 

17 at least one of the primary purposes for which 

18 the equipment or parts were designed, and are 

19 being sold to a customer who will reuse such 

20 equipment or parts without further repairs; 

21 ‘‘(2) furnace-ready cathode ray tube glass 

22 cullet, cleaned of all phosphors, to be used as a di23 rect feedstock in a lead-glass manufacturing furnace 

24 without further processing or preparation required 

25 other than quality control, which the competent auVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:16 May 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2595.IH H2595

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1 thority in the importing country has stated in writ2 ing is not waste; 

3 ‘‘(3) returns of used electronic equipment under 

4 warranty by consumers or other contractual war5 ranty collectors to the original equipment manufac6 turer or its contractual agent for purposes of war7 ranty repair or refurbishment; or 

8 ‘‘(4) the export of used electronic equipment or 

9 parts for repair or refurbishment in the importing 

10 country, with the intention of subsequent reuse, if— 

11 ‘‘(A) such export is to a country that the 

12 Administrator finds under subsection (e) will 

13 permit trade in such equipment or parts; 

14 ‘‘(B) the export is made by an original 

15 equipment manufacturer or its contractual 

16 agent, or an entity that meets an independent 

17 standard as identified by the Administrator; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(C) the person who exports the equipment 

20 or parts— 

21 ‘‘(i) prior to shipment to any receiving 

22 facility, submits an annual notification to 

23 the Administrator, which includes— 

24 ‘‘(I) a statement that the notifier 

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1 ment or parts for refurbishment or re2 pair with the intention of subsequent 

3 reuse; 

4 ‘‘(II) the notifier’s name, ad5 dress, and Environmental Protection 

6 Agency ID number (if applicable); 

7 ‘‘(III) the name and phone num8 ber of a contact person; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the type of used electronic 

10 equipment or parts that will be 

11 shipped; and 

12 ‘‘(V) the name, address, and con13 tact information of the receiving facil14 ity; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) keeps copies of normal business 

16 records, such as contracts, demonstrating 

17 that each shipment of exported used elec18 tronic equipment or parts is intended for 

19 repair or refurbishment and subsequent 

20 reuse, which documentation shall be re21 tained for a period of at least 3 years after 

22 the date the used electronic equipment or 

23 parts were exported. 

24 ‘‘(e) FOREIGN MARKETS.—Not later than 12 months 

25 after the date of enactment of this section, and annually 


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1 thereafter, the Administrator shall identify for each coun2 try whether such country’s laws and policies permit trade 

3 in such equipment or parts, by requesting written con4 firmation from the competent authority of the importing 

5 country. 

6 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 12 months after 

7 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 

8 shall issue regulations for carrying out this section, includ9 ing— 

10 ‘‘(1) testing requirements for verifying that 

11 used covered electronic equipment or parts proposed 

12 to be exported under this section are functional for 

13 the purposes for which they were designed, including 

14 requirements for proper packaging to prevent such 

15 equipment or parts from losing functionality due to 

16 damage during transit; and 

17 ‘‘(2) in consultation with the appropriate Fed18 eral agency or agencies, provisions for an efficient 

19 export control regime to identify exports covered by 

20 this section and provide for enforcement in coordina21 tion with other enforcement procedures administered 

22 by United States Customs and Border Protection.’’. 

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

24 of contents for the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended 


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1 by adding after the item relating to section 3023 the fol2 lowing new item: 

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

3 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

4 Section 3008(d) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 6928(d)) is amended— 

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

7 (6); 

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

9 (7); and 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol11 lowing new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(8) knowingly exports restricted electronic 

13 waste in violation of section 3024;’’. 

Æ 


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