2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 23 - Health and Safety › Chapter 23-24.9 - Mercury Reduction and Education Act › Section 23-24.9-3. - Definitions.

§ 23-24.9-3. Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter:
(1)
“Component” means a mercury-added product that is incorporated into another product to form a fabricated mercury-added product, including, but not limited to, electrical switches and lamps.
(2)
“Contractor” means a person engaged in the business of installation, service, or removal of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components.
(3)
“Corporation” means the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation created and established pursuant to chapter 19 of title 23.
(4)
“Covered entity” means any person who presents to a collection facility that is included in an approved plan:
(i)
Any number of compact fluorescent mercury-containing lamps; or
(ii)
Ten (10) or fewer mercury-containing lamps that are not compact fluorescent lamps and are not from a large-use application.
(5)
“Department” means the department of environmental management.
(6)
“Director” means the director of the department of environmental management or any subordinate or subordinates to whom the director has delegated the powers and duties vested in him or her by this chapter.
(7)
“Fabricated mercury-added product” means a product that consists of a combination of individual components that combine to make a single unit, including, but not limited to, mercury-added measuring devices, lamps, and switches to which mercury, or a mercury compound, is intentionally added in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function, or for any other reason.
(8)
“Formulated mercury-added product” means a product that includes, but is not limited to, laboratory chemicals, cleaning products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and coating materials that are sold as a consistent mixture of chemicals to which mercury, or a mercury compound, is intentionally added in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function, or for any other reason.
(9)
“Healthcare facility” means any hospital, nursing home, extended-care facility, long-term care facility, clinical or medical laboratory, state or private health or mental institution, clinic, physician’s office, or health maintenance organization.
(10)
“Local government collections” means collections completed by household hazardous-waste facilities, solid-waste management agencies, environmental management agencies, or the department of health.
(11)
“Manufacturer” means any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, combination, or joint venture that produces a mercury-added product or an importer or domestic distributor of a mercury-added product produced in a foreign country. In the case of a multi-component mercury-added product, the manufacturer is the last manufacturer to produce or assemble the product. If the multi-component product is produced in a foreign country, the manufacturer is the importer or domestic distributor. In the case of mercury-containing thermostats, the manufacturer is the original equipment manufacturer who or that sells or sold a mercury-containing thermostat under a brand or label the manufacturer owns, or is or was licensed to use a mercury-containing thermostat produced by other suppliers.
(12)
In the case of mercury-containing lamps, the manufacturer is a person or entity who or that:
(i)
Manufactures or manufactured a mercury-containing lamp under his, her, or its own brand or label for sale in the state;
(ii)
Sells in the state under its own brand or label a mercury-containing lamp produced by another supplier;
(iii)
Owns a brand that he, she or it licenses, or licensed to another person or entity for use on a mercury-containing lamp sold in the state;
(iv)
Imports into the United States for sale in the state a mercury-containing lamp manufactured by a person or entity without a presence in the United States;
(v)
Manufactures a mercury-containing lamp for sale in the state without affixing a brand name; or
(vi)
Assumes the responsibilities, obligation, and liabilities of a manufacturer as defined under paragraphs (i) through (v) of this subsection.
(13)
“Mercury-added button cell battery” means a button cell battery to which the manufacturer intentionally introduces mercury for the operation of the battery.
(14)
“Mercury-added novelty” means a mercury-added product intended mainly for personal or household enjoyment or adornment. Mercury-added novelties include, but are not limited to, items intended for use as figurines, adornments, toys, games, cards, ornaments, yard statues and figures, candles, jewelry, holiday decorations, items of apparel (including footwear), or similar products.
(15)
“Mercury-added product” means a product, commodity, chemical, or a product with a component that contains mercury or a mercury compound intentionally added to the product, commodity, chemical, or component in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function or for any other reason. These products include formulated mercury-added products and fabricated mercury-added products.
(16)
“Mercury-containing lamp” means a general-purpose lamp to which mercury is intentionally added during the manufacturing process. “Mercury-containing lamp” does not mean a lamp used for medical, disinfection, treatment, or industrial purposes.
(17)
“Mercury-containing thermostat” means a product or device that uses a mercury switch to sense and control room temperature through communication with heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning equipment. “Mercury-containing thermostat” includes thermostats used to sense and control room temperature in residential, commercial, industrial, and other buildings, but does not include a thermostat used to sense and control temperature as part of a manufacturing process.
(18)
“Mercury fever thermometer” means a mercury-added product that is used for measuring body temperature.
(19)
“Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, the federal government or any agency or subdivision thereof, a state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state, or any interstate body.
(20)
“Qualified contractor” means a person or entity engaged in the business of installation, service, or removal of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components who or that employs seven (7) or more service technicians or installers or who or that is located in an area outside of an urban area, as defined by the United States bureau of the census.
(21)
“Thermostat retailer” means a person or entity who or that sells thermostats of any kind directly to homeowners or other nonprofessionals through any selling or distribution mechanism, including, but not limited to, sales using the internet or catalogues. A retailer may also be a wholesaler if it meets the definition of wholesaler.
(22)
“Thermostat wholesaler” means a person or entity who or that is engaged in the distribution and wholesale sale of thermostats and other heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components to contractors who install heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components.
History of Section.
P.L. 2001, ch. 234, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 318, § 1; P.L. 2010, ch. 131, § 1; P.L. 2010, ch. 145, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 143, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 161, § 2; P.L. 2017, ch. 451, § 11.