Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-910 - Mercury-containing lights product stewardship program › DEFINITIONS › Section 173-910-100 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The definitions in this section apply throughout this
				  chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Accumulation point"
means where
				  mercury-containing lights from curbside or mail-back programs are accumulated
				  for a product stewardship plan approved by the department.
"Brand"
means a name, symbol, word, or mark that
				  identifies a product, rather than its components, and attributes the product to
				  the owner of the brand as the producer.
"Collector"
means an entity that is licensed to
				  do business in Washington state and that gathers mercury-containing lights from
				  covered entities for the purpose of recycling under a product stewardship plan
				  approved by the department and meets the collector requirements in WAC
				  173-910-520. Examples of
				  collectors include, but are not limited to, drop off locations, household
				  hazardous waste facilities, collection sites, curbside services, mail-back
				  services, accumulation points, and collection events.
"Compliance audit report"
means the report of a
				  comprehensive third-party audit for each processing facility in the product
				  stewardship program.
"Covered entities"
means:
(a) A household generator or other person who purchases
				  mercury-containing lights at retail and delivers no more than ten
				  mercury-containing lights to registered collectors for a product stewardship
				  program on any given day; and
(b) A household generator or other person who purchases
				  mercury-containing lights at retail and uses a registered residential curbside
				  collection program or a mail-back program for collection of mercury-containing
				  lights and discards no more than fifteen mercury-containing lights into those
				  programs on any given day.
"Department"
means the department of
				  ecology.
"Department's annual fee"
means the sum total of
				  five thousand dollars paid to the department for each producer participating in
				  a mercury-containing lights product stewardship program to fund department
				  administration, oversight, and enforcement costs.
"Distributor"
is an agent who supplies goods to
				  stores and other businesses that sell to consumers.
"Environmental handling charge"
or
"charge"
means the charge approved by the department to be applied
				  to each mercury-containing light to be sold at retail in or into Washington
				  state. The environmental handling charge must cover all administrative and
				  operational costs associated with the product stewardship program, including
				  the fee for the department's administration and enforcement.
"Final disposition"
means the point beyond which
				  no further processing takes place and materials from mercury-containing lights
				  have been transformed for direct use as a feedstock in producing new products,
				  or disposed of or managed in facilities that meet all applicable federal,
				  state, and local requirements.
"Hazardous substances"
or
"hazardous
				  materials"
means those substances or materials identified by rules
				  adopted under
				  chapter
				  70.105 RCW.
"Mail-back program"
means the use of a prepaid
				  postage container transported by the United States Postal Service or a common
				  carrier, using sealable packaging and shipping materials that are designed to
				  prevent the release of mercury into the environment by volatilization or any
				  other means, to return mercury-containing lights for a product stewardship plan
				  approved by the department.
"Mercury-containing lights"
means lamps, bulbs,
				  tubes, or other devices that contain mercury and provide functional
				  illumination in homes, businesses, and outdoor stationary fixtures.
"Participate"
means the obligation of each
				  producer of mercury-containing lights sold in or into Washington to register
				  with and participate in an approved product stewardship program.
"Person"
means a sole proprietorship,
				  partnership, corporation, nonprofit corporation or organization, limited
				  liability company, firm, association, cooperative, or other legal entity
				  located within or outside Washington state.
"Premium services"
means collection of
				  mercury-containing lights through systems that may include additional fees to
				  cover the collection costs not paid by the product stewardship program,
				  examples include curbside collection or mail-back services.
"Processing"
means storage and handling of
				  mercury-containing lights for materials recovery, recycling, or preparing for
				  final disposition. Processing must occur at facilities that meet all applicable
				  federal, state, and local requirements.
"Processor"
means an entity engaged in
				  disassembling or dismantling mercury-containing lights to recover materials for
				  recycling or disposal.
"Producer"
means a person that meets any one of
				  the following conditions:
(a) Has or had legal ownership of the brand, brand name, or
				  cobrand of a mercury-containing light sold in or into Washington state, unless
				  the brand owner is a retailer whose mercury-containing light was supplied by
				  another producer participating in a stewardship program under
				  chapter
				  70.275 RCW;
(b) Imports or has imported mercury-containing lights branded
				  by a producer that meets the requirements of (a) of this definition and where
				  that producer has no physical presence in the United States;
(c) If (a) and (b) of this definition do not apply, makes or
				  made a mercury-containing light that is offered for sale or sold in or into
				  Washington state; or
(d) Offers for sale, sells or has sold at wholesale or retail
				  a mercury-containing light and does not have legal ownership of the brand but
				  chooses to fulfill the responsibilities of the producer for that
				  product.
"Product stewardship"
means a requirement for a
				  producer of mercury-containing lights to manage and reduce adverse safety,
				  health, and environmental impacts of the product throughout its life cycle,
				  including financing and collecting, transporting, processing, recycling, and
				  final disposition of mercury-containing lights.
"Product stewardship plan"
or
"plan"
means a detailed plan describing the manner in which a
				  product stewardship program will be implemented for collecting, transporting,
				  processing, and recycling mercury-containing lights that is approved by the
				  department and developed and implemented by a producer, group of producers, or
				  a stewardship organization.
"Product stewardship program"
or
"program"
means the methods, systems, and services financed in the
				  manner provided for under
				  RCW
				     70.275.050 and provided by producers of
				  mercury-containing lights generated by covered entities that addresses product
				  stewardship and includes arranging for the collection, transportation,
				  processing, recycling, and final disposition of unwanted mercury-containing
				  lights generated by covered entities, including orphan products.
"Recovery"
means the collection and
				  transportation of unwanted mercury-containing lights under this chapter.
"Recycling"
means transforming or
				  remanufacturing mercury-containing lights into usable or marketable materials
				  for use other than landfill disposal or incineration. Recycling does not
				  include energy recovery or energy generation by means of combusting unwanted
				  products with or without other waste.
"Reporting period"
means the period commencing
				  January 1st and ending December 31st in the same calendar year.
"Residuals"
means nonrecyclable materials left
				  over from processing an unwanted product.
"Retailer"
means a person that offers
				  mercury-containing lights for sale at retail through any means including, but
				  not limited to, remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogs, or the
				  internet, but does not include a sale that is a wholesale transaction with a
				  distributor or a retailer.
"Reuse"
means a change in ownership of a
				  mercury-containing light or its components, parts, packaging, or shipping
				  materials for use in the same manner and purpose for which it was originally
				  purchased, or for use again, as i n shipping materials, by the generator of
				  the shipping materials. Reuse does not include dismantling of products for the
				  purpose of recycling.
"Rural"
means areas without commercial centers
				  or areas with widely dispersed population.
"Service providers"
means collectors,
				  transporters, and processors participating in a stewardship program.
"Stakeholder"
means a person that may have an
				  interest in or be affected by a product stewardship program.
"Stewardship organization"
or
"organization"
means a producer or group of producers that operate
				  a product stewardship program, an organization designated by a producer or
				  group of producers to act as the agent on behalf of each producer to operate a
				  product stewardship program.
"Transboundary"
means crossing a provincial,
				  territorial, or national boundary or border.
"Transporter"
means an entity that transports
				  mercury-containing lights from collection sites, accumulation points, or
				  collection services to processors or other locations for the purpose of
				  recycling, but does not include any entity or person that hauls their own
				  mercury-containing lights.
"Unwanted product"
means a mercury-containing
				  light no longer wanted by its owner or that has been abandoned, discarded, or
				  is intended to be discarded by its owner.
"Wholesale"
means buying and selling goods,
				  generally in original packages, on a large scale in parcels, usually from a
				  manufacturer to a retail, commercial, or industrial client.
Statutory Authority:
					 Chapter
					 70.275 RCW. 12-23-049
					 (Order 11-09), § 173-910-100, filed 11/16/12, effective
					 12/17/12.