Bill Text: CA AB2 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Recycling: solar photovoltaic modules.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-09-01 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2

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Introduced by Assembly Member Ward

December 05, 2022

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An act to add Chapter 8.7 (commencing with Section 42499.6) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2, as amended, Ward. Recycling: solar photovoltaic modules.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act establishes stewardship programs for various products, including, among others, carpet, mattresses, and pharmaceutical and sharps waste.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would create a convenient, safe, and environmentally sound system for the end-of-life management of photovoltaic modules, minimization of hazardous waste, and recovery of commercially valuable materials.

This bill would require a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic panels sold or offered for sale in this state, or its agent, to develop an end-of-life management plan for the management and recycling of the solar photovoltaic panels it manufactured and the component materials. The bill would specify the required contents of an end-life management plan and would require the department to provide guidelines for developing an end-life management plan. The bill would require an end-of-life plan be submitted to the department for approval and would require a manufacturer or its agent to implement the plan as approved. The bill would require a manufacturer or its agent to report to the department annually regarding the implementation of its end-of-life management plan, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations for the implementation of these provisions.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Chapter 8.7 (commencing with Section 42499.6) is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

CHAPTER  8.7. Solar Panels

42499.6.

 (a) Pursuant to this chapter, a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic panels sold or offered for sale in this state shall develop an end-of-life management plan for the safe, convenient, and environmentally sound management and recycling of the solar photovoltaic panels it manufactured and their component materials.

(b) A manufacturer may designate an agent to act on behalf of the manufacturer to develop an end-of-life management plan provided that the designated agent provides the department with written notice of the arrangement within 60 days of the start of the agency. The written notice shall identify the manufacturer, the agent, and the brand names and model numbers of the solar photovoltaic panels for which the agent is responsible for developing an end-of-life management plan. An agent shall provide the department written notice within 60 days of the termination, expiration, or modification of its agency with a manufacturer.

(c) An end-of-life management plan shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) A plan to minimize the release of hazardous substances into the environment.

(2) A plan to maximize recovery of components, including rare earth metals and other commercially valuable materials.

(3) A plan to disseminate to relevant stakeholders information necessary for the proper dismantling, transportation, and treatment of solar photovoltaic panels in a manner consistent with paragraphs (1) and (2). For purposes of this paragraph, “relevant stakeholders” includes, but is not limited to, consumers, installers, building demolition firms, and recycling and treatment facilities.

(4) Performance goals, including, but not limited to, a goal for the rate of combined reuse and recycling of collected solar photovoltaic panels as a percentage of the total weight of solar photovoltaic panels collected, which rate shall be no less than 85 percent.

(d) The department shall develop guidelines for the development of end-of-life management plans.

(e) A manufacturer or its agent, as described in subdivision (b), shall develop an end-of-life management plan for each model of solar photovoltaic panel it manufactures and sells or offers for sale in this state and submit it to the department for approval. The end-of-life management plan shall be submitted by July 1, 2026, and for solar photovoltaic panels first sold or offered for sale after July 1, 2026, the end-of-life management plan shall be submitted no later than 30 days after the solar photovoltaic panel is first sold or offered for sale in this state.

(f) A manufacturer or its agent, as described in subdivision (b), may amend an end-of-life management plan provided the amended plan is submitted to the department for approval.

(g) A manufacturer shall implement an end-of-life plan, as it is approved by the department.

(h) Beginning January 1, 2027, and by January 1 of each year thereafter, a manufacturer or its agent, as described in subdivision (b), shall provide the department with a written report for the prior calendar year documenting the implementation of its end-of-life management plan and assessing the achievement of the performance goals contained in the plan.

(i) The department shall adopt regulations for the implementation of this chapter with an effective date of no later than January 1, 2026.

SECTION 1.

(a)The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(1)Solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment has grown at unprecedented rates since the early 2000s. In the last decade alone, solar has experienced an average annual growth rate of 33 percent.

(2)Thanks to strong federal policies like the solar investment tax credit, rapidly declining costs, and increasing demand across the private and public sector for clean electricity, there are now more than 130.9 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity installed nationwide, enough to power 23,000,000 homes.

(3)California has been and continues to be a leader in the national transition to solar energy. In 2021, California produced 32 percent, or 28,000 megawatts, of the nation’s total solar PV electricity generation, more than any other state.

(4)As the PV market increases, so will the volume of decommissioned PV panels. Given an average panel lifetime of 30 years, large amounts of annual waste are anticipated by the early 2030s. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by 2030, the United States is expected to have as much as 1,000,000 total tons of solar panel waste. By 2050, the United States is expected to have the second largest number of end-of-life panels in the world, with as many as an estimated 10,000,000 total tons of panels.

(5)Hazardous waste testing on solar panels in the marketplace has indicated that different varieties of solar panels have different metals present in the semiconductor and solder. Some of these metals, like lead and cadmium, are harmful to human health and the environment at high levels. If these metals are present in high enough quantities in the solar panels, solar panel waste could become harmful to the environment if improperly disposed of.

(6)Growing PV panel waste presents not only a new environmental challenge, but also unprecedented opportunities to create value and pursue new economic avenues. These include recovery of raw material and the emergence of new solar PV end-of-life industries.

(7)Sectors like PV recycling will be essential in California’s transition to a sustainable, economically viable, and increasingly renewable-based energy future. To unlock the benefits of those industries, the institutional groundwork needs to be laid in time to meet the expected surge in panel waste.

(8)With the right conditions in place, end-of-life industries for solar PV can thrive as an important pillar of a sustainable solar industry in California.

(b)It is the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would create a convenient, safe, and environmentally sound system for the end-of-life management of PV modules, minimization of hazardous waste, and recovery of commercially valuable materials.