Vehicle traction batteries.

Senator Allen's electric vehicle battery management legislation establishes comprehensive requirements for the responsible handling of vehicle traction batteries throughout their lifecycle. The bill creates a new regulatory framework requiring battery suppliers to ensure proper end-of-life management of batteries removed from vehicles still under warranty or returned to suppliers.

The legislation mandates that battery suppliers, secondary users, and handlers follow a specific management hierarchy - first attempting to reuse, repair, or remanufacture batteries when feasible, then pursuing repurposing or recycling options. Battery suppliers must fund collection costs and report detailed transaction data annually to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, including information on sales, transfers, and the ultimate disposition of batteries.

The Department must implement regulations by July 2028 establishing certification criteria for qualified battery recyclers and creating a system to track batteries through unique identifiers. The program's costs will be funded through fees paid by battery suppliers into a new Vehicle Traction Battery Recovery Fund. The Department will maintain public lists of compliant suppliers and recyclers, with retailers prohibited from selling batteries from non-compliant sources.

To monitor program effectiveness, the Department must study abandoned and "orphaned" batteries, publishing findings every five years starting in 2030. While the bill authorizes civil and administrative penalties for violations, it explicitly excludes criminal penalties. The legislation also includes provisions protecting proprietary business information while maintaining transparency through aggregated public reporting of battery disposition data.