Mar 3 - CA Legislation Introduced to Reduce & Recycle CFL Mercury

CAW sponsored AB 1173 (Huffman) was introduced last Friday as a follow-up to Assembly Member Huffman's AB 1109 Lighting Bill from 2007, and tracks recommendations of the AB 1109 Lighting Task Force. According to Assembly Member Huffman, AB 1173 will:

"establish a ‘manufacturer responsibility/funded system’, where the specific allocation of that fiscal responsibility reflects the allocation of California Energy Efficiency Investment funds (EE Funds)."

More specifically, the bill requires fluorescent manufacturers who receive energy efficiency money from the Public Goods Charge fund to provide lamps that meet the Energy Star version 4.0 qualifications on mercury standards, lamp life as well as develop and implement a program to collect, transport, and recycle discarded fluorescent lamps. Retailers who receive the lighting subsidy will need to provide the public with a convenient in-store collection point.