§ 7105. Restrictions on the sale and use of certain mercury-added products

(a) Novelties. After July 1, 2006, no mercury-added novelty may be offered for sale, sold at final sale, or distributed in Vermont. This ban on sale or distribution shall not apply to a novelty incorporating one or more button cell batteries, or one or more mercury-added lamps, as its only mercury-added components. Manufacturers that produce and sell mercury-added novelties must notify retailers about the provisions of this product ban and how to return the remaining inventory to the manufacturer.

(b) Thermometers and thermostats. After July 1, 2006, no mercury fever thermometer or mercury-containing thermostat for the control of space heating or cooling may be offered for final sale, sold at final sale, or distributed in Vermont.

(c) Dairy manometers. After January 1, 2006, no mercury dairy manometer may be offered for final sale, sold at a final sale, or distributed in Vermont, with the exception of a mercury dairy manometer purchased by a licensed dairy service provider to calibrate customers’ manometers and other milking equipment. The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets will notify dairy service providers of this product ban and how to dispose properly of remaining inventory. The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and Vermont solid waste districts and municipalities will continue their education, outreach, and assistance programs for dairy farms, focusing on the hazards of mercury, and encouraging dairy farmers to replace their mercury-containing manometers with mercury-free alternatives in an effort to help further reduce mercury in the environment.

(d) Elemental mercury.

(1) Effective July 1, 2006, no person may sell or provide elemental mercury to another person in Vermont, except for recycling or disposal purposes, without providing a “material safety data sheet,” as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 11049, and requiring the purchaser or recipient to sign a statement that the purchaser:

(A) will use the mercury only for medical, manufacturing, or research purposes;

(B) understands that mercury is toxic, and the purchaser or recipient will store and use it appropriately so that no person is exposed to the mercury; and

(C) will not place the mercury in solid waste for disposal or in a wastewater treatment and disposal system and will not allow anyone under the purchaser’s or recipient’s control to place or cause mercury to be placed in such a location.

(2) Effective July 1, 2006, no person may purchase elemental mercury from someone outside the State of Vermont for use in Vermont without a certified statement from the purchaser provided to the Agency, certifying that the conditions specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection, if applicable, have been met. These conditions shall not apply to the sale or provision of elemental mercury for manufacturing, recycling, or disposal purposes.

(e) Instruments, measuring devices, and neon signs.

(1) Effective January 1, 2007, none of the following mercury-added products may be offered for final sale, sold at a final sale, or distributed in Vermont as a new manufactured product:

(A) a barometer;

(B) an esophageal dilator, bougie tube, or gastrointestinal tube;

(C) a flow meter;

(D) a hydrometer;

(E) a hygrometer or psychrometer;

(F) a manometer other than a manometer prohibited from sale under subsection (c) of this section;

(G) a pyrometer;

(H) a sphygmomanometer;

(I) a thermometer that contains elemental mercury, other than a mercury fever thermometer; and

(J) a mercury-added neon type sign.

(2) This prohibition does not apply to the sale of a mercury-added product listed in subdivisions (1)(A)-(J) of this subsection if use of the product is a federal requirement, or if the only mercury-added component of the product is a button cell battery. This prohibition does not apply to the sale of mercury-added lamps when used in semiconductor manufacturing and other manufacturing operations.

(f) Mercury switches and relays. Effective January 1, 2007, no mercury switch or mercury relay, individually or as a product component, may be offered for final sale, sold at a final sale, or distributed in Vermont as a new manufactured product. This subsection does not apply to the sale of a mercury switch or mercury relay if the manufacturer provides satisfactory documentation that the use of the switch or relay is a federal requirement.

(g) Fluorescent lamps. Beginning on January 1, 2024, no four-foot linear fluorescent lamp may be offered for final sale, sold at final sale, or distributed in Vermont as a new manufactured product.

(h) Exclusion for existing equipment. The prohibitions in subsections (e) and (f) of this section do not apply if the switch, relay, or measuring device is used to replace a switch, relay, or measuring device that is a component of a larger product in use prior to January 1, 2007, provided the owner of that equipment has made every reasonable effort to determine that no compatible nonmercury replacement component exists.

(i) Exemptions.

(1) A manufacturer of a mercury-added switch, relay, or measuring device may apply to the Agency and notify the multistate clearinghouse for an exemption from the sales ban in subsections (e) and (f) of this section, provided that exemption shall be for not more than five years. With Agency approval, an agent of the manufacturer, who may be a user, may apply for an exemption.

(2) The manufacturer or agent of the manufacturer seeking an exemption to offer for sale, sell, or distribute a switch, relay, or measuring device in Vermont after January 1, 2007 shall apply for the exemption not later than March 1, 2006. Exemption applications for new types of switches, relays, or measuring devices developed and intended to begin initial sale or distribution after January 1, 2007 must be received at least nine months prior to the intended offer for sale, the sale, or the distribution in Vermont.

(3) Application for the exemption or exemption renewal shall be on a form and be supported by the information and materials required by the agency. The exemption application shall document the basis for the requested exemption or renewal of exemption and describe how the manufacturer will ensure that a system exists for the proper collection, transportation, and processing of the switches, relays, or measuring devices at the end of their useful life.

(4) The Agency may grant an exemption with or without conditions upon findings that:

(A) a system exists for the proper collection, transportation, and processing of the product at the end of its life, including a system for the direct return of a waste product to the manufacturer or a collection and recycling system that is supported by an industry or trade group, or other similar private or public sector efforts; and

(B) one of the following applies:

(i) use of the product provides a net benefit to the environment, public health, or public safety when compared to available nonmercury alternatives; or

(ii) technically feasible alternatives are not available at reasonable cost;

(C) with respect to renewals of an exemption, in addition to subdivisions (A) and (B) of this subdivision (4), reasonable efforts have been made to remove mercury from the product.

(5) Prior to issuing an exemption or conditional exemption, the Agency may consult with the multistate clearinghouse and other states to promote consistency in the implementation of this section.

(6) The Agency may renew, for a period not longer than five years, an exemption or conditional exemption one or more times if the manufacturer applies for renewal, and the Agency finds that the manufacturer meets the requirements for that exemption, and that the manufacturer has complied with all the conditions of the original approval. With Agency approval, an agent of the manufacturer may apply for the exemption renewal.

(7) The prohibition in subsection (g) of this section shall not apply to the following four-foot linear fluorescent lamps:

(A) lamps used for image capture and projection, including photocopying, printing directly or in pre-processing, lithography, film and video projection, and holography; and

(B) lamps that have high proportions of ultraviolet light emission, including only the following:

(i) lamps with high ultraviolet content that have ultraviolet power >2 milliwatts per kilolumen (mW/klm);

(ii) lamps for germicidal use or destruction of DNA that emit a peak radiation of approximately 253.7 nanometers;

(iii) lamps used for disinfection or fly trapping where the radiation power emitted is between 250-315 nanometers represents >5 % or is between 315-400 nanometers represents >20 % of the total radiation power emitted is between 250-800 nanometers;

(iv) lamps used for the generation of ozone where the primary purpose is to emit radiation at approximately 185.1 nanometers;

(v) lamps used for coral zooxanthellae symbioses where the radiation power emitted between 400-480 nanometers represents >40 % of total radiation power emitted is between 250-800 nanometers; and

(vi) any lamp intended for use in a sunlamp product, as that term is defined in 21 C.F.R. § 1040.20. (Added 2005, No. 13, § 1; amended 2005, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2007, No. 63, § 2; 2021, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 83, eff. July 1, 2023.)