South Carolina Code 44-96-180. Lead-acid batteries
(1) a lead-acid battery retailer or wholesaler;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-96-180
- Collection: means the act of picking up solid waste materials from homes, businesses, governmental agencies, institutions, or industrial sites. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Department: means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Disposal: means the discharge, deposition, injection, dumping, spilling or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water, so that the substance or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwater. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Facility: means all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances and improvements on the land used for treating, storing, or disposing of solid waste. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Landfill: means a disposal facility or part of a facility where solid waste is placed in or on land, and which is not a land treatment facility, a surface impoundment, or an injection well. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Lead-acid battery: means any battery that consists of lead and sulfuric acid, is used as a power source, and has a capacity of six volts or more, except that this term shall not include a small sealed lead-acid battery which means a lead-acid battery weighing twenty-five pounds or less, used in non-vehicular, non-SLI (start lighting ignition) applications. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Person: means an individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, unit of local government, state agency, federal agency, or other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Recovered materials: means those materials which have known use, reuse, or recycling potential; can be feasibly used, reused, or recycled; and have been diverted or removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use, reuse, or recycling, whether or not requiring subsequent separation and processing. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Recycling: means any process by which materials which would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products (including composting). See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Secondary lead smelter: means a facility which produces metallic lead from various forms of lead scrap, including used lead-acid batteries. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Solid waste: means any garbage, refuse, or sludge from a waste treatment facility, water supply plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community activities. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
- Solid waste management: means the systematic control of the generation, collection, source separation, storage, transportation, treatment, recovery, and disposal of solid waste. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
(2) a collection, recycling, or recovered material processing facility that is registered by the department to accept lead-acid batteries; or
(3) a permitted secondary lead smelter.
(B) Twelve months after this chapter is effective, no battery retailer shall knowingly dispose of a used lead-acid battery except by delivery to:
(1) the agent of a lead-acid battery wholesaler or the agent of a permitted secondary lead smelter;
(2) a vehicle battery manufacturer for delivery to a permitted secondary lead smelter;
(3) a collection, recycling, or recovered material processing facility that is registered by the department to accept lead-acid batteries; or
(4) a permitted secondary lead smelter.
(C) Any person violating the provisions of subsections (A) or (B) shall be subject to a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars. This provision may be enforced by a state, county, or municipal law enforcement official or by the department. Each lead-acid battery improperly disposed of shall constitute a separate violation.
(D) A person selling lead-acid batteries or offering lead-acid batteries for retail sale in this State shall:
(1) accept, at the point of transfer, lead-acid batteries from customers; and
(2) post written notice, visible to customers, at his place of business which must be at least eight and one-half inches by eleven inches in size and must contain the following language:
(a) "It is illegal to put a motor vehicle battery in the garbage."
(b) "Recycle your used batteries."
(c) "State law requires us to accept motor vehicle batteries for recycling".
(E) No person may recover from the owner or operator of a lead-acid battery collection center any costs of response actions resulting from a release of either a hazardous substance from lead-acid batteries, unless the owner or operator is grossly negligent in the operation of the public lead-acid battery collection center, or recovered materials processing facility. Nothing in this section shall affect or modify in any way the obligations or liability of any person under any other provisions of state or federal law, including common law, for injury or damage resulting from the release of hazardous substances.
(F) For sales made on or after November 1, 1991, there is imposed a fee of two dollars per lead-acid battery sold to the ultimate consumer, whether the battery is installed by the seller or not. The retailer is to remit the fee to the Department of Revenue on a monthly basis. The Department of Revenue shall administer, collect, and enforce the lead-acid battery disposal fee in the same manner that the sales and use taxes are collected pursuant to Chapter 36 of Title 12. However, taxpayers are not required to make payments under § 12-36-2600. In lieu of the discount allowed pursuant to § 12-36-2610, the taxpayer may retain three percent of the total fees collected as an administrative collection allowance. This allowance applies whether or not the return is timely filed. The department shall deposit all fees collected to the credit of the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer is required to establish a separate and distinct account from the state general fund. The lead-acid battery disposal fee must be credited to the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund by the State Treasurer.
(G) The lead-acid battery retailer must charge a five dollar refundable deposit for each battery sold for which a core is not returned to the retailer. The deposit must be returned to the consumer if a core is returned to the same retailer within thirty days.
(H) The department shall produce, print, and distribute the notices required by subsection (D) to all lead-acid battery retailers.
(I) Any person selling lead-acid batteries at wholesale or offering lead-acid batteries for sale at wholesale must accept, at the point of transfer, lead-acid batteries from customers.
(J) Not later than eighteen months after this chapter is effective, the department shall promulgate regulations necessary to carry out the requirements of this section. Such regulations may include the imposition of reasonable fees to assist in defraying the costs of the regulatory activities of the department required by this section.
(K) All state agencies, all political subdivisions using state funds to procure items, and all persons contracting with such agency or political subdivision where such persons procure items with state funds shall procure recycled lead-acid batteries where practicable, subject to the provisions of § 44-96-140(D).
(L)(1) Within eighteen months after enactment of this subsection, the department shall conduct a study on the recycling and disposal of small sealed lead-acid batteries.
(2) Within twelve months after completion of the study required in paragraph (1), the department must promulgate regulations regarding the proper management and disposal of small sealed lead-acid batteries. It shall be unlawful for any person to incinerate or place any small sealed lead-acid battery in a landfill.