(1) Battery stewardship organizations implementing a battery stewardship plan must provide for the collection of all covered batteries, including all chemistries and brands of covered batteries, on a free, continuous, convenient, visible, and accessible basis to any person, business, government agency, or nonprofit organization. Except as provided in subsection (2)(b) of this section, each battery stewardship plan must allow any person, business, government agency, or nonprofit organization to discard each chemistry and brand of covered battery at each collection site that counts towards the satisfaction of the collection site criteria in subsection (3) of this section.

(2)(a) Except for local government collection described in subsection (4)(c) of this section, for each collection site utilized by the program, each battery stewardship organization must provide suitable collection containers for covered batteries that are segregated from other solid waste or make mutually agreeable alternative arrangements for the collection of batteries at the site. The location of collection containers at each collection site used by the program must be within view of a responsible person and must be accompanied by signage made available to the collection site by the battery stewardship organization that informs customers regarding the end-of-life management options for batteries provided by the collection site under this chapter. Each collection site must adhere to the operations manual and other safety information provided to the collection site by the battery stewardship organization.

(b) Medium format batteries may only be collected at household hazardous waste collection sites or other sites that are staffed by persons who are certified to handle and ship hazardous materials under federal regulations adopted by the United States department of transportation pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration.

(c)(i) Damaged and defective batteries are intended to be collected at collection sites staffed by persons trained to handle and ship those batteries.

(ii) Each battery stewardship organization must provide for collection of damaged and defective batteries in each county of the state, either through collection sites or collection events with qualified staff as specified in (c)(i) of this subsection. Collection events should be provided periodically throughout the year where practicable, but must be provided at least once per year at a minimum, in each county in which there are not permanent collection sites providing for the collection of damaged and defective batteries.

(iii) As used in this subsection, “damaged and defective batteries” means batteries that have been damaged or identified by the manufacturer as being defective for safety reasons, that have the potential of producing a dangerous evolution of heat, fire, or short circuit, as referred to in 49 C.F.R. § 173.185(f) as of January 1, 2023, or as updated by the department by rule to maintain consistency with federal standards.

(3)(a) Each battery stewardship organization implementing a battery stewardship plan shall ensure statewide collection opportunities for all covered batteries. Battery stewardship organizations shall coordinate activities with other program operators, including covered battery collection and recycle programs and electronic waste recyclers, with regard to the proper management or recycling of collected covered batteries, for purposes of providing the efficient delivery of services and avoiding unnecessary duplication of effort and expense. Statewide collection opportunities must be determined by geographic information modeling that considers permanent collection sites. A program may rely, in part, on collection events to supplement the permanent collection services required in (a) and (b) of this subsection. However, only permanent collection services specified in (a) and (b) of this subsection qualify towards the satisfaction of the requirements of this subsection.

(b) For portable batteries, each battery stewardship organization must provide statewide collection opportunities that include, but are not limited to, the provision of:

(i) At least one permanent collection site for portable batteries within a 15 mile radius for at least 95 percent of Washington residents;

(ii) The establishment of collection sites that are accessible and convenient to overburdened communities identified by the department under chapter 70A.02 RCW, in an amount that is roughly proportional to the number and population of overburdened communities identified by the department under chapter 70A.02 RCW relative to the population or size of the state as a whole;

(iii) At least one permanent collection site for portable batteries in addition to those required in (b)(i) of this subsection for every 30,000 residents of each urban area in this state. For the purposes of compliance with this subsection (3)(b)(iii), a battery stewardship organization and the department may rely upon new or updated designations of urban locations by the United States census bureau that are determined by the department to be similar to the definition of urban areas in RCW 70A.555.010;

(iv) Collection opportunities for portable batteries at special locations where batteries are often spent and replaced, such as supervised locations at parks with stores and campgrounds; and

(v) Service to areas without a permanent collection site, including service to island and geographically isolated communities without a permanent collection site.

(c) For medium format batteries, a battery stewardship organization must provide statewide collection opportunities that include, but are not limited to, the provision of:

(i) At least 25 permanent collection sites in Washington;

(ii) Reasonable geographic dispersion of collection sites throughout the state;

(iii) A collection site in each county of at least 200,000 persons, as determined by the most recent population estimate of the office of financial management;

(iv) The establishment of collection sites that are accessible to public transit and that are convenient to overburdened communities identified by the department under chapter 70A.02 RCW; and

(v) Service to areas without a permanent collection site, including service to island and geographically isolated communities. A battery stewardship organization must ensure that there is a collection site or annual collection event in each county of the state. Collection events should be provided periodically throughout the year where practicable, but must be provided at least once per year at a minimum in each county in which there are not permanent collection sites providing for the collection of damaged and defective batteries.

(4)(a) Battery stewardship programs must use existing public and private waste collection services and facilities, including battery collection sites that are established through other battery collection services, transporters, consolidators, processors, and retailers, where cost-effective, mutually agreeable, and otherwise practicable.

(b)(i) Battery stewardship programs must use as a collection site for covered batteries any retailer, wholesaler, municipality, solid waste management facility, or other entity that meets the criteria for collection sites in the approved plan, upon the submission of a request by the entity to the battery stewardship organization to serve as a collection site.

(ii) Battery stewardship programs must use as a site for a collection event for covered batteries any retailer, wholesaler, municipality, solid waste management facility, or other entity that meets the criteria for collection events in the approved plan, upon the submission of a request by the entity to the battery stewardship organization to serve as a site for a collection event. A signed agreement between a battery stewardship organization and the entity requesting to hold a collection event must be established at least 60 days prior to any collection of covered batteries under a stewardship program. All costs associated with collection events initiated by an entity other than a battery stewardship organization are the sole responsibility of the entity unless otherwise agreed upon by a battery stewardship organization. A collection event under this subsection (4)(b)(ii) must allow any person to discard each chemistry and brand of covered battery at the collection event.

(c)(i) A local government facility may collect batteries at its own expense through a collection site or temporary collection event that is not a collection site or event under the program implemented by a battery stewardship organization. A local government facility that collects covered batteries under this subsection must, in accordance with procedures set forth in battery stewardship organization plans approved by the department:

(A) Notify battery stewardship organizations of the local government facility’s decision to operate a collection site that is not a collection site under a program established under this chapter;

(B) Collect each chemistry and brand of covered battery at its collection site or sites;

(C) Collect, sort, and package collected materials in a manner that meets the standards established in a battery stewardship organization plan approved by the department;

(D) Either provide the collected batteries to the battery stewardship organization in lawful transportation containers for it to transfer the collected batteries at a processing facility the battery stewardship organization has approved, or transport to, or arrange for the transportation of collected batteries for processing at a facility that a battery stewardship organization has approved under a plan approved by the department.

(ii) A local government facility that collects materials at a collection site or temporary collection event operating outside of a battery stewardship program must also report, to a battery stewardship organization, information necessary for the battery stewardship organization to fulfill its reporting obligations under RCW 70A.555.090. A battery stewardship organization may count materials collected by a local government facility under this subsection (4)(c) towards the achievement of performance requirements established in RCW 70A.555.050.

(d) A battery stewardship organization may suspend or terminate a collection site or service that does not adhere to the collection site criteria in the approved plan or that poses an immediate health and safety concern.

(5)(a) Stewardship programs are not required to provide for the collection of battery-containing products.

(b) Stewardship programs are not required to provide for the collection of batteries that:

(i) Are not easily removable from the product other than by the manufacturer; and

(ii) Remain contained in a battery-containing product at the time of delivery to a collection site.

(c) Stewardship programs are required to provide for the collection of loose batteries.

(d) Stewardship programs are not required to provide for the collection of batteries still contained in covered electronic products under chapter 70A.500 RCW.

(6) Batteries collected by the program must be managed consistent with the battery management hierarchy. Lower priority end-of-life battery management options on the battery management hierarchy may be used by a program only when a battery stewardship organization documents to the department that all higher priority battery management options on the battery management hierarchy are not technologically feasible or economically practical.