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HOUSE BILL NO. 6159
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
(MCL 324.101 to 324.90106) by adding sections 17121 and 17163 to
subpart 2 of part 171.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 17121. As used in this subpart: 1
(a) "Battery" means a device that consists of 1 or more 2
electrically connected electrochemical cells and is designed to 3
store and deliver electric energy. 4
(b) "Battery-containing product" means a product sold, offered 5
July 03, 2026, Introduced by Reps. T. Carter, Mentzer, Neyer, Martin, Kunse, B. Carter, McFall,
Young, Aragona and VanderWall and referred to Committee on Natural Resources and
Tourism.
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for sale, or distributed in this state that contains or is packaged 1
with rechargeable or primary batteries that are covered batteries. 2
A battery-containing product does not include a covered electronic 3
device. As used in this subdivision "covered electronic device" 4
means that term as defined in section 17301. 5
(c) "Battery recycler" means an entity that materially abides 6
by all federal, state, and local permits and is responsible for the 7
end-of-life management of covered batteries, including, but not 8
limited to, the extraction and separation of metals, compounds, or 9
intermediate fractions, and the submission of metals, compounds, or 10
intermediate fractions for further processing, refining, or use in 11
batteries or other industrial supply chains. 12
(d) "Battery recycling program" means a program that provides 13
end-of-life management of batteries. 14
(e) "Brand" means a registered or unregistered trademark, a 15
logo, a name, a symbol, a word, an identifier, or a traceable mark 16
that does both of the following: 17
(i) Identifies a battery or battery-containing product. 18
(ii) Identifies the owner or licensee of the trademark, logo, 19
name, symbol, word, identifier, or traceable mark as the producer 20
of the battery or battery-containing product. 21
(f) "Collection rate" means the percentage, by weight, of 22
covered batteries that a stewardship organization collects, 23
calculated by dividing the total weight of covered batteries 24
collected in this state by a stewardship organization in the 25
previous year by the average annual weight of covered batteries 26
estimated by the stewardship organization to have been sold in this 27
state by all producers participating in the stewardship program 28
during the previous 3 calendar years. 29
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(g) "Collection site" means a location where batteries are 1
collected from consumers under this subpart. 2
(h) "Consumer" means an individual or other person that owns a 3
battery and includes the ultimate purchaser, owner, or lessee of a 4
battery, who is not, as to that battery, the distributor, importer, 5
producer, recycler, retailer, or stewardship organization. 6
(i) "Covered battery" means, regardless of chemistry, a 7
portable battery, a medium-format battery, a battery sold loose, or 8
a battery easily removable with household tools within a battery-9
containing product or a motorized device. Covered battery does not 10
include any of the following: 11
(i) A battery contained within a medical device that is not 12
primarily designed or marketed for sale or resale to a consumer for 13
personal use. As used in this subparagraph, "medical device" means 14
device as that term is defined in 21 USC 321(h) on the effective 15
date of the amendatory act that added this subparagraph. 16
(ii) A battery that contains an electrolyte as a free liquid. 17
(iii) A lead acid battery sold by a retailer subject to section 18
17103 or weighing more than 11 pounds. As used in this 19
subparagraph, "lead acid battery" means that term as defined in 20
section 17101. 21
(iv) An embedded battery. 22
(v) A battery that has been recalled for safety reasons. 23
(vi) A battery, assembled by or for a vehicle manufacturer or 24
franchised dealer, that is designed to power a motor vehicle, a 25
part of a motor vehicle, or a component part of a motor vehicle, 26
including a replacement part for use in a motor vehicle. 27
(vii) A mercuric oxide battery. As used in this subparagraph, 28
"mercuric oxide battery" means that term as it is defined in 29
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section 17101. 1
(j) "Department" means the department of environment, Great 2
Lakes, and energy. 3
(k) "Director" means the director of the department. 4
(l) "Embedded battery" means a battery or battery pack 5
contained in a product from which it is not designed to be removed 6
by the user of the product with a commercially available common 7
household tool. 8
(m) "End-of-life management" means collection, processing, 9
transportation, and recycling. 10
(n) "Independent producer" means a producer that has not 11
established, alone or together with other producers, a stewardship 12
organization. 13
(o) "Medium-format battery" means either of the following: 14
(i) For a rechargeable battery, a battery weighing more than 11 15
pounds or having a rating of more than 300 watt-hours, or both, but 16
weighing no more than 25 pounds and having a rating of no more than 17
2,000 watt-hours. 18
(ii) For a primary battery, a battery weighing more than 4.4 19
pounds but not more than 25 pounds. 20
(p) "Member", in reference to a stewardship organization, 21
means the producer or 1 of the producers that established the 22
stewardship organization. 23
(q) "Performance goal" means a metric proposed in a 24
stewardship plan for achieving a continuous and significant 25
increase in the rate of battery recycling in this state. 26
Performance goals include target collection rates, target recycling 27
efficiency rates by battery recycling programs, and goals for 28
public awareness, convenience, and accessibility. 29
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(r) "Portable battery" means either of the following: 1
(i) For a rechargeable battery, a battery weighing no more than 2
11 pounds and having a rating of no more than 300 watt-hours. 3
(ii) For a primary battery, a battery weighing no more than 4.4 4
pounds. 5
(s) "Primary battery" means a battery that is not capable of 6
being recharged. 7
(t) "Producer", subject to subdivision (u), means a person 8
that sells, offers for sale, or distributes for sale a covered 9
battery or battery-containing product in this state and that is any 10
of the following: 11
(i) If the covered battery or battery-containing product is 12
sold under a brand of the battery's or product's manufacturer, the 13
person that manufactures the battery or product. 14
(ii) If the covered battery or battery-containing product is 15
sold under a retail brand or under a brand owned by a person other 16
than the battery's or product's manufacturer, the person that owns 17
the brand. 18
(iii) If subparagraphs (i) and (ii) do not apply, the person that 19
is the licensee of a brand or trademark under which the covered 20
battery or battery-containing product is sold, offered for sale, or 21
distributed for sale in or into this state, regardless of whether 22
the trademark is registered in this state. 23
(iv) If subparagraphs (i) to (iii) do not apply to any person 24
within the United States, the person that is the importer of record 25
for the covered battery or battery-containing product into the 26
United States for the purpose of selling, offering for sale, or 27
distributing for sale the battery or product in or into this state. 28
(v) If subparagraphs (i) to (iv) do not apply to any person with 29
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a commercial presence in this state, the person that first sells, 1
offers for sale, or distributes for sale the covered battery or 2
battery-containing product in this state. 3
(u) Producer does not include a person that only sells, offers 4
for sale, or distributes for sale a battery-containing product if 5
the battery is supplied by another producer that has designated a 6
stewardship organization to implement a stewardship plan and if the 7
producer certifies this fact in writing to the person that only 8
sells, offers for sale, or distributes for sale the battery-9
containing product. 10
(v) "Rechargeable battery" means a battery that contains 1 or 11
more voltaic or galvanic cells and that is designed to be 12
recharged. 13
(w) "Recycling" means preparing batteries for use in 14
manufacturing processes or for recovery of usable materials and 15
delivering the batteries or materials for use. Recycling does not 16
include any of the following: 17
(i) Land disposal. 18
(ii) Incineration. 19
(iii) Energy generation or fuel production from recyclable 20
materials. 21
(iv) Reuse, repair, remanufacture, or any other process through 22
which batteries are returned to the batteries' original form or do 23
not go through a manufacturing recovery process. 24
(x) "Stewardship organization" means a producer that directly 25
implements a stewardship plan approved by the department or a 26
nonprofit organization designated by a producer or group of 27
producers to implement a stewardship plan. 28
(y) "Stewardship plan" or "plan" means a plan approved by the 29
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department for the establishment and operation of a stewardship 1
program for batteries. 2
(z) "Stewardship program" means an independent producer's or 3
stewardship organization's program that provides for the safe and 4
proper end-of-life management of batteries in compliance with the 5
independent producer's or stewardship organization's stewardship 6
plan. 7
Sec. 17163. (1) A stewardship organization or independent 8
producer implementing a stewardship plan may bring a civil action 9
to recover costs, damages, and fees, as specified in this section, 10
against a producer who sells or otherwise makes available in this 11
state covered batteries or battery-containing products not included 12
in a stewardship plan in violation of the requirements of this 13
subpart. An action may be brought against the producer only if the 14
stewardship program incurs costs in this state, including 15
reasonable incremental administrative and program promotional 16
costs, in excess of $1,000.00 to collect, transport, and recycle or 17
otherwise dispose of the covered batteries or battery-containing 18
products of the producer. 19
(2) A stewardship organization or independent producer may 20
bring a civil action against a producer of a recalled, damaged, or 21
defective battery to recover the costs associated with handling the 22
recalled, damaged, or defective battery. 23
(3) A stewardship organization or independent producer 24
implementing an approved stewardship plan may bring a civil action 25
against another stewardship organization or independent producer 26
that underperforms on its battery collection obligations under this 27
subpart by failing to collect and provide for the end-of-life 28
management of batteries in an amount roughly equivalent to costs 29
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Final Page
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imposed on the plaintiff stewardship organization or independent 1
producer because of the failures of the defendant stewardship 2
organization or independent producer, plus legal fees and expenses. 3
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect 4
unless Senate Bill No. ____ (request no. S02690'25) or House Bill 5
No. 6160 (request no. H02690'25) of the 103rd Legislature is 6
enacted into law. 7