Industry attorneys say a just-adopted New Jersey law making electric vehicle (EV) makers responsible for collection and disposal of the units’ batteries could serve as a baseline for future extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies in other states or even nationwide, as EPA grapples with battery recycling policy.
The Garden State’s “Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Battery Management Act,” which Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed into law on Jan. 8, is “the first law of its kind nationwide,” attorneys for the industry law firm Beveridge & Diamond wrote in a Jan. 24 blog post.
Both the statute itself and New Jersey’s implementation “will likely serve as a template for future vehicle battery EPR programs in other states,” the post says.
The law is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and requires manufacturers to provide collection and disposal for any propulsion batteries sold within the state, either embedded in a vehicle or as individual parts. Those programs would be subject to regulation by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
“Producer battery management plans are due to DEP 180 days after it adopts program regulations -- likely summer 2027,” the post says.
Manufacturers of the batteries must register with DEP by Jan. 8 of next year, and “must annually report to DEP the number of covered batteries they sell, offer for sale, or distribute in or into” the state starting on Jan. 8, 2026. The batteries themselves would have to carry a permanent label “providing information specified through program regulations.”
On Jan. 8, 2027, “covered battery collection and disposal restrictions take effect, including a ban on unauthorized disposal of covered batteries as solid waste,” the firm notes.
That "provides a kind of extended producer responsibility that could be a model for other states," inspiring "momentum for other states" to take action and develop similar EPR laws, Sam Boxerman, a partner at the firm Sidley Austin, told Inside EPA in a recent interview. EPR refers to a broader regulatory model where manufacturers or distributors are held responsible for their products’ eventual disposal, rather than users.
"There certainly are states that are supportive of increased transition to EVs, so I would expect that they are looking into” similar programs, Boxerman said. He added that it is "certainly an important development when a state takes that kind of action.”
EV Waste
New Jersey is adopting its new policies amid EPA’s own high-profile scramble to regulate the growing volume of EV battery waste.
The agency announced in November that it is crafting universal waste regulations for both lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries including those used in EVs and solar panels, aiming to aid recycling of both classes of devices while easing compliance with safe-handling requirements.
Such regulation has been a long-standing request from industry; Boxerman in particular backed the rulemaking in an earlier interview with Inside EPA, where he also called for federal frameworks that would aid disposal or recycling of EV and solar-panel waste.
He and others have argued that supply-chain issues for EVs and solar-power equipment have been exacerbated by lacking recycling policies, and said possible critical-mineral shortages could further complicate recycling policy.
EPA previously issued guidance in May determining that Li-ion batteries are likely to be “hazardous waste” under RCRA because they meet the law’s reactivity and ignitibility criteria, and subjecting them to existing universal waste standards -- which most viewed as an interim step toward regulation.
The EPR law requires companies to craft written plans for end-of-life (EOL) management for their products, including detailed specifications on how they will collect, transport, dispose or recycle the batteries as well as “a strategy for informing consumers, electric vehicle owners, vehicle repair facilities, and vehicle dismantlers in the State about the requirement to properly manage propulsion batteries, the environmental impact of the improper handling or disposal of used propulsion batteries, and the mechanisms for the management of propulsion batteries that are available pursuant to the plan.”
While the law leaves it to DEP to craft minimum standards for most elements of those plans, it requires them to prioritize existing recycling infrastructure where possible.
“A battery management plan shall, to the extent practicable, utilize existing recycling infrastructure. Where existing recycling infrastructure is not utilized, the electric vehicle battery management plan shall include the reasons for establishing a separate infrastructure,” the law reads.
Companies must also annually report “the number of propulsion batteries sold, offered for sale, or distributed in or into the State by the producer.”
‘States Are Stepping In’
Boxerman said that while industry “wants to see uniformity from the federal government," it is unlikely that "we're going to see any great movement at the federal level" in the near future thanks to the slow pace of EPA rulemaking on the subject.
Given that hurdle, "it's good that states are stepping in,” he said. In the long term, "I think a more uniform approach, provided it's a reasonable one, will certainly ease the implementation for producers and understanding for consumers," he said.
Two officials at the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), a Boston-based group that advocates for EPR programs, similarly told Inside EPA in a recent interview that despite hopes for federal regulation to establish consistent recycling requirements nationwide, they see state laws as a good sign.
“We would love to see there be a federal legislation so that there's consistency across the United States and that these batteries are kept out of disposal facilities nationwide,” said Scott Cassel, CEO and founder of PSI. He added that such a policy would also allow “materials [to be] collected and reused,” and then “recycled back into batteries.”
Suna Bayrakal, PSI’s director of policy and programs, added that the group has “developed model legislation and work[s] with state and local governments across the country to gather information about lessons learned and best practices” of battery recycling, often looking towards Canada and the European Union for examples of successful EPR policies.
Bayrakal added that she hopes to see “the model elements and best practices that [PSI has] developed” integrated into a federal framework.
But she added that although Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) requires EPA and the Energy Department to develop best practices and launch a task force for EPR battery management, she “believe[s] they've just started to move forward on gathering information to establish that task force,” leaving space for states to act.
Cassel added that “it's really important to have multi-stakeholder input, and we would like to see that in the work that EPA does. One of the things that our organization does is . . . to bring parties together and try to facilitate agreements on EPR as we move forward on the provisions of EPR bills.”
Boxerman said he has not seen opposition to EPR laws among industry, but said trade groups most likely want to see "certainty and clarity" in such requirement, and input will "depend on either the scope of the legislation or the implementation.”
He added, "There is always some value in the certainty in a process like this, but sometimes the devil is also in the details.”
Cassel and Bayrakal similarly said they have seen no direct opposition from industry, and said companies and trade associations have been highly engaged with states’ EPR policies.
“Their interests are in making these programs work,” Cassel said. He added that there are still “discussions” of issues that “need to be worked out” in the New Jersey program, such as embedded batteries in certain products, differences in collecting batteries from bikes and EVs and battery storage systems, he added.
“We’ve seen the industry engage, which has been a notable change over the past year,” Cassel said. “They're doing this because of the national thrust towards reclaiming materials, [especially] critical materials, and processing them here in the United States as much as possible so that we have security in the supply chain.” -- Sarah Mattalian (smattalian@iwpnews.com)
