‘Fine Tuned’ E-Waste Export Control Bill to Be Reintroduced, Says Rep. Green

Texas Democrat Gene Green intends to reintroduce his e-waste export control bill after some “fine tuning,” he told us. Rep. Green introduced HR-6252 in September but failed to get a hearing for it. “We are fine tuning it to try and get more additional co-sponsors before we introduce it in the new Congress,” he said. Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and John Carter, R-Texas, were co-sponsors of HR-6252.

Green said he’s also waiting to see to which subcommittee in the House Energy and Commerce Committee the bill will likely be assigned. Although the suitable place would be the Environment and Economy Subcommittee, it’s not certain yet to which subcommittee the bill would be sent, he said. The new bill will “basically be in the form” of HR-6252, he said. “We are working with the EPA on some technical issues” with the measure, he said. Green also wants to consult with manufacturers, retailers and environmental groups which had lent support to HR-6252, he said.

HR-6252 sought to create a new category of “restricted electronic waste” which can’t be exported to developing countries. It got strong support from environmental groups like the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) and the Natural Resources Defense Council, who had opposed an export bill introduced in May. CEA said it had no position on the bill, while the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries opposed it. Company supporters included Dell, Apple and Samsung.

"We'd be happy if the bill was introduced basically how it was before,” said Barbara Kyle, ETBC’s national coordinator. “We'd also welcome the opportunity to talk about whatever tweaks the various parties think are appropriate.” But environmental groups are opposed to efforts to add “a lot of loopholes” to the measure that was introduced last year, she said. HR-6252 got it right, she said: “We think it was the right approach. It got support from a number of important players and it is a right path forward."

"We are not taking a position on it at this point,” said Walter Alcorn, CEA vice president of environmental affairs, when asked if the industry wanted to see any changes made to HR-6252 before it’s reintroduced. He said the CEA had written to the bill’s sponsors that it would like to participate in a meeting with EPA officials to “gain a better understanding about how this law would be implemented.” The lawmakers were also told that the group wants to discuss other “legislative remedies” to the e-waste issue, he said.