(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter that existing and future lead-acid battery recycling, resale, refurbishing, and reuse operations that are in compliance with state and federal law shall not be adversely affected by this chapter.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIII A and Section 1 of Article XIII C of the California Constitution, it is right and proper that the fees established by this chapter and imposed upon purchasers and manufacturers of lead-acid batteries should be used solely to address the state’s needs described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 25215.5, which are limited to areas of the state that are or have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility, and to encourage the proper recycling of lead-acid batteries.

(2) Reasonable and verifiable analyses, such as the analysis performed by the European Commission pursuant to that body’s end-of-life vehicle directive (Directive 2000/53/EC), have established that no viable alternative technology exists that can replace lead-acid batteries at a mass-market scale for use in motor vehicles as starting batteries that are designed to deliver a high burst of energy to an internal combustion engine until it starts.

(3) Lead-acid batteries, among other technologies, are necessary to enable the state to achieve the requirements for increasing electricity sales from renewable energy resources established in Section 399.15 of the Public Utilities Code and the requirements for greenhouse gas emissions reduction established in Section 38566, particularly those lead-acid batteries used as stationary storage or standby batteries that are designed to be used in systems in which the battery acts either as electrical storage for electricity generation equipment or a source of emergency power, or otherwise serves as a backup in case of failure or interruption in the flow of power from the primary source.

(4) Lead-acid batteries are the most recycled consumer product in the state, with a nationwide recycling rate exceeding 99 percent, and it is in the public interest to ensure that future policy decisions do not diminish, impede, disincentivize, or otherwise interfere with the efficient and environmentally sound recycling of lead-acid batteries.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 860, Sec. 2. (AB 142) Effective October 13, 2019.)