Maine Code § 38-1672

Mercury-added lamps
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1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms
have the following meanings.
A. "Manufacturer" means a person who manufactures a mercury-added lamp and has a presence
in the United States or a person who imports a mercury-added lamp manufactured by a person who
does not have a presence in the United States. [PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
A-1. "Covered entity" means a person who at any one time presents for drop off at a collection
location participating in a department-approved program for the recycling of mercury-added lamps
under this subsection:
(1) Any number of compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps; or
(2) Ten or fewer mercury-added lamps that are not compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps.
[PL 2019, c. 286, §1 (NEW).]
A-2. "Compact fluorescent mercury-added lamp" means a compact, low-pressure, mercury-
containing, electric-discharge light source, whether integrally ballasted or nonintegrally ballasted
and regardless of the tube diameter or length and the shape or size of the lamp, in which a
fluorescent coating transforms a portion of the ultraviolet energy generated by the mercury
discharge into visible light and that:
(1) Has a single base or end cap of any type, including, but not limited to, a screw base type,
a bayonet base type or a 2-pin or 4-pin base type; and
(2) Provides a light emission between a correlated color temperature of 1,700K and 24,000K
and a Duv of +0.024 and -0.024 in the International Commission on Illumination (CIE)
Uniform Color Space (CAM02-UCS). [PL 2023, c. 384, §1 (NEW).]
A-3. "Linear fluorescent mercury-added lamp" means a low-pressure, mercury-containing,
electric-discharge light source, regardless of the tube diameter and the shape of the lamp, in which
a fluorescent coating transforms a portion of the ultraviolet energy generated by the mercury
discharge into visible light and that:
(1) Has 2 bases or end caps of any type, including, but not limited to, a one-pin or 2-pin base
type and a recessed double contact base type;
(2) Provides a light emission between a correlated color temperature of 1,700K and 24,000K
and a Duv of +0.024 and -0.024 in the International Commission on Illumination (CIE)
Uniform Color Space (CAM02-UCS); and
(3) Has a tube length of 0.5 feet to 8 feet. [PL 2023, c. 384, §2 (NEW).]
B. "Mercury-added lamp" means an electric lamp to which mercury is intentionally added during
the manufacturing process, including, but not limited to, a linear fluorescent mercury-added lamp,
a compact fluorescent mercury-added lamp and a black light, high-intensity discharge, ultraviolet
or neon mercury-added lamp. [PL 2023, c. 384, §3 (AMD).]
C. "Municipal collection location" means a solid waste disposal facility, transfer station, storage
facility or recycling facility at which mercury-added lamps from a covered entity are collected for
recycling that is municipally owned or operated or operated by a regional association. [PL 2019,
c. 286, §2 (AMD).]
D. "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, cooperative, association, firm, sole
proprietorship, government agency or other entity. [PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
E. "Population center" means an urbanized area or urban cluster, as defined by the United States
Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census to identify areas of high population density and
urban land use with a population of 2,500 or greater. [PL 2019, c. 286, §3 (NEW).]

F. "Proprietary information" means information that is a trade secret or production, commercial or
financial information the disclosure of which would impair the competitive position of the
submittor and which is not otherwise publicly available. [PL 2019, c. 286, §3 (NEW).]
[PL 2023, c. 384, §§1-3 (AMD).]
2. Mercury content standards. The following provisions govern mercury content standards.
A. The department shall adopt rules establishing mercury content standards for lamps sold or
manufactured in the State on or after January 1, 2012. The standards must be based on mercury
content standards for lamps established in California. If one or more categories of lamps are not
covered by the mercury content standards established in California, the department may adopt
standards minimizing the mercury content of lamps within those categories, including adoption of
a no-mercury standard if a nonmercury alternative is available at a cost comparable to a mercury
alternative. Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title
5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. [PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
B. The rules adopted under paragraph A must provide that:
(1) A manufacturer of mercury-added lamps sold or being offered for sale in the State shall
prepare and, at the request of the department, submit within 28 days of the date of the request
technical documentation or other information showing that the manufacturer's mercury-added
lamps sold or offered for sale in the State comply with the rules. If the manufacturer of a
mercury-added lamp being sold or offered for sale does not provide the documentation
requested, that manufacturer may not be allowed to sell or offer for sale mercury-added lamps
in the State; and
(2) A manufacturer of mercury-added lamps sold or being offered for sale in the State shall
provide upon request a certification to a person who sells or offers for sale a mercury-added
lamp of that manufacturer. The certification must attest that the mercury-added lamp does not
contain levels of mercury that would result in the prohibition of that lamp being sold or offered
for sale in the State. If the manufacturer of a mercury-added lamp being sold or offered for
sale does not provide the certification requested, that manufacturer may not be allowed to sell
or offer mercury-added lamps for sale in the State. [PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
[PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
3. Mercury-added lamp purchasing. When making purchasing decisions on mercury-added
lamps and ballasts, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, in consultation with the
department and the Public Utilities Commission, shall request information on mercury content, energy
use, lumen output and lamp life from potential suppliers and shall issue specifications and make
purchasing decisions that favor models at comparable cost with high energy efficiency, lower mercury
content and longer lamp life. Information obtained on mercury content, energy use and lamp life must
be made available by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to other purchasers who
purchase a large number of mercury-added lamps. This information must also be posted on the State's
publicly accessible website.
[PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
4. Manufacturer recycling programs for mercury-added lamps. Each manufacturer of
mercury-added lamps sold or distributed in the State for use by a covered entity on or after January 1,
2001 shall individually or collectively implement a department-approved program for the recycling of
mercury-added lamps from a covered entity.
A. The recycling program required under this subsection must include, but is not limited to:
(1) Convenient collection locations adequate to serve the needs of covered entities in rural and
urban areas throughout the State where a covered entity can drop off mercury-added lamps
without cost, including but not limited to municipal collection locations and participating retail

establishments. The program must include a method of determining the adequate number and
geographic distribution of collection locations based on geographic information system
modeling.
No later than January 1, 2020, the collection system implemented under the program must
provide at least 90% of the residents of the State with a permanent collection location or a
nonpermanent collection location available on a periodic basis within 15 miles of their
residence unless the commissioner determines that this requirement is not practicable due to
geographic constraints, in which case the commissioner may approve an alternative collection
system that includes a geographic distribution of collection locations but that does not
otherwise meet this requirement.
Unless otherwise approved by the commissioner, the collection system implemented under the
program:
(a) Must provide at least 2 collection locations within a population center of at least 30,000
residents and an additional collection location for each additional 30,000 residents within
the population center; and
(b) Must ensure that the collection locations required under division (a) are located in a
manner that provides residents of the population center with convenient and reasonably
equitable access to the collection locations;
(2) Handling and recycling equipment and practices in compliance with the universal waste
rules adopted pursuant to section 1319-O, subsection 1, paragraph F, with subsection 6 if a
crushing device is used and with all other applicable requirements;
(3) Provision of education and outreach efforts by a manufacturer to promote the program,
which must include, but are not limited to, strategies for education of and outreach to covered
entities in all areas of the State and ensuring understanding of collection options by covered
entities. The education and outreach must, at a minimum, include posters, window clings and
point-of-purchase signs that are made available to collection locations without cost, that can be
prominently displayed and that will be easily visible to covered entities; and outreach to the
general public, including annual Internet-based media campaigns and print and radio media
campaigns conducted in rural and urban areas in the State;
(5) A goal of annually increasing the percentage of the residents of the State that are aware of
the requirement to recycle mercury-added lamps and the availability of mercury-added lamp
recycling at collection locations implemented under the program;
(6) Provisions for routinely evaluating the effectiveness of the education and outreach under
subparagraph (3);
(7) Procedures for improving the education and outreach under subparagraph (3) if the goal
under subparagraph (5) is not achieved; and
(8) An annual report to the department, which must include, at a minimum:
(a) The number of mercury-added lamps recycled under the program;
(b) The estimated percentage of mercury-added lamps available for recycling that were
recycled under the program and, if the percentage of lamps recycled in the prior calendar
year did not represent an increase from the percentage of lamps recycled in the calendar
year prior to the prior calendar year, recommendations for program modifications to
increase the percentage of lamps recycled under the program;
(c) The methodology for estimating the number of mercury-added lamps available for
recycling, which must include an assumption of the average lifespan of a lamp by type of
lamp and number of lamps sold by type in the years on which the percentage under division

(b) is calculated. Proprietary information submitted to the department pursuant to this
division that is identified by the manufacturer as proprietary information is confidential
and must be handled by the department in the same manner as confidential information is
handled under section 1310-B;
(d) A description of the education and outreach under subparagraph (3) and an evaluation
of the effectiveness of that education and outreach, including a description of the methods
used to measure consumer awareness of the requirement to recycle mercury-added lamps
and, beginning with the annual report for 2020, the results of an assessment of consumer
awareness of the program as completed by an independent 3rd-party assessor;
(e) The location of and contact information for each collection location established under
the program and an assessment of the convenience of the collection system established
under the program;
(f) An accounting of the costs associated with implementing and administering the
program; and
(g) Any recommendations for changes to the program to improve the convenience of the
collection system, consumer education or program evaluation. [PL 2019, c. 286, §4
(AMD).]
B. A manufacturer required to implement a recycling program under this subsection shall submit
its proposed recycling program for department review and approval. The department shall solicit
public comment on the proposed program before approving or denying the program. [PL 2009, c.
272, §1 (NEW).]
C. Beginning April 1, 2011, a manufacturer not in compliance with this section is prohibited from
offering any mercury-added lamp for final sale in the State or distributing any mercury-added lamp
in the State. A manufacturer not in compliance with this section shall provide support to retailers
to ensure the manufacturer’s mercury-added lamps are not offered for sale, sold at final sale or
distributed in the State. [PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
D. Beginning April 1, 2011, a retailer may not offer for final sale a mercury-added lamp produced
by a manufacturer not in compliance with this section. The department shall notify retailers of the
manufacturers of mercury-added lamps not in compliance with this section. [PL 2009, c. 272, §1
(NEW).]
E. Beginning in 2013, and biennially thereafter, the department shall calculate the percentage of
mercury-added lamps recycled from covered entities and report to the joint standing committee of
the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters on any modifications to the
manufacturer recycling programs it intends to make to improve mercury-added lamp recycling rates
and any recommendations for statutory changes needed to facilitate mercury-added lamp collection
and recycling. The report may be included in the report required pursuant to section 1772,
subsection 1. [PL 2019, c. 286, §4 (AMD).]
F. [PL 2019, c. 286, §4 (RP).]
G. A department-approved recycling program under this subsection that is collectively
implemented by manufacturers of mercury-added lamps must require the payment of a flat program
participation fee, in lieu of payment of any other fees or costs associated with the program's
operation, by a manufacturer participating in the program that previously offered for sale or
distributed in the State any type of mercury-added lamps but that no longer offers for final sale or
distributes in the State any type of mercury-added lamps; except that a manufacturer that previously
offered for sale or distributed in the State only compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps but that
no longer offers for final sale or distributes in the State compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps
may be required to pay the flat program participation fee only for a period beginning on the date

the manufacturer stops offering for final sale or distributing in the State compact fluorescent
mercury-added lamps and ending 5 years after that date, after which time the manufacturer must
be allowed to continue to participate in the program without being required to pay any fees or other
costs associated with the program's operation. [PL 2019, c. 286, §4 (NEW).]
H. If, based on the information annually reported to the department under paragraph A,
subparagraph (8), the department determines that fewer than 25,000 total mercury-added lamps
were collected in the prior calendar year in the State under all recycling programs implemented
under this subsection and that the combined mercury-added lamp recycling rate in the prior
calendar year under all recycling programs implemented under this subsection was 10% or greater,
the department shall develop a process for reducing the scope of the manufacturer recycling
program required under this subsection and for terminating all program requirements within the
3-year period subsequent to that determination.
(1) In developing the program reduction and termination process under this paragraph, the
department shall invite the participation of manufacturers that have implemented a recycling
program under this section.
(2) The program reduction and termination process developed under this paragraph must be
based on the best available data regarding the collection of mercury-added lamps in the State,
including, but not limited to:
(a) The collection activity at each collection location;
(b) The estimated number of mercury-added lamps in the State still available for
collection; and
(c) The total number of mercury-added lamps collected in the prior program years.
(3) Following completion of the development of the program reduction and termination
process under this paragraph, the department shall submit a report to the joint standing
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environment and natural resources
matters regarding its findings and recommendations for implementing that process, including
any proposed legislation. The report under this subparagraph may be included in the report
required under section 1772, subsection 1. After reviewing the report the committee may report
out a bill to implement the recommendations contained in the report or to otherwise facilitate
a reduction and termination of the manufacturer recycling program required under this
subsection. [PL 2019, c. 286, §4 (NEW).]
[PL 2019, c. 286, §4 (AMD).]
4-A. Sales prohibition and exceptions. Beginning January 1, 2026, a person may not offer for
sale, sell or distribute as a new manufactured product a compact fluorescent mercury-added lamp or a
linear fluorescent mercury-added lamp. The prohibition in this subsection does not apply to the
following:
A. A mercury-added lamp that is designed and marketed exclusively for image capture and
projection, including:
(1) Photocopying;
(2) Printing, directly or in preprocessing;
(3) Lithography;
(4) Film or video projection; or
(5) Holography; [PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
B. A mercury-added lamp that has a high proportion of ultraviolet light emission and that:

(1) Has ultraviolet power greater than 2 milliwatts per kilolumen;
(2) Is designed for germicidal use, including the destruction of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA,
that emits a peak radiation of approximately 253.7 nanometers;
(3) Is designed and marketed exclusively for disinfection or fly trapping and from which:
(a) The radiation power emitted between 250 and 315 nanometers represents at least 5%
of the total radiation power emitted between 250 and 800 nanometers; or
(b) The radiation power emitted between 315 and 400 nanometers represents at least 20%
of the total radiation power emitted between 250 and 800 nanometers;
(4) Is designed and marketed exclusively for the generation of ozone and that has the primary
purpose of emitting radiation at approximately 185.1 nanometers;
(5) Is designed and marketed exclusively for coral zooxanthellae symbiosis and from which
the radiation power emitted between 400 and 480 nanometers represents at least 40% of the
total radiation power emitted between 250 and 800 nanometers; or
(6) Is designed and marketed exclusively for use in a sunlamp product, as defined in 21 Code
of Federal Regulations, Section 1040.20(b)(9) as in effect on January 1, 2024; [PL 2023, c.
384, §4 (NEW).]
C. A mercury-added lamp designed and marketed exclusively for use in medical or veterinary
diagnosis or treatment or in a medical device; [PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
D. A mercury-added lamp designed and marketed exclusively for use in the manufacturing or
quality control of pharmaceutical products; [PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
E. A mercury-added lamp designed and marketed exclusively for spectroscopy and photometric
applications, including, but not limited to, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, molecular spectroscopy,
atomic absorption spectroscopy, nondispersive infrared spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy, medical analysis, ellipsometry, layer thickness measurement, process monitoring or
environmental monitoring; [PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
F. A mercury-added lamp designed and marketed exclusively for use by academic and research
institutions for conducting research projects and experiments; or [PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
G. A compact fluorescent mercury-added lamp that is used to replace a lamp in a motor vehicle
that was manufactured on or before January 1, 2020. [PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
The department may investigate complaints received regarding potential violations of this subsection
and, as a result of those investigations, may enforce this subsection in accordance with sections 347-A
and 349, but the department is not required to conduct compliance inspections of locations where
mercury-added lamps or other light sources are sold or distributed, conduct outreach or education
activities related to the prohibition in this subsection or engage in any other regulatory or enforcement
activities related to the prohibition in this subsection.
[PL 2023, c. 384, §4 (NEW).]
5. Applicability. The requirements of this section do not apply to motor vehicles as defined in
Title 29-A, section 101, subsection 42 or watercraft as defined in Title 12, section 13001, subsection
28 or their component parts.
[PL 2009, c. 272, §1 (NEW).]
6. Lamp crushing. A recycling program required under subsection 4 may include the use of
crushing devices in accordance with the provisions of this subsection.
A. The owner of the crushing device shall:
(1) Register the device with the department. The registration must include:

(a) The owner's name and contact information;
(b) The brand of device used;
(c) Anticipated usage of the device; and
(d) A statement that the operating manual required pursuant to subparagraph (2) is in place;
(2) Develop an operating manual specifying how to safely crush mercury-added lamps. The
operating manual must be available to all operators of the device and must include:
(a) Procedures for operation and maintenance of the device in accordance with written
procedures developed by the manufacturer of the device;
(b) Testing and monitoring procedures;
(c) Information concerning mercury hazards, crushing procedures, waste handling and
emergency procedures;
(d) An assessment of whether surrounding areas will be negatively affected, either by
physical proximity or air exchange with a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system;
(e) Proper waste management practices;
(f) Procedures for operator training to ensure operators have been trained in the operation
and maintenance of equipment, including, but not limited to, engineering controls to
mitigate mercury releases and personal protective equipment use; and
(g) Procedures to address emergency situations, including, but not limited to, procedures
to address mercury hazards, waste handling and equipment failure;
(3) Document maintenance activities, retain maintenance logs, test data from the manufacturer
and any additional test data acquired and make available a copy of these records to the
department at its request;
(4) Meet all federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements;
(5) Dispose of all material crushed in the device;
(6) Maintain on file an annual report for review by the department, at the discretion of the
department, indicating the:
(a) Total volume of mercury-added lamps crushed;
(b) Volume and disposition of any carbon or other filter from the device; and
(c) Names of the destination facilities to which all crushed material was shipped; and
(7) Maintain testing and monitoring data. [PL 2011, c. 275, §2 (NEW).]
B. The crushing device may be operated only in a closed system and in such a manner that any
emission of mercury from the crushing device does not exceed 0.3 micrograms per cubic meter
when measured on the basis of a time-weighted average over an 8-hour period. [PL 2011, c. 275,
§2 (NEW).]
C. The crushing device may be operated only in a secure, ventilated area and may not be operated
in an area accessible to the general public. [PL 2011, c. 275, §2 (NEW).]
[PL 2011, c. 275, §2 (NEW).]

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