On Friday, the Assembly approved legislation by Assembly Republican Leader Brian Dahle that will ensure the state has a plan for dealing with discarded electric vehicle batteries. Currently, there are more than 450,000 electric vehicles on the road, yet there is no plan for dealing with these batteries when they eventually reach the end of their useful life.
Assembly Bill 2832 received bipartisan support, passing on a 66-0 vote.
“There are currently hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles on California’s roads. Eventually, there will be millions,” said Dahle.
“That’s a lot of batteries that we will have on our hands. I’m simply asking for a responsible plan to protect our environment.”
All batteries are considered hazardous waste in California when discarded. Assembly Bill 2832 will require the Department of Toxic Substances and Control to work with stakeholders to identify a plan to reuse or recycle batteries from electric vehicles at the end of their useful life.
The plan will need to be submitted to the Legislature by July 1st, 2020. The bill now heads to the California State Senate for approval.
