This act, titled the "electric vehicle battery management act," creates a new chapter in Title 70A RCW establishing a regulatory program for end-of-life management of propulsion batteries. It makes producers (defined by a priority ordering of manufacturer, brand owner, licensee, U.S. importer of record, or first seller/distributor) responsible for financing and implementing collection, transportation, remanufacturing, reuse, repurposing, recycling, or disposal of used propulsion batteries. The Department of Ecology is given rulemaking, approval, inspection, and oversight roles, including authorizing recyclers and transporters and setting labeling standards; beginning January 1, 2028 new propulsion batteries must carry a permanent label meeting department rules and remanufactured or repurposed batteries must be relabeled per department standards. The act creates procedural requirements: producers must register with the department beginning January 1, 2026, develop and submit battery management plans (plans required to be submitted by January 1, 2028 in consultation with the department; department rules to be adopted by June 1, 2027), update plans at least every five years, and follow department timelines for plan review and implementation (department acts on complete plans within 90 days; producers implement approved plans within 90 days). Producers must provide consumer education and a complaint forum; the department must post approved plans and participating producers publicly. Solid waste collection companies and solid waste handling facilities are prohibited, unless authorized by the department, from knowingly accepting propulsion batteries for disposal beginning June 1, 2029. The bill also establishes finance and enforcement mechanisms: it creates an electric vehicle battery recycling account, requires a one-time payment by registered producers by September 1, 2026 and annual registration fees calculated and collected on a schedule beginning March–May 2027, permits department inspections during normal business hours, and authorizes administrative civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation per day and up to $10,000 per violation per day for repeated violations with appeals to the Pollution Control Hearings Board. The act amends and reenacts several existing RCWs (including RCW 70A.205.505, 70A.555.010, 43.21B.110, and 43.21B.300) to integrate these changes. Some details are incomplete in the provided text: the department-determined fee amounts are not specified, certain rule specifics and full amended statutory language are not included, and one sentence about approval requirements for entities becoming producers after the effective date is cut off.

If enacted, manufacturers, brand owners, importers, first distributors, and secondary remanufacturers of electric vehicle propulsion batteries will have to pay for and run end‑of‑life programs: they must register with the Department of Ecology, submit and periodically update approved battery management plans, put permanent labels on new batteries by January 1, 2028, finance collection, transport, reuse/remanufacture/recycling or disposal of returned batteries, and report annual sales. Many producers will likely join or form nonprofit stewardship organizations to operate collection networks and meet department rules, and they will face new direct costs for program operations, one‑time and annual fees that fund the department, and potential fines for noncompliance (civil penalties up to $1,000 per day and higher for repeated violations). Vehicle recyclers, repair shops, authorized battery recyclers and transporters will need department authorization and staff safety training to participate, while solid waste collection companies and permitted disposal facilities generally will no longer be able to accept propulsion batteries for disposal after June 1, 2029 unless authorized, shifting handling and disposal responsibility back to producers and their programs. The Department of Ecology gains rulemaking, inspection, posting, and enforcement duties and will set plan and labeling standards, fee levels, and authorization processes; important details such as the exact fee amounts, specific labeling and plan standards, and several procedural provisions are not provided in the excerpts and remain uncertain.