Substitute House Bill 1801 as Recommended by Consumer Protection & Business

Source

Section 1

  1. The Washington state digital electronic equipment repairability task force is established.

  2. The task force is comprised of members as provided in this subsection.

    1. The president of the senate shall appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate.

    2. The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives.

    3. The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall jointly appoint one member from each of the following:

      1. The department;

      2. The department of ecology;

      3. The office of the attorney general;

      4. An advocacy group focused on sustainability of digital electronic equipment;

    4. An organization representing the interests of local technology companies;

    1. A distributor or marketplace platform for digital electronic equipment; and

    2. An original equipment manufacturer.

  3. [Empty]

    1. By August 1, 2022, the department shall select and contract with a third-party entity to administer and provide staff support and facilitation services to the task force.

    2. The department shall select the entity based on the following criteria:

      1. Impartiality regarding policy outcomes;

      2. Qualifications and relevant experience in the subject of digital electronic equipment repairability; and

      3. Ability to provide data analysis, research, drafting, and other services to the task force for the purposes provided in subsections (7) and (8) of this section.

    3. The entity may, when deemed necessary by the task force, subcontract with one or more appropriate consultants to provide additional data analysis, research, drafting, and other services to the task force for the purposes provided in subsections (7) and (8) of this section.

  4. The entity identified in subsection (3) of this section shall convene the initial meeting of the task force no later than October 1, 2022.

  5. The membership of the task force shall elect a chair from among its legislative members at the initial meeting of the task force. The election of the chair must be by a majority vote of the task force members who are present at the meeting.

  6. A public comment period must be provided at every meeting of the task force.

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    1. The task force shall research, analyze, and prepare reports on the status and development of local, national, and global repairability standards for digital electronic equipment, and make recommendations regarding the creation, implementation, management, and enforcement of repairability standards for digital electronic equipment in Washington state.

    2. Recommendations made by the task force shall include, but are not limited to, recommendations related to the following:

      1. The use of specific criteria to objectively measure the repairability of a product;

      2. The use of a numeric scoring system to effectively convey repairability information to consumers;

      3. The use of clear, conspicuous labeling to enable consumers to quickly discern the repairability of a product;

      4. The application of repairability standards to products that are sold online; and

    3. Enforcement of repairability standards.

  8. [Empty]

    1. The task force shall submit an initial report and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by July 1, 2023.

    2. The task force shall submit an updated report and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by July 1, 2024.

    3. The task force shall submit a final report and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by July 1, 2025.

  9. Legislative members of the task force may be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.

  10. For the purposes of this section, the definitions in this subsection apply, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

    1. "Department" means the department of commerce.

    2. "Digital electronic equipment" means a product that depends, for its functioning, in whole or in part, on digital electronics embedded in or attached to the product.

    3. "Original equipment manufacturer" means a company that manufactures or contracts with another company to manufacture digital electronic equipment.

  11. This section expires August 1, 2025.

Created by @tannewt. Contribute on GitHub.