William R. Richardson: “my only regret is that this legislation has taken so long to progress through the Congress. As I mentioned before, I…”

“my only regret is that this legislation has taken so long to progress through the Congress. As I mentioned before, I introduced a similar bill in the 103d Congress. It is good that we are making this initiative now so that it becomes law. Mr. Speaker, this legislation that we are considering today seeks to protect our environment by providing real relief from the toxic effects of mercury, lead and cadmium in landfills and incinerators. This bill, which I am a cosponsor of, and its counterpart in the other body shares the same goal of removing regulatory barriers to the implementation of an industry sponsored program to collect and recycle ni-cad rechargeable batteries. Currently, 350 million nickel batteries are being sold in the country each year, and about 40 percent are sold to household consumers. Most of these batteries will therefore end up in solid waste landfills, since households have no alternative opportunity to recycle. The legislation we are discussing today is going to inform consumers that these batteries can be recycled. In fact, consumers are conveniently going to be able to return used rechargeable batteries to battery retailers who will have collection containers at their stores. There is wide consensus and support of this issue. The bills have been endorsed by the Conference of Mayors, the National Conference of State Legislators, and industry has made a positive effort in moving this bill.”