STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain disclosures regarding lithium ion powered electric vehicles.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act requiring certain disclosures regarding lithium ion powered electric vehicles at sale and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall develop a disclosure statement for distribution to prospective purchasers of electric vehicles powered by lithium ion battery. The statement shall indicate lithium mineral extraction is produced in a manner that has a substantial impact on ecosystems, that known reserves of lithium are increasingly scarce, and that identifies the source of the lithium in the vehicle battery being sold.
b. Every business in this State that sells a vehicle powered by a lithium ion battery shall present each purchaser with the disclosure statement, produced and provided by the Division of Consumer Affairs pursuant to subsection a. of this section, and require every purchaser of a lithium ion powered vehicle sold in this State to sign an affirmation of receipt of the disclosure statement.
c. Any business that violates this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of $150 for a first violation and $300 for subsequent violations. The penalty prescribed in this section shall be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the thirteenth month next following the date of enactment, except that the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs may take any anticipatory action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires every business in this State that sells vehicles powered by lithium ion batteries to make certain disclosures to a purchaser regarding lithium used in the car’s battery. The statement is to be produced by the Division of Consumer Affairs and acknowledge that lithium is a raw material of increasingly scarce known reserves that must be mined or extracted. The statement is to further provide that most extraction processes entail some form of mining to reach underground deposits of lithium-rich minerals or brines, having a significant impact on local ecosystems. Finally, the statement is required to identify the source of the lithium used in the battery being sold.
The bill also requires these businesses to affirm each purchaser’s receipt of the disclosure statement. A business that violates this provision is subject to a civil penalty of $150 for a first offense and $300 for subsequent violations, collectible in a civil action by summary proceeding pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274.