For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Act” means the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2021.

(b) “Department” means the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

(c) “Manufacturer” means a business concern that owns or owned a name brand of mercury-added thermostats sold in this state before January 1, 2006.

(d) “Mercury-added thermostat” has the same meaning as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 25214.8.1.

(e) “Out-of-service mercury-added thermostat” means a mercury-added thermostat that is removed from a building or facility in this state and is intended to be discarded.

(f) “Program” means a system for the collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats that is financed, as well as managed or provided, by a manufacturer or collectively by a group of manufacturers pursuant to this act. “Program” also includes the education and outreach campaign conducted by a qualified third party to inform appropriate entities about the out-of-service mercury-added thermostat collection opportunities provided by the program.

(g) “Qualified third party” means a nonprofit organization, exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3)), that is selected by a manufacturer, or group of manufacturers, pursuant to Section 25214.8.11.4 to implement the program.

(h) “Retailer” means a person who sells thermostats of any kind directly to a consumer through a selling or distribution mechanism, including, but not limited to, a sale using catalogs or the internet. A retailer may be a wholesaler if the person meets the definition of a wholesaler set forth in subdivision (j).

(i) “Thermostat” means a product or device that uses a switch to sense and control room temperature through communication with heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning equipment. “Thermostat” includes a thermostat used to sense and control room temperature in residential, commercial, industrial, and other buildings, but does not include a thermostat used to sense and control temperature as part of a manufacturing process.

(j) “Wholesaler” means a person engaged in the distribution and wholesale selling of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components to contractors who install heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning components, and whose total wholesale sales account for 80 percent or more of total sales. A manufacturer, as defined in subdivision (c), is not a wholesaler.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 703, Sec. 4. (AB 707) Effective January 1, 2022. Repealed as of January 1, 2033, pursuant to Section 25214.8.19.)