YourVoice.Now Summary
Corporate BenefitsEnvironmentTransparency & AccountabilityLithium-ion battery recyclers would not need a federal hazardous waste permit — until EPA's new rule, due in 18 months.
Corporate Benefits
A plant that holds lithium-ion batteries before recycling them counts as a hazardous waste site today, which means a federal permit. The bill would swap that for a short list of handling and paperwork rules, and only until EPA issues the new rule it orders.
Environment
A 1995 rule text is written into an older battery law, so changing it takes an act of Congress. Pointing the law at EPA's current rules would let EPA update them on its own.
EPA would have to issue a rule on handling used lithium-ion batteries as universal waste within 18 months of the bill becoming law. The bill lists things EPA must weigh, including gaps in existing safety protections, but leaves the final rules to the agency.
The rules that stay cover leaking or damaged batteries, staff training, spill response, how long batteries may sit, and waste paperwork. The wider site standards that come with a hazardous waste permit would not apply while the short list is in force.
Transparency & Accountability
The lighter rules for recyclers apply only until EPA issues the rule the bill orders. The lasting standards would be set in that EPA rule, which goes through public comment, rather than fixed in the law itself.
More about this bill
Most people would see no change at home. The BRACE Act, short for the Battery Recycling for America's Competitive Economy Act, changes federal waste rules for plants that recycle lithium-ion batteries. Those are the batteries in phones, laptops, and electric cars. Today a plant that stores those batteries before recycling counts as a hazardous waste site. It needs a federal permit and must meet a long list of rules. A shorter list would apply instead. Plants would keep leaking or damaged batteries in closed bins and train their staff. They would contain any spill at once and usually hold batteries no more than a year. They would still file waste forms. The shorter list would be temporary. EPA would have 18 months to issue its own rule for used lithium-ion batteries. The shorter list would end the day that rule comes out. EPA would have to weigh keeping parts of it, but the agency would decide the lasting rules. A separate change updates an older battery law that now names rule text frozen in 1995. It would point to EPA's current rules instead.
Congressional Summary
Congress's official summary of this bill still describes an earlier version of the text, so we have left it out here. You can read it on Congress.gov.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Passed House
- Action Date
- 2026-09-15
- Date Added
- 2026-09-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.