In California, Emergency Rule Adds Airbag Waste Exemption

Update: November 15, 2024 

California DTSC has proposed to readopt, for 90 additional days, emergency regulations exempting undeployed airbags from some hazardous waste management requirements when handlers meet certain conditions.

DTSC will accept public comments on readopting the exemption for 5 days, beginning when the rule appears on this page: Emergency Regulations Under Review.

If not readopted for an additional 90 days, the exemption for waste airbags will expire on December 5, 2024. 

From DTSC’s announcement: 

“This proposed second readoption of the emergency regulations will ensure, for an additional 90 days, the continued safe and effective management of undeployed airbags under the conditional exemption for airbag waste handlers. During this time DTSC will finalize the regulations through the regular rulemaking process.”

Updated: September 2024

An emergency regulation to adopt relaxed management standards for undeployed airbag waste took effect on March 15 in California and will remain in effect until September 12 December 5, 2024.

The provisions exempt “airbag waste” from some of the Title 22/RCRA hazardous waste management rules, relaxing the requirements for generating, accumulating, and transporting these devices (when certain conditions are met). 

The goal in adding the exclusion for airbag waste is to facilitate the safe return and disposal of defective car airbags, like those impacted by the Takata airbag recall that began in the mid-2010’s. 

Using the Airbag Waste Exclusion

To take advantage of the exclusion, car dealers, parts retailers, repair shops, and scrap yards, and other handlers of airbag waste must: 

• Abide by limits on the number of units and accumulation time.
• Properly package and label airbag waste.
• Send the waste directly to an approved facility.
• Comply with US DOT hazmat transportation regulations. 
• Keep records of all offsite shipments. 

DTSC created an Airbag Waste Management webpage which provides extensive detail about how to manage airbag waste under the conditional exemption. The page provides definitions for key regulatory terms like airbag module, airbag inflator, and airbag waste, and addresses several common questions about the rule in FAQ format.

For more about the nuts-and-bolts of the regulatory and legislative process behind this rulemaking, visit DTSC’s Conditional Exemption for Undeployed Airbags webpage. 

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Tags: airbags, California, hazardous waste management