Up a Level:

• Pilot Projects and Initiatives

Related Areas:

• Project 1: HVAC Wholesaler Chains
• Project 2: HVAC Contractor Expansion
• Project 3: HVAC Contractor Incentive Pilot
• Project 4/5: HHW Collection Pilot 
• Project 6: Maine Contractor Incentive
• Project 7: Maine Homeowner Incentive
• Project 8: Model Program

Project 6: Maine Contractor Incentive

In April 2006, Maine Governor John Baldacci signed into law a legislative agreement that PSI mediated among thermostat manufacturers, environmental groups, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP).  The law is the nation’s first financial incentive to recycle building thermostats that contain mercury, and the first law to require thermostat collection for do-it-yourselfers.  Key elements also include aggressive performance goals and a requirement that all manufacturers offer a thermostat recycling program.

PSI Role

Under the Maine thermostat law, all manufacturers must “provide a financial incentive with a minimum value of $5 for the return of each mercury-added thermostat by a contractor or service technician to an established recycling collection point.” PSI is now involved in a ME DEP stakeholder group that will determine the most effective way to implement the law’s contractor incentive. (For information on a PSI pilot project in Oregon and Indiana addressing this issue, please see Thermostat Project #3 - HVAC Contractor Incentive Pilot Project).

Current Progress

ME DEP held 3 meetings in the summer and fall of 2006, and will hold its final meeting in December, after which the agency will finalize the contractor incentive portion of the law. ME DEP is tasked with developing a two-phased plan, through a stakeholder process, that specifies the incentive to be paid to contractors and service technicians by January 1, 2007. These plans should encourage the purchase of non-mercury Energy Star qualified thermostats as replacements. Retailers are prohibited from selling ANY thermostats from non-compliant manufacturers. Beginning in 2008, all mercury thermostat manufacturers are required to report annually to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) concerning the collection and recycling program.  

Project Documents

	ME Thermostat Calculations
	ME Mercury Thermostat Law Fact Sheet
	Meeting Minutes - August 2006
	Meeting Minutes - September 2006
	Meeting Minutes - October 2006