Amended  IN  Senate  June 19, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 13, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 30, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1659

Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel

February 17, 2023

An act to add Chapter 40 (commencing with Section 22949.90) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to small electronic devices.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1659, as amended, Gabriel. Sale of small electronic devices: charging devices.
Existing law regulates various business activities and practices, including the sale of telephones. Existing law requires a smartphone, as defined, that is manufactured on or after July 1, 2015, and sold in California after that date, to provide certain functionality, as specified.
This bill would prohibit a manufacturer from selling a small electronic device, as defined, on or after January 1, 2026, unless that small electronic device meets certain criteria, including being equipped with a USB Type-C receptacle, as specified. The bill would require a wholesaler or retailer of a small electronic device manufactured on or after January 1, 2026, to offer to make the sale without a charging device, and to display, as specified, a certain pictogram depending on the existence and specifications of an included charging device. The bill also would require the wholesaler or retailer to provide a specified purchaser with certain information relating to the wired charging devices that can be used with the small electronic device, as specified.
The bill would exempt from its provisions the sale of a secondhand small electronic device from its provisions. device, the sale of a laptop before July 1, 2026, and the sale of a small electronic device of a specified size. The bill would authorize an action brought exclusively by the Attorney General, a district attorney, a county counsel, or a city attorney. The bill would entitle a prevailing plaintiff in the action to injunctive relief and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
The bill would state that any waiver of these provisions is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) On November 23, 2022, the European Parliament adopted Directive (EU) 2022/2380 (EU Directive), a law making USB Type-C charging mandatory on all handheld mobile phones and other enumerated small electronic devices, effective December 28, 2024, and on all laptops, effective April 28, 2026, sold in European Union member countries.
(b) In December 2022, the Bureau of Indian Standards, within India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, issued IS/IEC 62680-1-2:2022 and IS/IEC 62680-1-3:2022 (Indian Standards), which established similar technical standards requiring USB Type-C receptacles, plugs, and cables to be used in various electronic devices like mobile phones and laptops sold in India.
(c) The EU Directive includes the following recitals:
(1) “Harmonisation should pursue the objectives of ensuring consumer convenience, reducing environmental waste and avoiding fragmentation of the market among different charging interfaces and charging communication protocol . . . .” (EU Directive, recital (9) at 2.) 2).
(2) “The future adaptation of the harmonisation of the charging interfaces and charging communication protocols should continue to pursue those objectives by ensuring that it incorporates the most appropriate technical solutions for charging interfaces and charging communication protocols for any means of charging. The harmonised charging solutions should reflect the most appropriate combination of achieving market acceptance as well as meeting the objectives of ensuring consumer convenience, reducing environmental waste and avoiding market fragmentation.” (Ibid.)
(3) Adoption of a common standard is also intended “to address any future market developments, such as the emergence of new categories or classes of radio equipment in relation to which a significant degree of fragmentation of the charging interfaces and charging communication protocols takes place, and any developments in charging technology.” (Ibid.)
(d) This bill, like the EU Directive and the Indian Standards, will help ensure that new types of small electronic devices and more efficient charging technologies that are developed in the future are standards based. The statutes this bill would enact can then be updated to reflect any new standards while continuing to satisfy the goals of achieving market acceptance, ensuring consumer convenience, reducing environmental waste, and avoiding market fragmentation.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 40 (commencing with Section 22949.90) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
CHAPTER  40. 

22949.90.
 For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) (1) “Small electronic device” means a smartphone, as defined in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 22761, other cellular radio telephone or mobile voice communications handset device, tablet, digital camera, headphone, headset, handheld video game console, portable speaker, e-reader, keyboard, mouse, portable navigation system, earbud, laptop, or other similar device that is used for audio, video, or text communication or any other type of portable computer or computer-like instrument that is capable of being charged.
(2) “Small electronic device” includes any charging station or docking cradle necessary to charge the instrument described in paragraph (1). If the charging station or docking cradle necessary to charge a small electronic device complies with a requirement of this chapter, the small electronic device shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of this chapter.
(b) “USB Power Delivery” means the 2021 international standards and specifications of the International Electrotechnical Commission for USB Power Delivery in “International Standard IEC 62680, Part 1-2.”
(c) “USB Type-C” means the 2021 international standards and specifications of the International Electrotechnical Commission for USB Type-C cables and connectors in “International Standard IEC 62680, Part 1-3.”

22949.90.2.
 A manufacturer shall not sell a small electronic device manufactured on or after January 1, 2026, that can be charged via a wired cable unless the device meets all of the following criteria:
(a) The device is equipped with a USB Type-C receptacle that remains accessible and operational at all times.
(b) The device can be charged with a USB Type-C cable and connector.
(c) If the device can be charged using wired charging at voltages higher than five volts or current higher than three amperes or powers higher than 15 watts, the device allows for full USB Power Delivery functionality, irrespective of the charging device used.

22949.90.4.
 (a) If a wholesaler or retailer offers to sell a small electronic device manufactured on or after January 1, 2026, together with a charging device, the wholesaler or retailer shall also offer to sell that small electronic device without a charging device. This subdivision shall not require a wholesaler or retailer to open the original packaging provided by the manufacturer of a small electronic device and remove a charging device from that packaging in order to comply with this subdivision.
(b) A wholesaler or retailer shall not offer to sell a small electronic device manufactured on or after January 1, 2026, to consumers or other end users unless the wholesaler or retailer displays, in a visible and legible manner pursuant to subdivision (c), a pictogram that is a graphic representation of a two-prong plug, modified in the following ways, as applicable:
(1) If no charging device is included with the small electronic device, a line drawn across the graphic representation of the two-prong plug.
(2) If a charging device is included with the small electronic device, two numbers corresponding to the following:
(A) The minimum power that a charging device needs to supply to charge the device.
(B) The maximum power that a charging device needs to supply to achieve the maximum charging speed of the device.
(3) If the small electronic device supports USB Power Delivery, the acronym “USB PD.”
(c) (1) A wholesaler or retailer shall ensure that the pictogram required by subdivision (b) is printed on the packaging or affixed to the packaging as a sticker.
(2) If a wholesaler or retailer makes an offer to sell a small electronic device through a remote offering, including a catalog, electronically through the internet, or other similar means that does not involve an in-store sale, the wholesaler or retailer shall display the pictogram required by subdivision (b) close to the price indication.

22949.90.6.
 (a) A wholesaler or retailer shall provide an end user to whom the wholesaler or retailer offers to sell a small electronic device manufactured on or after January 1, 2026, the following information, as applicable:
(1) A description of the power requirements of the wired charging devices that can charge the small electronic device, including the minimum power required to charge the small electronic device and the power required for maximum charging speed of the small electronic device in watts. The description shall be in substantially the following form:
“The power delivered by the charger must be between min ____ watts required by the small electronic device, and max ____ watts in order to achieve the maximum charging speed.”
(2) If the small electronic device is capable of being charged using wired charging at voltages higher than five volts or current higher than three amperes or powers higher than 15 watts, a description of the specifications relating to those charging capabilities, including both of the following, as applicable:
(A) The text “USB PD fast charging.”
(B) The name of any other supported charging protocol.
(b) A wholesaler or retailer may provide the information required pursuant to subdivision (a) in printed form on the packaging or, if there is no packaging, on a clear and conspicuous label accompanying the small electronic device that shall not be removed except by the end user.

22949.90.8.
 This chapter does not apply to the sale of a any of the following:
(a) A secondhand small electronic device.
(b) A laptop sold before July 1, 2026.
(c) A small electronic device that is of a size such that a USB Type-C receptacle cannot be integrated with the device without materially degrading the technical capabilities of the device other than power delivery.

22949.90.9.
 (a) A manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer that violates a provision of this chapter shall be subject to an action for relief brought exclusively by the Attorney General, a district attorney, a county counsel, or a city attorney.
(b) A prevailing plaintiff in an action brought under this section shall be entitled to the following relief:
(1) Injunctive relief.
(2) Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

22949.90.10.
 (a) Any waiver of the provisions of this chapter is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable.
(b) The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.