Which rules apply to power banks and portable chargers?

A producer in a Maine battery stewardship program sells a product with an embedded (not easily removable) battery only if it gives the program operator, each year, the product description, battery chemistry and type, and the battery's UPC

Must meet the conditions of Embedded-battery product reporting (38 M.R.S. 1617(2)(B), in force March 1, 2027 until its repeal on January 1, 2030): a producer participating in a battery stewardship program may not sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale in or into Maine a battery-containing product that contains an embedded battery (a portable or medium format battery not intended or designed to be easily removable, 1617(1)(M)) unless it annually gives the program operator, for the report under 1617(8)(C), a description of the product, the chemistry and type of the embedded battery and the battery's UPC.

• Contains a battery
• It contains an embedded battery (a portable battery or medium format battery that is contained within a battery-containing product and that is not intended or designed to be easily removable from the product, 38 M.R.S. 1617(1)(M)), and you are the producer participating in a battery stewardship program (1617(2)(B))

Depends on: contains battery

Takes effect 1 Mar 2027

Applies to products sold on or after 1 Mar 2027

Stated: “Beginning March 1, 2027” (1617(2)(B)); “This paragraph is repealed January 1, 2030.” From then embedded batteries are covered batteries (1617(1)(I)(1)).

Banned

• It contains intentionally added PFAS

Takes effect 1 Jan 2032

Applies to products sold on or after 1 Jan 2032

Residual ban on home products not already banned under sub-5 A and B-1. Prohibition extends to products without intentionally added PFAS that are sold in a fluorinated container or a container that otherwise contains intentionally added PFAS. No unavoidable-use determinations appear in the law text.

A seller or manufacturer of consumer goods in Maine cannot exclude or modify the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness or the buyer's remedies: such language is unenforceable, and in a retail sale it is an unfair trade practice

Must meet the conditions of 11 M.R.S. 2-316(5): the UCC disclaimer rules of subsections (2) to (4) do not apply to sales of consumer goods (new or used goods bought primarily for personal, family or household purposes); any language, oral or written, used by a seller or manufacturer of consumer goods that attempts to exclude or modify the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, or the consumer's remedies for their breach, is unenforceable. (5)(a): a violation arising from a retail sale is a violation of Title 5, chapter 10 (Unfair Trade Practices Act). In practice: no “as is” or implied-warranty disclaimer in Maine listings, warranty cards or receipts.

• It is a consumer good: new or used goods bought primarily for personal, family or household purposes (11 M.R.S. 2-316(5))

In force, start date unknown

In force no later than 2026-10-05, the extraction date printed on the official page fetched 2026-10-27; the section states no start date (history: PL 1973, c. 444; PL 1975, c. 320; PL 1997, c. 497; PL 2011, c. 523; RR 2025, c. 2).

The product's package and packaging components have no intentionally introduced lead, cadmium, mercury or hexavalent chromium, and the four together are at most 100 ppm

Must meet the conditions of Toxics in packaging: a manufacturer or distributor may not offer for sale or for promotional purposes in Maine any product in a package whose package or packaging components (inks, dyes, pigments, adhesives, stabilizers, coatings or other additives) have intentionally introduced lead, cadmium, mercury or hexavalent chromium (1733(2)); the four together in any package or packaging component may not exceed 100 ppm by weight from April 1, 1994 (1733(3)(C)).

• You offer the product in Maine in a package (32 M.R.S. 1733(2): "any product in a package"); a product sold with no packaging has nothing to comply

In force since 1 Apr 1992

Applies to products sold on or after 1 Apr 1992

1733(3): 600 ppm effective April 1, 1992; 250 ppm April 1, 1993; 100 ppm April 1, 1994.

The product contains no more than 0.1 percent of the penta or octa mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Must meet the conditions of PBDE flame retardants: effective January 1, 2006, a person may not sell or offer to sell, or distribute for promotional purposes, in Maine a product containing more than 0.1% of the penta or octa mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (38 M.R.S. 1609(1))

Every product in the category

In force since 1 Jan 2006

Applies to products sold on or after 1 Jan 2006

Stated: “Effective January 1, 2006” (subsection 1). The deca-mixture restrictions in subsections 4 and 5 (furniture, television or computer housings, pallets) do not reach the test products and are not stored.

A covered battery or a product that contains or is packaged with one is sold in Maine only if its producer participates in an approved battery stewardship program; embedded batteries are covered from January 1, 2030

Must meet the conditions of Program participation (38 M.R.S. 1617(2)(A)): beginning 180 days after the first battery stewardship plan is approved, a producer may not sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale in or into Maine a covered battery or covered battery-containing product (a product that contains or is packaged with a covered battery, 1617(1)(J)) unless it participates in a battery stewardship program operating under an approved plan. Covered battery: a portable battery (primary up to 4.4 pounds; rechargeable up to 11 pounds and 300 watt-hours) or medium format battery; an embedded battery becomes a covered battery on January 1, 2030 (1617(1)(I)(1)).

• Contains a battery
• It contains or is packaged with a covered battery (a portable or medium format battery; an embedded battery from January 1, 2030, 38 M.R.S. 1617(1)(I), (J)), and you are its producer (1617(1))

Depends on: contains battery

Takes effect 1 Jan 2030

Applies to products sold on or after 1 Jan 2030

Stated: embedded batteries are covered “Beginning January 1, 2030” (1617(1)(I)(1)). For an easily removable or packaged battery the ban starts 180 days after the first plan approval (1617(2)(A)); that date is not in the text, so it is not shown here.

Pay the packaging stewardship organization for the product's packaging and report its packaging by type, once Maine's stewardship program contract is in effect

Registration required

Packaging EPR (stewardship program): a producer makes annual payments to the stewardship organization based on the net amount of each type of packaging material sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in or into Maine (2146(6)), reports that amount annually (2146(6)), and beginning one calendar year after the effective date of the department's contract with the stewardship organization may not sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale in or into Maine a product in packaging material for which it has not complied (2146(7)(A)).

• You are its producer under 38 M.R.S. 2146(1)(O) (for a product sold at a physical retail location in Maine: the person that manufactured the product under its own brand; if none, the licensee; if none, the brand owner; if none in the United States, the importer of record; for e-commerce shipping packaging, the person that packages the item), and you are not exempt under 2146(2) (less than $2,000,000 total gross revenue in the prior calendar year, or less than one ton of packaging material into Maine)

In force, start date unknown

2146(7)(A): the sale bar begins "one calendar year following the effective date of the contract entered into by the department and the stewardship organization"; payments are due no later than 180 days after that contract date (2146(6)). The text states no calendar date, so from is the first day of the enacting session year (PL 2021, c. 455) as a stand-in (date not stated).

A household product powered by a rechargeable battery has a battery the consumer can easily remove (or a separate, easily removed battery pack), and the product, battery and package are labeled that the battery must be recycled or disposed of properly, with the electrode type identifiable

Must meet the conditions of Rechargeable consumer products (38 M.R.S. 2166(1)): a person may not sell, distribute or offer for sale in Maine any product powered by a rechargeable battery primarily used or purchased for personal, family or household purposes unless (A) the battery may be easily removed by the consumer or is in a separate, easily removed battery pack, and (B) the product, the battery and the package are all labeled, clearly visible to the consumer, that the battery must be recycled or disposed of properly and that the electrode type is clearly identifiable. Penalty: civil violation, up to $100 per battery (2166(4)). 42 U.S.C. 14322 bars non-identical removability or labeling rules only for a rechargeable consumer product with a regulated (nickel-cadmium or small sealed lead) battery; whether it reaches a lithium-ion product's label was not checked.

• It is a product powered by a rechargeable battery, primarily used or bought for personal, family or household purposes (38 M.R.S. 2166(1))
• Contains a battery
• It is powered by a rechargeable battery and primarily used or purchased to be used for personal, family or household purposes (38 M.R.S. 2166(1)), and you sell, distribute or offer it for sale in Maine

Depends on: contains battery

In force since 1 Jan 1994

Applies to products sold on or after 1 Jan 1994

Stated: “this section takes effect January 1, 1994” (2166(3)).