Nevada Organizations Support ‘Right to Repair’ Bill to Lower Barriers to Affordable Electronics Repair

Media Contacts
Levi Kamolnick

The push comes alongside a national effort to rethink the electronics market

Environment Nevada

CARSON CITY — Today, nine Nevad advocacy groups sent a letter to members of the Nevada Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee urging their support of a ‘Right to Repair’ bill to lower unnecessary barriers to affordable electronics repair for Nevadans. The bill, AB 221, introduced by Assemblywoman Selena Torres, would require manufacturers selling consumer electronics products priced between $100 and $5,000 to make the mechanisms necessary to repair these devices and price them reasonably.

Organizations emphasized that opening up the electronics repair economy could have broad implications for the environment, the local economy, and Nevadans’ pocketbooks. 

“Electronic waste is a growing problem in this country that poses a number of threats to our community, and is particularly resonant in our frontline mining communities that sacrifice so much for resources that are being treated as disposable,” said Environment Nevada State Director Levi Kamolnick. 

“The right-to-repair bill is an important step to moving us to a circular economy that maintains still useful technology and reduces demand for highly environmentally destructive and community disruptiv extraction of raw materials,” said John Hadder, Director of Great Basin Resource Watch.

 

“The environmental community is beginning to coalesce around this important issue. Americans throw away hundreds of thousands of electronic devices every single day, putting unsustainable pressure on the mining industry to produce more and more raw materials for our electronic devices,” said Paul Selberg, Executive Director of the Nevada Conservation League. “Electronic waste is often toxic, dangerous, and expensive to process – polluting our soil, water, and air. The time to start building a truly sustainable economy has come, and there is no more integral factor than the right to repair.” 

 

“Electronics repairability is a broader issue than most people would think,” said Annette Magnus, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress “Just about every time you buy a new piece of electronics equipment, chances are that it was manufactured overseas, but when you fix that same product, chances are that it was fixed locally, with local labor. By denying access to repairability these companies are denying Nevadans jobs that they desperately need right now.” 

“The move toward a tech-based economy has brought a lot of prosperity to a very small number of people in this country,” said Assemblywoman Selena Torres. “But that’s not to say the benefits aren’t within reach of the broader public. Constituents in my district want the ability to repair these products, which for many families are a significant expense. The jobs and consumer-savings this bill would bring are too real not to take it seriously.” 

The ‘repair movement’ has gained momentum nationwide. Similar legislation to the ‘Right to Repair’ bill has been introduced in 25 state legislatures this year.

A copy of this letter can be found here and below.