On April 23, 2026, Maine enacted Public Law Chapter 769, An Act to Create a Stewardship Program for Electronic Smoking Devices and Related Products, codified at 38 M.R.S.A. § 1618. The law appears to make Maine the first U.S. state to enact an extended producer responsibility (EPR) law specifically targeting “electronic smoking devices.” Once the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (the Department) approves a stewardship plan and the implementation deadline has passed, producers that do not participate will be prohibited from selling or offering for sale electronic smoking devices in Maine.
- The law defines an electronic smoking device as “any device that may be used to deliver any aerosolized or vaporized substance to a person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic pipe, so-called vape pen or electronic hookah.” The definition includes components, parts, and accessories of electronic smoking devices, such as e-liquids, regardless of whether they include nicotine.
- By default, the producer of an electronic smoking device is the person that has legal ownership of the brand of the product, and may include companies importing and/or selling the product. More specifically, if the brand owner has no physical presence in the United States, the producer may instead be the importer of the product. A wholesaler or retailer may assume producer responsibility only if it elects and agrees to do so.
In brief, the law requires producers of electronic smoking devices sold in Maine to do the following, either individually or collectively as a member of a stewardship organization:
- By November 1, 2027, submit for approval to the Department a stewardship program plan that describes how the collection, transport, and disposition of electronic smoking products will be carried out and funded. The Department has 120 days to review the plan. Once approved, the plan must be implemented within 180 days. Beginning 180 days after approval of a stewardship plan, a producer may not sell or offer for sale electronic smoking devices in Maine unless it participates in a program under an approved plan.
- The stewardship program must be convenient and adequate for rural and urban areas. Within one year of implementation, the collection system must be located within 15 miles of 90% of Maine residents, unless the Department determines that this is geographically impossible.
- Collection locations must be provided, and collection receptacles properly serviced at requested locations, including retailers, schools, municipal locations, and federally recognized Indian tribes, nations, or bands in Maine.
- The stewardship program must provide a financial incentive of at least $2.00 for each unwanted electronic smoking device returned to a collection location, with a limit of two devices returned per person per day.
- The stewardship plan must include public outreach and education regarding the collection program.
- Within three years of approval of the stewardship plan, all retailers selling electronic smoking devices in Maine must be participating in the collection program.
The stewardship program for electronic smoking devices can be likened to Maine’s Beverage Container Redemption Program and other state “bottle bills.” Since 1978, Maine’s beverage container redemption program has imposed a deposit scheme for covered beverage containers in the state with the goal of incentivizing the collection and recycling of these containers. The new electronic smoking device law, however, is not a conventional front-end deposit program. Instead, it requires an approved stewardship program to provide a return incentive of at least $2.00 for each unwanted electronic smoking device, subject to the statutory daily limit.
Separately, in April 2026, Maine also established a stewardship program for batteries and battery-containing products, which may apply to certain electronic smoking device components depending on the batteries or battery-containing products involved and the statute’s treatment of embedded batteries. Maine also has a stewardship program for “packaging material,” which applies to packaging on most types of products, subject to statutory exclusions and exemptions. Accordingly, producers of electronic smoking products may be subject to multiple EPR programs in Maine covering the products, certain components, and their packaging.
The Department may adopt rules as necessary to address implementation, administration, and enforcement of the new stewardship program for electronic smoking products. We will continue to monitor implementation of this program in Maine.
Thanks to Keller and Heckman LLP Summer Associate Brandon Black for his contributions to this blog post.