From AAIA Capital Report

General Motors (GM) announced recently that it is not responsible for paying into a program that recovers mercury switches from used vehicles. The car company claims that since the new GM has not produced any vehicles with mercury switches, the company has no responsibility under state laws to remove the switches. Under a voluntary program entitled National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, initiated in 2006, auto dismantlers and scrap recyclers received incentive payments from the vehicle manufacturers to help defray the cost of removing the switches. GM had paid more than half the funds for this program which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ran out of money in July. According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, 53 percent of mercury switches in vehicles that are still on the road are in GM vehicles. 

Concern about the mercury switches has grown based on the large number of vehicles that have been turned in as part of the "Cash for Clunkers" program, a large percentage of which were produced by GM. The director of the Mercury Project said in a statement that "with vehicles pouring into scrap yards under the 'Cash for Clunkers' program, GM should pay its fair share. GM's lack of support leaves others in the lurch. It also detracts further from the financing necessary for the national program to operate effectively."