AUGUSTA – The next television you buy could come with a $6 fee for its eventual disposal if a bill for managing electronic waste is approved by legislators.

Almost every household has outdated electronics collecting dust in a basement or garage. Last year alone, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England handled 25 tons of the stuff, and as people upgrade to flat-screen televisions and faster computers, that number will only grow.

But unlike most garbage, televisions and computers – particularly the older models that used cathode-ray tubes and fluorescent lights – have toxic components that can be dangerous to the environment and public health if they aren’t disposed of properly.

A typical desktop computer can contain cadmium, mercury and nearly 10 pounds of lead, besides its plastic casing, which can pollute the air with dioxin and other chemicals if burned.

On Thursday, two state agencies for people with disabilities argued for the bill’s passage because of the impact that these chemicals can have on young children and developing fetuses.

Last year, legislators asked the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to study the issue in consultation with health and environmental groups and the electronics industry. Their solution spreads responsibility for e-waste among consumers, manufacturers and communities.

The bill, LD 1892, would require computer manufacturers to collect their products for recycling beginning in 2006. A system of collection points built by the manufacturers would have to meet strict environmental standards.

The disposal of televisions would be handled by the state, funded by a $6 per item “recovery fee” on the sale of new televisions. Fee collection would begin in 2005, and end in 2012, when television manufacturers begin taking the same responsibility as their counterparts in the computer industry.

Support for the measure was widespread as legislators held a public hearing in a packed room Thursday afternoon.

DEP Commissioner Dawn Gallagher cited the continuing West Old Town Landfill controversy as she argued for the bill as a means of reducing Maine’s dependence on landfills.

“We have treated the symptom and not the disease, which is the waste in our throwaway society,” she said.

At least four major computer manufacturers – Dell, Apple, Gateway and Hewlett-Packard – support an e-waste recycling plan that splits the responsibility among consumers, manufacturers and the state.

But Mike Longaker of HP Thursday argued that the computer manufacturers wouldn’t pay more than their fair share of the costs if generic brands and Internet-sale companies refuse to participate.

Maine’s municipal governments, too, are concerned that they would be stuck with additional costs. Towns and cities would be responsible for getting their e-waste to the collection sites, but there’s no guarantee as to how many of these sites the industry is willing to fund.

Despite the criticism voiced Thursday, 73 percent of people surveyed in a recent poll commissioned by the Natural Resources Council of Maine support the plan.

“By 2010, we could be faced with a million stockpiled [cathode-ray tubes] if we don’t deal with this now,” testified a Farmington man who works in the computer industry. “I have a friend with 12 computers sitting in his basement because he doesn’t know what to do with them.”

A work session on LD 1892 has been scheduled for 2 p.m, Tuesday, March 16, in Room 437 of the State House.