BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                AB 525
                                                                       

                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                        Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
                              2011-2012 Regular Session
                                           
           BILL NO:    AB 525            
           AUTHOR:     Gordon
           AMENDED:    September 1, 2011
           FISCAL:     Yes               HEARING DATE:  September 7, 2011
           URGENCY:    No                CONSULTANT:     Caroll Mortensen
            
           SUBJECT  :    WASTE TIRE AND PAINT RECYCLING

            SUMMARY  :    
           
            Existing law  :

           1) Requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery 
              (DRRR) to adopt a "5-Year Plan" to establish goals and 
              priorities for the management of waste tires in California 
              funded with a fee on new tires sold in California.  (Public 
              Resources Code §42885.5).

           2) Authorizes DRRR to offer a variety of grant, loan, and 
              education programs to clean up illegally dumped tires and 
              increase collection and reduce landfilling of waste tires.  
              (§42873).  

           3) The above programs are funded by the Tire Recycling 
              Management Fund (TRMF).  The TRMF is supported by the 
              California tire fee, which is a $1.75 per tire charge 
              imposed on a person who purchases a new tire (§42885).

           4) Establishes the architectural paint recovery program, 
              implemented by DRRR, to require paint manufacturers to 
              develop and implement a program to collect, transport, and 
              process postconsumer paint to reduce the costs and 
              environmental impacts of the disposal of postconsumer paint 
              in this state (§48700 et seq.).














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            This bill  :  

           1) Establishes, until June 15, 2015, a program to provide 
              funding to local jurisdictions for the use of rubberized 
              asphalt concrete (RAC) and tire-derived aggregate (TDA) for 
              road projects.

           2) Establishes the Architectural Paint Stewardship Account and 
              the Architectural Paint Stewardship Penalty Subaccount in 
              the Integrated Waste Management Fund.

            COMMENTS  :

            1) AB 525 referred to Committee pursuant to Rule 29.10  .  
              September 1, 2011 Senate Floor amendments added a provision 
              related to the Architectural Paint Recovery Program 
              (Program) that was not heard by the Committee.  The 
              September 1, 2011 amendment establishes accounts to receive 
              funds and potential penalties necessary to implement the 
              program. 

            2) Purpose of Bill  .  Waste tires represent one of the largest 
              and most problematic in California's waste stream.  Whole 
              used tires, due to their shape and buoyancy, have a 
              tendency to migrate upwards when landfilled, puncturing 
              holes in lining and cells and otherwise undermining the 
              integrity of the landfill structure.  As a result, their 
              disposal in landfills throughout California has been 
              banned.  

              According to the author, the grants for local public works 
              projects that use waste tires, which had been authorized by 
              statute that has since expired, and they need to be 
              continued.  Public works projects, specifically roadway 
              projects divert waste tires from landfill.  Roads that use 
              materials from waste tire products such as rubberized 
              asphalt concrete are superior to other road surface 
              materials in several ways and are the more cost-effective 
              option for local governments.  However, local governments, 
              most of who are financially strapped, frequently base their 
              capital decisions on up-front expense, not long-term cost 
              effectiveness.  The author states that for continuing 
              guaranteed funding for such local public works projects so 









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              their superiority may be demonstrated to local governments 
              and others who will be making decisions about capital 
              projects in what, hopefully, will be times of greater 
              fiscal health.

              With the September 1, 2011 amendment, AB 525 also 
              establishes the necessary financial accounts for funds 
              associated with the architectural paint recovery program.  
              This bill does not make any substantive changes to the 
              architectural paint recovery program.
                 
             3) Waste Tire Background .  For 2008, California generated 
              approximately 44 million used tires. Of those approximately 
              22 million were recycled; 7.5 million were used for 
              tire-derived fuel, 2.2 million were used as landfill cover, 
              and 12.3 million were disposed of in landfills. 

              Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC) made from waste tires 
              represents one of the most promising and beneficial end 
              uses for tires. In addition to creating markets for used 
              tires, roadways paved with RAC have been found to be safer, 
              last longer and be more cost effective than ordinary 
              asphalt.  The Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Technology Center 
              reports that a two-inch RAC resurfacing project uses over 
              2,000 waste tires and can save as much as $22,000 per lane 
              mile over conventional asphalt. 

              Tire-Derived Aggregate (TDA) is made from shredded scrap 
              tires and is used in a wide range of construction projects. 
               These uses include retaining wall backfill, lightweight 
              embankment fill, landslide stabilization, vibration 
              mitigation, and various landfill applications.

              Focusing a portion of tire recycling funds on grants for 
              local agency RAC and TDA projects represents useful and 
              cost effective means of both addressing California's waste 
              tire problem as well as reducing the long-term cost of 
              resurfacing, road building, and construction projects.
                 
             4) Architectural Paint Recovery Program Background  . According 
              to DRRR, Californians generate millions of gallons of 
              leftover paint each year.  Prior to the passage of AB 1343 
              (Huffman), Chapter 420, Statutes of 2011, which established 









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              the Architectural Paint Recovery Program, the only way for 
              residents to properly manage their leftover paint was 
              through local, taxpayer-funded household hazardous waste 
              (HHW) programs.  However, due to the immense cost to manage 
              household hazardous waste, local programs typically can 
              only afford to serve between 5-10 percent of the residents 
              in their jurisdictions.  Despite these low levels of 
              participation, in 2009 paint represented almost one-third 
              of the material collected through local HHW programs and 
              cost local government millions of dollars to manage. 

              Due to a drafting error in AB 1343, the Paint Recovery 
              Account and Paint Recovery Penalty Subaccount established 
              in the Integrated Waste Management Fund, as cited in the 
              bill's digest, was not included in the bill.  This bill 
              establishes the Architectural Paint Stewardship Account for 
              fees collected by DRRR for implementation of the program.  
              AB 525 now also establishes the Architectural Paint 
              Stewardship Penalty Subaccount for penalties collected by 
              DRRR associated with the program. It also provides 
              necessary collection and expenditure authority to DRRR for 
              administration of these accounts.  This bill does not make 
              any substantive changes to the architectural paint recovery 
              program enacted by AB 1343.

            SOURCE  :             Californians Against Waste  

           SUPPORT  :  California Resource Recovery Association
                          California State Association of Counties
                          City of Lakewood
                          City of San Francisco
                          County of San Francisco
                          CRM Company
                          Regional Council of Rural Counties
                          Republic Services, Inc.
            
           OPPOSITION  :    None on file