BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 513
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          Date of Hearing:  April 15, 2013

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
                 AB 513 (Frazier) - As Introduced:  February 20, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Tire recycling program:  rubberized asphalt

           SUMMARY  :  Establishes the Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC)  
          Market Development Act, which codifies the Department of  
          Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) RAC grant program  
          for local public works projects and requires CalRecycle to  
          allocate $10 million for these grants annually.  

           EXISTING LAW:  

          1)Pursuant to the California Integrated Waste Management Act of  
            1989, establishes a state policy goal that 75 percent of solid  
            waste generated be diverted from landfill disposal by 2020.

          2)Establishes the California Tire Recycling Act, which: 

             a)   Requires a person who purchases a new tire to pay a  
               California tire fee of $1.75 for each new tire purchased in  
               the state.  One dollar of which is deposited into the Tire  
               Recycling Fund for oversight, enforcement, and market  
               development grants relating to waste tire management and  
               recycling.   The remaining $0.75 is deposited into the Air  
               Pollution Control Fund for programs and projects that  
               mitigate or remediate air pollution caused by tires.  

             b)   Reduces the fee on January 1, 2015 to $0.75 per tire, to  
               be deposited into the Tire Recycling Fund.  

             c)   Authorizes CalRecycle to award grants, loans, subsidies,  
               and rebates and pay incentives for various purposes related  
               to reducing landfill disposal of waste tires.

             d)   Requires CalRecycle to adopt a Five-Year Plan, which  
               must be updated every two years, that establishes goals and  
               priorities for the waste tire program.

           THIS BILL  establishes the Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Market  
          Development Act, which: 









                                                                  AB 513
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          1)Requires CalRecycle, in accordance with its tire recycling  
            program, to award grants to cities, counties, and other local  
            government agencies for public works projects that utilize  
            RAC.  

          2)Specifies that CalRecycle shall annually expend $10 million  
            from the Tire Recycling Fund for purposes of the grants.  

          3)Requires that the grants award $2 per 12 pounds of crumb  
            rubber used.  

          4)If the requests for grants exceed the funding allocated,  
            requires CalRecycle to "randomly select from all eligible  
            applicants, with a preference for local agencies that have  
            received less money in previous grant cycles."  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  : 

           Tire management in California  .  According to CalRecycle,  
          approximately 40 million waste tires are generated in California  
          every year.  Although CalRecycle's diversion goal is 90 percent,  
          the most recent Five-Year Plan (2011) states that the current  
          diversion rate is around 74 percent.  According to the  
          California Waste Tire Market Report: 2011, of the 40.8 million  
          tires generated: 8.8 million were recycled as ground rubber, of  
          which 4.9 million were used as RAC; 2 million were used in civil  
          engineering projects; 6.9 million were reused (either sold as  
          used tires or retreaded); 6.2 million were used as "tire derived  
          fuel" in cement kilns or at co-generation facilities; and, 5  
          million were disposed in landfills.  The remaining 2.1 million  
          were otherwise recycled (generally other forms of reuse, such as  
          dock bumpers), or used as landfill cover.  

          California's sluggish economy and high unemployment rate has  
          contributed to the decline in waste tires generated.  The same  
          factors, along with local government budget constraints and a  
          decline in use by CalTrans has resulted in diminishing numbers  
          of tires going to RAC.  Export, generally for energy generation  
          in Asia, has nearly tripled since 2009.  Appropriate tire  
          recycling in California, provides significant environmental  
          benefits and creates green jobs.  

           What is RAC?   RAC is a road paving material made by blending  








                                                                  AB 513
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          ground-up recycled tires with asphalt to produce a binder, which  
          is then mixed with conventional aggregate materials. There are  
          two primary types of binders for RAC, asphalt-rubber and  
          terminal blend.  Asphalt-rubber is defined by American Society  
          for Testing and Materials Standard D6114 as "a blend of paving  
          grade asphalt cement, ground recycled tire rubber and other  
          additives for use as binder in pavement construction."  The  
          asphalt-rubber binder is field blended (at the hot mix plant)  
          and requires specialized mobile mixing equipment. The amount of  
          recycled rubber content for asphalt-rubber is around 20 percent.  
           Asphalt-rubber been successfully used in California for over 30  
          years. Terminal blends are binder materials that use finely  
          ground crumb rubber and are typically blended at the asphalt  
          refinery. Historically, terminal blend binders contained up to  
          10 percent crumb rubber.  However, in recent years the crumb  
          rubber modifier content has been increased to 15-20 percent in  
          some projects. Terminal blend has 20 years of successful use in  
          California.  While there are a number of recycling technologies  
          for waste tires, RAC continues to be among the highest and best  
          uses.  

          RAC has a number of benefits, both environmental and economic.   
          RAC does not require as thick an application as conventional  
          asphalt and has a longer life-span due to its resistance to  
          cutting and cracking.  Some studies suggest that RAC lasts up to  
          50 percent longer.  RAC also provides significant noise  
          reduction over conventional asphalt and concrete roads.   
          Moreover, RAC uses a lot of tires.  A two-inch thick resurfacing  
          project uses about 2,000 waste tires per lane mile.  

          CalRecycle currently allocates $3 million annually for RAC  
          grants to local governments through its authority under the Tire  
          Recycling Act, and as prescribed in its Five-Year Plan. 

           This bill.   This bill is intended to increase the use of RAC  
          throughout California by expanding and codifying CalRecycle's  
          existing RAC grant program.  It specifies that the grants will  
          pay $2 per 12 pounds of crumb rubber used (approximately the  
          weight of one passenger tire) and eliminates the current  
          administrative cap of only three grants per local entity.  

          The unused balance in the Tire Recycling Fund is projected to be  
          $32 million in the 2013-14 Fiscal Year.  

           Suggested amendments  .  This bill contains an incorrect reference  








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          to paragraph (c) of Section 42889 on page 2, line 11.  The  
          current 42889 sunsets on January 1, 2015; this bill references  
          the paragraph that includes the sunset provision.  After January  
          1, 2015, paragraph (c) of Section 42889 will be the correct  
          reference.   The committee may wish to amend the bill  to correct  
          this reference.  

          This bill requires CalReycle to "randomly select from all  
          eligible applicants" when the requests for grants exceed  
          available funds, but also directs CalRecycle to provide a  
          "preference for local agencies that have received less money in  
          previous grant cycles."   The committee may wish to amend the  
          bill  to strike out the latter requirement and simply allow  
          CalRecycle to randomly select from eligible applicants.  

          The current budget challenges facing state and local agencies  
          has created a significant need for park maintenance, including  
          projects to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act  
          (ADA) and maintaining bicycle trails.   The committee may wish to  
          amend the bill  to specify that state and local park ADA  
          compliance and bicycle trail maintenance projects are eligible  
          for grants.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  : 

           Support 
           
          Californians Against Waste (sponsor)
          California Association of Recycling Market Development Zones
          California State Association of Counties

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :  Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092