BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 513 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 513 (Frazier) - As Amended: April 23, 2013 Policy Committee: Natural ResourcesVote:9-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill establishes the Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC) Market Development Act at CalRecyle to provide grants for local and state public works projects. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires CalRecyle to allocate and annually expend $10 million from the Tire Recycling Fund to award grants to cities, counties and other local governmental agencies for public works projects that utilize RAC. Also eligible are state and local parks with Americans Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and bicycle trail maintenance projects. 2)Requires grant payments of $2 per 12 pounds of crumb rubber used. 3)Requires CalRecycle to randomly select from all eligible applicants if grant applications exceed the allocated funding. FISCAL EFFECT No additional costs to CalRecyle. However, this bill redirects existing Tire Recycling Act funds to the RAC grant program. The unused balance in the Tire Recycling Fund is projected to be $32 million in the 2013-14 Fiscal Year. CalRecyle, per its five-year plan, currently allocates $3 million annually for RAC grants to local governments from the Tire Recycling Act. This bill redirects resources and staff from existing programs, such as the Tire-Derived Aggregate Grant Program, Tire-Derived Product Grant Program, and Tire Incentive Grant Program to the RAC grant program. AB 513 Page 2 COMMENTS 1)Purpose. This bill is intended to increase the use of RAC throughout California by expanding eligibility for CalRecycle's existing program and ensuring the grants will pay $2 per 12 pounds of crumb rubber used. This is approximately the weight of one passenger tire. Additionally, this bill addresses the budget challenges facing state and local agencies to maintain bicycle trails and fund ADA compliance projects. 2)Background. RAC is a road paving material made by blending ground-up recycled tires with asphalt to produce a binder, which is then mixed with conventional aggregate materals. 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% 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. Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081