BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 513
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 513 (Frazier)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 13-3
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Grove, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Garcia, Muratsuchi, | |Bradford, |
| |Patterson, Skinner, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Stone, Williams | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| | | |Ammiano, Linder, Pan, |
| | | |Quirk, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, Wagner |
| | | | |
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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 appropriates $10 million for
these grants annually. Specifically, this bill :
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
and to state and local government agencies for disability
access projects and Class I bikeways at state and local parks.
2)Requires the Controller to transfer $10 million from the Tire
Recycling Fund (Fund) for purposes of the grants annually.
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.
5) Requires the Controller to reduce the amount transferred to
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$5 million in any year in which the balance of the fund is $10
million or less. Requires CalRecycle to disapprove grants
submitted if there is insufficient funding transferred by the
Controller.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has no additional costs to CalRecyle. 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.
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%, the
most recent Five-Year Plan (2011) states that the current
diversion rate is around 74%. 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 the California Department of Transportation
(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
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
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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%.
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% 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% 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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