BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 513
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 513
AUTHOR: Frazier
AMENDED: June 24, 2013
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: July 3, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Joanne Roy
SUBJECT : TIRE RECYCLING PROGRAM: RUBBERIZED ASPHALT
CONCRETE (RAC)
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Pursuant to the California Integrated Waste Management Act
of 1989, establishes a state policy goal that 75% of solid
waste generated be diverted from landfill disposal by 2020.
2) Under the California Tire Recycling Act, requires the
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) to manage and regulate waste tires within the
state, and specifically:
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, $1 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.
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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 (RAC)
Market Development Act, which would do the following:
1) Requires CalRecycle to award grants to: a) local agencies
to fund public works projects utilizing RAC; and, b) state
and local agencies, including regional park districts, to
fund disability access projects at parks and Class I
bikeways that utilize RAC.
2) Requires CalRecycle to provide a grant that gives $2 for
every 12 pounds of crumb rubber used in a paving project.
3) Appropriates $10M to CalRecycle each year from the
California Tire Recycling Management Fund for RAC grants
awarded pursuant to this bill.
4) Sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2020.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "In California,
waste tires continue to be landfilled, burned, and exported
at alarmingly high rates. About 13.8 million out of 40.8
million tires generated are landfilled or burned each year.
An additional 9.6 million are exported overseas, where
they are burned in kilns.
If not managed correctly, these waste tires are a potential
threat to both California's environment and public health
and safety. Waste tires that are illegally stockpiled are
a fire risk and an appealing habitat for rodents and
insects.
The tire fire in Tracy, California contained about 7 million
illegally stockpiled tires that burned for over two years.
Tire fires emit carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and
nitrogen oxides that have severe and costly impacts on air,
water, and soil and can cause many long lasting health
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problems including cancer, depression, and nervous system
ailments. The cleanup for tire fires can cost millions and
put many communities, firefighters, and cleanup teams at
risk.
Furthermore, waste tires provide an ideal mosquito breeding
ground, since tires are insulated, they can hold water, and
provide shelter. Mosquitoes pose a major health risk and
can transfer deadly diseases like Malaria, Dengue Fever,
West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, and Arboviral Encephalitis.
When recycled, however, these tires provide significant
environmental benefits, and result in job creation through
processing and remanufacturing."
2) Background: RAC . According to CalRecycle, 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. This mix is then placed
and compacted into a road surface. 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 (ASTM) Standard D6114 as 'a blend of paving grade
asphalt cement, ground recycled tire (that is, vulcanized)
rubber and other additives, as needed, for use as binder in
pavement construction. The rubber shall be blended and
interacted in the hot asphalt cement sufficiently to cause
swelling of the rubber particles prior to use.' The
asphalt-rubber binder is field blended (at the hot mix
plant) and requires specialized mobile mixing equipment to
produce. Typical crumb rubber modifier (CRM) content for
asphalt-rubber ranges from 18-22%. Asphalt-rubber has been
successfully used in California for over 30 years.
Terminal blends are binder materials that use finely ground
(less than 30 mesh) crumb rubber modifier and are typically
blended at the asphalt refinery. Historically, terminal
blend binders contained 10 percent or less crumb rubber
modifier. However, in recent years the crumb rubber
modifier content has been increased to 15-25% in some
projects. Terminal blend has 20 years of successful use in
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California."
3) CalRecycle Tire Management: Tire recycling, cleanup, and
enforcement grants . According to CalRecycle, the
department's "grant programs are designed to encourage
activities that promote reducing the number of waste tires
going to landfills for disposal and eliminating the
stockpiling of waste tires. Activities include tire pile
cleanup and enforcement, market development, and
demonstration projects. Revenue for the grants is
generated from a tire fee on each new tire sold in
California.
4) Tire Recycling Fund . The unused balance in the fund is
projected to be $32 million in Fiscal Year 2013-14.
CalRecycle, per its five-year plan, currently allocates $3
million annually for RAC grants to local governments from
the fund. Other programs that utilize monies from this
fund include: Tire-Derived Aggregate Grant Program,
Tire-Derived Product Grant Program, and Tire Incentive
Grant Program.
5) Flexibility in giving grants . This bill requires
CalRecycle to award grants at a specific rate of $2 for
every 12 pounds of crumb rubber used in an eligible
project. However, it would be prudent to provide
CalRecycle flexibility in adjusting this rate in order to
maximize grant funds. An amendment is needed to authorize
CalRecycle to adjust this rate if the department finds that
$2/12 pounds of crumb rubber is insufficient to adequately
fund RAC projects.
6) Fiscal year, not calendar year . AB 513 commences
appropriation of $10M to the fund beginning with the 2014
calendar year. In addition, AB 513 sunsets the provisions
of this bill on January 1, 2020. However, CalRecycle
programs operate on fiscal years, not calendar years and it
would make more sense to sunset the program at the end of
the fiscal year. Amendments are needed to begin the
appropriation on July 1, 2014 and change the sunset date
from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2019.
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SOURCE : Californians Against Waste
SUPPORT : California Assoc. of Recycling Market
Development Zones
California Park & Recreation Society
California State Association of Counties
Council of San Benito County Governments
East Bay Regional Park District
Natural Resources Defense Council
Mojave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority
OPPOSITION : None on file