BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 513| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 513 Author: Frazier (D), et al. Amended: 9/3/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 8-1, 7/3/13 AYES: Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Corbett, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley NOES: Fuller SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-1, 8/30/13 AYES: De León, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NOES: Walters ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-12, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Tire recycling program: rubberized asphalt SOURCE : Californians Against Waste DIGEST : This bill establishes the Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC) Market Development Act, until January 1, 2020. ANALYSIS : 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. CONTINUED AB 513 Page 2 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, as specified. This bill establishes the RAC Market Development Act, which does 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 award the grants, except as described, in the amount of $2 for every 12 pounds of crumb rubber used in a public works or disability access project by a state or local governmental agency, including a regional park district. 3. Authorizes CalRecycle to adjust the amount of grants awarded to an amount that is greater than, or less than, $2 for every 12 pounds of crumb rubber if the CalRecycle finds this adjustment furthers the purposes of RAC. 4. Makes the act inoperative on June 30, 2019, and sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2020. Background 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, five million were disposed in landfills. The remaining 2.1 million were otherwise recycled (generally other forms of reuse, such as dock CONTINUED AB 513 Page 3 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 Department of Transportation, 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. 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 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% 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. CONTINUED AB 513 Page 4 FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Ongoing costs of approximately $350,000 annually for 3.5 PYs from the California Tire Recycling Management Fund for CalRecycle for the administration of the new RAC grant program. Annual appropriation of $7 million from the California Tire Recycling Management Fund beginning FY 2014-15 through FY 2018-19 to the grant program. SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13) Californians Against Waste (source) California Association 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 League of California Cities Mojave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority Natural Resources Defense Council ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : 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 problems including cancer, depression, and nervous system ailments. The cleanup for tire CONTINUED AB 513 Page 5 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." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-12, 5/29/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Harkey, Logue, Mansoor, Morrell, Wagner, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Holden, Linder, Vacancy RM:d 8/31/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED