BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 513
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 513 (Frazier)
As Amended September 3, 2103
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |64-12|(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |32-5 |(September 11, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
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. 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 that the grants award $2 per 12 pounds of crumb
rubber used, and allows CalRecycle to adjust this amount as
necessary.
3)Sunsets the bill's provisions on June 30, 2019.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill has one-time costs of up to $120,000 from
the Tire Recycling Management Fund (special) to modify program
requirements.
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
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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
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
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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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