BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 513
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          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  








                                                                  AB 513
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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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