BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                              Senator Wieckowski, Chair
                                 2015 - 2016 Regular
           
          Bill No:           SB 225
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          |Author:    |Wieckowski                                           |
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          |-----------+---------------------+-------------+-----------------|
          |Version:   |2/13/2015            |Hearing      |4/15/2015        |
          |           |                     |Date:        |                 |
          |-----------+---------------------+-------------+-----------------|
          |Urgency:   |No                   |Fiscal:      |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|Joanne Roy                                           |
          |           |                                                     |
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          Subject:  Recycling:  used tires


            ANALYSIS:                  
          
          Existing law:

          1. Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989  
             (Public Resources Code (PRC) §40000 et seq.): 

              A.     Specifies a state policy goal of 75% of recycling,  
                 composting or source reduction of solid waste by 2020. 

              B.     Requires each local jurisdiction to divert 50% of  
                 solid waste from landfill disposal.

          2. Under the California Tire Recycling Act (PRC §42860 et seq.):

              A.     Requires the Department of Resources, Recycling and  
                 Recovery (CalRecycle) to administer a tire recycling  
                 program that promotes and develops alternatives to the  
                 landfill disposal of waste tires.  The tire recycling  
                 program may include, among other things, grants,  
                 subsidies, and loans to businesses or other enterprises  
                 and public entities involved in activities that result in  
                 reduced landfill disposal or stockpiling of waste tires.   
                 Activities eligible for funding may include the  
                 manufacturing of products made from used tires such as  
                 rubberized asphalt and crash barriers.








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              B.     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.  One dollar 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.  

              C.     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, including  
                 grant programs.  

              D.     Authorizes CalRecycle to award grants, subsidies,  
                 rebates, and loans to businesses and public entities that  
                 result in reduced landfill disposal of used tires.  


          This bill:  Requires CalRecycle, when updating the five-year  
          plan and expending funds pursuant to the California Tire  
          Recycling Act, to ensure that the plan and expenditure of those  
          funds reflect the California Integrated Waste Management Act's  
          priorities for waste reduction and recycling.


          Background

          According to CalRecycle, approximately 40 million waste tires  
          are generated in California every year.  The California Tire  
          Recycling Act requires CalRecycle to administer a tire recycling  
          program that promotes and develops alternatives to the landfill  
          disposal of waste tires.  The tire recycling program may  
          include, among other things, grants, subsidies, and loans to  
          businesses or other enterprises and public entities involved in  
          activities that result in reduced landfill disposal or  
          stockpiling of waste tires.  Activities for funding may include  
          the manufacturing of products made from used tires, such as  
          rubberized asphalt and crash barriers.  

          The California Tire Recycling Act requires CalRecycle to adopt a  
          five-year plan, which must be updated every two years.  The  
          five-year plan establishes goals and priorities for the waste  








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          tire recycling program and identifies programmatic and fiscal  
          issues, performance objectives, and measurement criteria. 

            Comments
          
          1. Purpose of Bill.  

             According to the author, "The California Integrated Waste  
             Management Act specifies the statewide goal of diverting from  
             landfills not less than 75% of solid waste by  
             source-reducing, recycling or composting by 2020.  However,  
             the statutory goal does not address how various waste streams  
             will be reduced to meet the goal.  This bill is intended to  
             address a particular source of waste in meeting the 75% goal  
             by ensuring that the state's five-year plan for recycling  
             waste tires and that funds appropriated for this purpose  
             reflect the state's overall priorities for solid waste  
             reduction and recycling."

          2. Waste Tire Diversion Rates.  

             According to CalRecycle, the department has a diversion goal  
             of 90% for waste tires, with the overall diversion rate  
             increased from 81% in 2010 to 88% in 2011.  However,  
             CalRecycle notes that this increase was largely due to the  
             continued, unprecedented rapid growth in the export of waste  
             tires to Pacific Rim nations, largely for use as tire-derived  
             fuel (TDF), which is now the largest single end-use  
             destination for California waste tires.  If waste tire  
             exports, TDF, and use as alternative daily cover for  
             landfills are not included, then the diversion rate is only  
             44%.  In addition, CalRecycle states that five million tires  
             were landfilled in 2011.  This bill is meant to ensure that  
             the waste tire diversion rate is consistent with the state's  
             75% goal of reducing solid waste by recycling, composting, or  
             source reduction by 2020.


            Related/Prior Legislation

          AB 2658 (Bocanegra) (2014), which clarified that "parklets" and  
          "greenways" are eligible for grants for public works that use  
          tire-derived products and requires CalRecycle, when awarding  
          grants for parklets and greenways, to give priority to projects  








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          located in disadvantaged communities.  AB 2658 also extended a  
          sunset date relating to the use of rubberized asphalt concrete  
          by the Department of Transportation.  AB 2658 failed (4-3) in  
          Senate Transportation & Housing Committee.

          AB 513 (Frazier), Chapter 499, Statutes of 2013, established the  
          Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC) Market Development Act, which  
          codified CalRecycle's RAC grant program for local public work  
          projects.  

          AB 8 (Perea and Skinner), Chapter 401, Statutes of 2013,  
          extended until January 1, 2024, various vehicle-related, state  
          and local fees and surcharges, including the California tire fee  
          of $1.75 per tire, to fund vehicle-related air quality,  
          greenhouse gas and related programs.

          AB 1647 (Gordon), Chapter 534, Statutes of 2012, revised the  
          hearing and enforcement process for waste tire facility and  
          waste tire hauling violations.

          SB 758 (Fuller) (2011) reduced the per tire fee required under  
          the California Tire Recycling Act from $1.75 to $1.15.  SB 758  
          died in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. 

          AB 525 (Gordon),  Chapter 573, Statutes of 2011, required  
          CalRecycle to award grants to cities, counties, and other local  
          government agencies for the funding of public works projects  
          that use waste tires; made the public works waste tire grant  
          program inoperative on June 30, 2015; and repealed the provision  
          authoring this program on January 1, 2016; and established the  
          Architectural Paint Stewardship Account in the Integrated Waste  
          Management Fund and the Architectural Paint Stewardship Penalty  
          Subaccount in the Integrated Waste Management Fund, for purposes  
          of program implementation.  

          SB 369 (Simitian), Chapter 300, Statutes of 2006, extended the  
          sunset date on local government rubberized asphalt concrete  
          grant program from 2007 to 2011, revised eligibility  
          requirements for the program, and made related amendments.

          AB 338 (Levine), Chapter 709, Statutes of 2005, required the  
          Department of Transportation to use certain percentages of  
          "asphalt containing crumb rubber" for state highway or repair  
          projects using asphalt as a construction material under certain  








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          conditions.
            
          SOURCE:                    Author  

           SUPPORT:               
          None on file  

           OPPOSITION:    
          None on file  









           
                                          
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