BILL ANALYSIS
SB 167
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 167
AUTHOR: Ducheny
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 20, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : WASTE TIRES: BORDER REGION ASSISTANCE
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Creates, under the "Environmental and Public Health
Protection At the California-Mexico Border Law" (Commencing
with Public Resources Code Section 71100 et seq.), a
California Border Environmental and Public Health
Protection Fund to assist responsible agencies in
California and Baja California in implementing projects to
identify and resolve environmental and public health
problems, including projects related to domestic and
industrial wastewater, vehicle and industrial air
emissions, hazardous waste transport and disposal, human
and ecological risk, and disposal of municipal solid waste.
Money in the fund cannot be made available for the purpose
of bringing a person or facility into compliance with
environmental laws or to provide funds to remediate
environmental damage.
2) Establishes, under the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 (commencing with Public Resources
Code Section 40000 et seq.), various waste-related
programs, including the waste tires program, California
Tire Recycling Act, and the tire hauler registration
program, and a fee on new tires to fund tire program
activities.
3) Requires, under the California Tire Recycling Act
(commencing with Public Resources Code Section 42860 et
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seq.), the Integrated Waste Management Board (IWMB) to
adopt a five-year plan that must be every two years,
regarding the waste tire program goals and objectives.
Specifically related to border issues the five-year plan
must address:
a) Training programs to assist Mexican waste and used
tire haulers to meet the requirements for hauling those
tires in California.
b) Environmental education training.
c) Development of a waste tire abatement plan, with the
appropriate government entities of California and Mexico.
d) Tracking both the legal and illegal waste and used
tire flow across the border and recommended revisions to
the waste tire policies of California and Mexico.
e) Coordination with businesses operating in the border
region and with Mexico, with regard to applying the same
environmental and control requirements throughout the
border region.
This bill :
1) Requires the IWMB to include in the five-year plan, as a
border activity, the development of projects in Mexico in
the California-Mexico border region, including education,
infrastructure, mitigation, cleanup, prevention, reuse, and
recycling projects, that address the movement of used tires
from California to Mexico that are eventually disposed in
California.
2) Authorizes the IWMB, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
to use the revenues generated from the California tire fee
to fund border activities.
3) Makes extensive findings and declarations as to the threat
posed by California tires in Mexico.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, every winter,
sewage and trash-laden storm water dislodges and carries
thousands of waste tires from Tijuana to California through
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the Tijuana River channel and open culverts in the border
fence. This flow of waste tires represents economic,
environmental and public health challenges to California's
border communities.
2) Waste Tires in California . According to the IWMB,
California is faced with the challenge of diverting or
safely managing more than 40.2 million reusable and waste
tires generated annually in the state. IWMB staff
estimates that of the approximately 40.2 million reusable
and waste tires generated in 2004, approximately 30 million
of the tires (74.6 percent) were diverted through various
alternatives, including reuse, retreading, and combustion.
Currently, the recycling markets in California do not consume
all of the waste tires generated. Waste tires need to be
stored safely until sufficient markets are in place to
increase the consumption of waste tires. The IWMB provides
the waste tire management framework by enforcing waste tire
facility and waste tire hauler regulations. As the use of
tires as material in commercial applications increases,
illegal stockpiling and the need for permitted storage will
decrease or cease to exist.
3) California's Tire Program.
a) Funding: The California Tire Recycling Act authorized
the creation of the Tire Recycling Program and the
California Tire Recycling Management Fund. A fee is
assessed on the sale of new tires, and collected revenue
is deposited quarterly into the tire fund. The CIWMB
allocates funds annually based on availability and
changing program needs. The fee is currently $1.75 for
each new tire sold in the state. However, $0.75 of the
$1.75 is transferred to the Air Pollution Control Fund
for use by the Air Resources Board for air pollution
activities. So, $1.00 per tire is deposited into the
Tire Fund for use by the IWMB for the tire related
activities. There are approximately 33 million tires
sold in California annually.
b) Program Structure: California's waste tire management
and recycling efforts are divided into two functional
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areas: tire permitting and enforcement activities, and
tire recycling and market development activities. The
tire permitting and enforcement activities ensure that
reusable and waste tires are stored and transported
safely. IWMB staff also coordinates with local and
regional agencies to mitigate unsafe situations at
existing abandoned tire pile sites and provide technical
assistance. Tire recycling activities include offering
financial assistance, engaging in recycling and marketing
research, and providing technical assistance.
c) Current Border Efforts at the IWMB: The IWMB supports
activities in the border region, conducted in
coordination with the California Environmental Protection
Agency, that include: 1) dedicating a portion of the
funding for the Local Government Waste Tire Cleanup Grant
Program for cleanups that occur along the California
border region; 2) providing funding for a study of the
tire flow to and from Mexico; 3) providing technical
assistance for the development of an integrated waste
tire management plan for the State of Baja California,
Mexico; 4) providing training workshops for teachers on
the environmental education curriculum titled
Conservation and Pollution Prevention at a Shared Border;
5) providing training and technical support to Mexico
tire haulers; and 6) participating in Border 2012 Task
Force, Resource Conservation Challenge Border Group, and
the 2008 Border Governors Conference. Specifically, the
IWMB has recently approved contracts to: 1) study the
flow of used and waste tires into Mexico; 2) develop
school curricula for Mexican schools on the problem of
waste tires; 3) develop a model waste tire management
plan for municipal governments in Baja California; and 4)
remediate tires in the Tijuana River River Valley and
install a trash boom system for nearby Goat Canyon to
intercept trash and tires carried by floodwaters into
California.
4) Challenges to Managing Tires in the Border Region . About 2
million waste and used tires are transported from
California to Mexico. This is a legal practice and a
market outlet for California tires. Tires that have usable
tread are sold and reused. Others are used for inexpensive
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building materials and used as erosion control. However,
many of those tires end up in illegal tire piles or
otherwise improperly discarded on the Mexico side of the
border. This poses public health and environmental
challenges on both sides of the border. As mentioned
above, the IWMB has been working on efforts to combat this
problem.
5) Caution on Use of the Tire Fund in the Border Region . Use
of the funds from the tire fee is restricted to just
address tires on which the fee has been paid and within
California. The use of the tire fee to manage tires in the
border region raises legal challenges. The IWMB has not
funded the remediation of tires from illegal piles in
Mexico due to legal constraints. The fee was assessed on
the material (tires) that pose a public health and
environmental threat (illegal disposal and improper
management) in California. However, this bill uses the
argument that used tires from California make their way
into Mexico only to become waste tires in a short period of
time thus the funds should be available to address that
issue.
6) SB 167 Legal Issues . The approach in this bill is that the
funds may be used for "Development of projects in Mexico
in the California-Mexico border region, as defined by the
La Paz Agreement, that include, but are not limited to,
education, infrastructure, mitigation, cleanup, prevention,
reuse, and recycling projects , that address the movement of
used tires from California to Mexico that are eventually
disposed in California . (emphasis added)" . This was
carefully drafted to ensure that the funds could be used to
address California tires in Mexico that are eventually
disposed in California. While this clarifies the ability
to use the funds on the Mexico side of the border, if this
bill becomes law, caution must be exercised by the IWMB to
ensure that the projects are consistent with the intent of
the bill.
The author should continue to work with the IWMB to
establish if additional amendments are needed to provide
further clarity as to the types of projects that would be
eligible and ways to determine that the tires involved are
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from California.
7)Amendment Needed: To correct a cross reference; on page 7,
line#1 of the bill. Section 42855.5 should be Section
42885.5.
SOURCE : Senator Ducheny
SUPPORT : American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, Rubber
Manufacturers Association
OPPOSITION : None on file