BILL ANALYSIS
SB 167
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Nancy Skinner, Chair
SB 167 (Ducheny) - As Amended: April 22, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 25-9
SUBJECT : Solid waste: waste tires
SUMMARY : Requires the California Integrated Waste Management
Board (CIWMB) to include additional information relating to
waste tires in the California-Mexico Border Region and
authorizes funds generated by the California tire fee to be used
for related border activities.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Under the Environmental and Public Health Protection at the
California-Mexico Border Law, creates the 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.
2)Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
establishes various waste-related programs, including the
waste tire program, California Tire Recycling Act, and the
tire hauler registration program, and a fee on new tires to
fund tire program activities.
3)Under the California Tire Recycling Act, requires CIWMB to
adopt a five-year plan that must be updated every two years,
regarding the waste tire program goals and objectives. As
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;
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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; and,
e) Coordination with businesses operating in the border
region and with Mexico to apply the same environmental and
control requirements throughout the border region.
THIS BILL :
1)Requires CIWMB to include in the five-year plan 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 CIWMB, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
use the revenues generated from the California tire fee to
fund border activities.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, this bill has
negligible state costs.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the 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
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 CIWMB, California is
faced with the challenge of diverting or safely managing more
than 40 million reusable and waste tires generated annually in
the state. CIWMB staff estimates that of the approximately
40.2 million reusable and waste tires generated in 2004,
approximately 30 million of the tires (74.6%) were diverted
through various alternatives, including reuse, retreading, and
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combustion.
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. CIWMB 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.
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 (Fund). A fee is
assessed on the sale of new tires, and collected revenue is
deposited quarterly into the Fund. 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; $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 Fund. 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
areas: tire permitting and enforcement activities, and tire
recycling and market development activities. The tire
permitting and enforcement activities are intended to
ensure that reusable and waste tires are stored and
transported safely. CIWMB 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 : CIWMB supports activities in
the border region 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
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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; 5)
providing training and technical support to Mexican tire
haulers; and, 6) participating in Border 2012 Task Force,
Resource Conservation Challenge Border Group and the 2008
Border Governors Conference.
4)Challenges to Managing Tires in the Border Region . About 2
million waste and used tires are legally transported from
California to Mexico. Tires that have usable tread are sold
for reuse; others are used for inexpensive building materials
and erosion control. However, many end up in illegal tire
piles or otherwise improperly discarded. This poses public
health and environmental challenges on both sides of the
border.
5)Use of the Tire Fund in the Border Region . The Fund may only
be used to address tires for which the fee has been collected
and within California. CIWMB has not funded the remediation
of tires from illegal piles in Mexico due to these legal
constraints. The fee was assessed on tires that pose a public
health and environmental threat in California. However, this
bill is based on 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 Fund should be available to
address that issue.
This bill specifies that tire funds may be used for the
"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." This was 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 CIWMB to
ensure that the projects are consistent with the intent of the
bill.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Break the Tire Cycle Coalition (co-sponsor)
Wildcoast (co-sponsor)
AFSCME
City of Imperial Beach
City of San Diego
Heal the Bay
Natural Resources Defense Council
Planning and Conservation League
Rubber Manufacturers Association
San Diego Coastkeeper
Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association
Surfrider San Diego
Tijuana River Citizens' Council
Tijuana River Valley Equestrian Association
1 individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092