BILL ANALYSIS
SB 167
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 167 (Ducheny)
As Amended April 22, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :25-9
NATURAL RESOURCES 7-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Skinner, Gilmore, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, |
| |Brownley, Chesbro, De | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| |Leon, Hill, Huffman | |Davis, |
| | | |Fuentes, Hall, John A. |
| | | |Perez, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Hill |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight, Logue |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, |
| | | |Audra Strickland |
| | | | |
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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. Specifically, 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 Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has negligible costs to CIWMB to include
additional information in the five-year plan. Annual cost
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pressures of an unknown amount, at least several hundreds of
thousands of dollars, for administrative and legal staff to
implement the new grant program authorized by this bill, should
it be implemented.
COMMENTS : 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.
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
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.
California's Tire Program . 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. The remaining $1.00 per tire is deposited into the
Fund. There are approximately 33 million tires sold in
California annually. California's waste tire management and
recycling efforts are divided into two functional areas: tire
permitting and enforcement activities, and tire recycling and
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market development activities.
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 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.
Use of the Tire Fund 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. 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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Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0002615