BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2658
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: bocanegra
VERSION: 4/21/14
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 26, 2014
SUBJECT:
Caltrans use of asphalt containing crumb rubber
DESCRIPTION:
This bill extends the requirement for the California Department
of Transportation (Caltrans) to use rubberized asphalt concrete
for at least 50% of its rubberized asphalt from 2015 until 2020.
ANALYSIS:
In 2005, the Legislature passed and the governor signed AB 338
(Levine), Chapter 709, which requires Caltrans to use a specific
percentage of crumb rubber per metric ton of the total amount of
asphalt paving materials it uses each year. Specifically, as of
2013 Caltrans is required to use, on an annual average, 11.58
pounds of crumb rubber per metric ton of the total amount of
asphalt paving materials Caltrans used in the course of
constructing and repairing the state highway system. According
to Caltrans, in order to comply with this requirement, 35% of
all asphalt it uses must be asphalt containing crumb rubber.
AB 338 also specifies that, until 2015, at least 50% of the
asphalt containing crumb rubber Caltrans uses must be a specific
type of product, called rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC).
After January 1, 2015, Caltrans is no longer required to use a
certain percentage of RAC, and can use any amount of any type of
rubberized asphalt in order to meet the statutory minimum
requirements.
In 1990, the Legislature passed and the governor signed SB 937
(Vuich), Chapter 35, also known as the California Tire Recycling
Act, which, among other things, authorizes the California
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to
award grants, subsidies, rebates, and loans to businesses and
public entities that result in reduced landfill disposal of used
tires.
AB 2658 (BOCANEGRA) Page 2
This bill :
Extends the requirement that Caltrans use RAC for at least 50%
of the total required crumb-rubber asphalt from 2015 to 2020
Clarifies that CalRecycle can award grants for greenways and
parklets, as defined
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill will increase the
market for both RAC and for tire-derived products made from
recycled waste tires, thereby decreasing the amount of tires
that end up in landfills. The author contends that this bill
will help to alleviate the detrimental public health and
environmental impacts of waste tires, while furthering the
innovation of new and useful applications for products made
from waste tires.
2.Redirecting used tires . The Legislature, through a variety of
bills like AB 338, has communicated clearly its priority that
used tires be redirected to reuse and not dumped in landfills.
According to CalRecycle, California produces more than 40
million used tires each year. Without identifying new uses
for these worn-out tires, they end up in landfills or
elsewhere, where they take decades to decompose. CalRecycle
is dedicated to finding new uses for this valuable resource,
and in 2010 over 80% of these tires were diverted from
landfills through various alternatives, including reuse,
retreading, and civil engineering projects.
According to Caltrans, it can effectively utilize used tires
in a number of ways in construction and repair of the state
highway system. For example, recently Caltrans used 270,000
tires as lightweight fill in the realignment of State Highway
101 in Mendocino County. Caltrans has also used ground tires
for retaining walls and as fill to repair landslides. AB 338
provides another example, as it requires Caltrans to use
shredded tires, called crumb rubber, in the asphalt paving of
state highways. According to Caltrans, its use of
crumb-rubber asphalt diverted more than 4.5 million waste
tires in 2012.
AB 2658 (BOCANEGRA) Page 3
3.Two ways to use crumb rubber in asphalt . In relatively simple
terms, there are primarily two ways in which used tires can be
added to asphalt:
Rubberized asphalt concrete. Also known as the field
blend process, RAC consists of finely-shredded rubber
fragments mixed into the concrete, similar to the way small
gravel and other aggregates are used for various purposes.
Rubber-modified binder. Alternatively, rubber-modified
binder, also known as terminal blend, is a product created
at a refinery by essentially melting rubber into the
concrete mix before the other aggregates are added to
create the asphalt.
According to Caltrans, these two options perform similarly but
are often used in different settings. For example, Caltrans
asserts that it only applies RAC as a thin top layer to
highway lanes because of its properties, whereas the terminal
blend binder can be applied more thickly.
Because of the processes through which each product is
created, there are differences in the way Caltrans confirms
the amount of rubber each contains. RAC producers participate
in a Caltrans review process called a Material Plant Quality
Program in which Caltrans employees regularly test and verify
the producers' various mechanisms for creating RAC. Terminal
blend producers, on the other hand, because the product is
produced at refineries, are regulated by the Division of
Measurement Standards (Weights and Measures) within the
California Department of Food and Agriculture. Weights and
Measures provides to Caltrans a certificate of compliance
verifying the refineries' rubberized asphalt-making
mechanisms.
1.Existing law favors one product over the other . As previously
mentioned, AB 338 specified that at least 50% of the asphalt
Caltrans uses to meet statutory requirements must be RAC.
Caltrans reports that, due to the state's contract rules, this
requirement has led to Caltrans using RAC almost exclusively
to meet the minimum threshold. In its recent report, Caltrans
indicated that 92% of all the applied asphalt containing crumb
rubber was RAC in 2012. The other eight percent Caltrans used
was only through pilot testing of the terminal blend products.
AB 2658 (BOCANEGRA) Page 4
Californians Against Waste (CAW), the sponsor of AB 338,
contends that favoring RAC over other crumb-rubber products at
the time was intentional for two reasons. First, Caltrans had
developed specifications for RAC and had not yet done so for
other products. Therefore, RAC was immediately accessible.
Second, CAW recognized other environmental benefits to RAC
that were not, at the time, apparent with the other products.
In the past 10 years, Caltrans has addressed both these
concerns and CAW has indicated that favoring RAC over other
products may not be reasonable if it potentially limits
Caltrans' ability to properly recycle as many used tires as
possible.
This bill continues to favor RAC over alternative crumb-rubber
products for five additional years.
2.Let Caltrans use as much crumb rubber as possible . The
Legislature has prioritized recycling used tires, and part of
that effort includes pushing Caltrans to adopt means for
incorporating crumb rubber in its asphalt. In 2005, when AB
338 became law, there were questions about how Caltrans might
pursue this effort. Today, Caltrans has demonstrated an
appetite for crumb-rubber asphalt and seems intent on meeting
the Legislature's expectations. It seems reasonable, at this
time, for the Legislature to simply set a minimum threshold of
crumb rubber for Caltrans to achieve, and then let Caltrans
determine the best way to get there.
At the same time, by providing Caltrans more flexibility to
meet the Legislature's expectation, it seems reasonable to
increase that minimum threshold to some degree, forcing
Caltrans to stretch and continue improving.
Producers of both types of crumb rubber products suggest they
can manufacture products at a certain quality level. The
Legislature should require Caltrans to meet that quality
expectation by putting in statute that the asphalt containing
crumb rubber used to meet the minimum threshold must contain
at least 20% rubber.
Finally, it is important that Caltrans be able to verify that
its contractors are using the amount of rubber called for in
their contracts. It seems unfair for one producer-type to be
subject to Caltrans' Material Plant Quality Program, while
other producers are exempt from this verification process.
AB 2658 (BOCANEGRA) Page 5
To that end, the committee may wish to amend the bill in the
following manner:
Change the 50% RAC requirement back to sunset in 2015
instead of 2020.
Set a new goal of more crumb rubber per ton of asphalt
to ensure Caltrans continues to increase its recycling
measures.
Require all asphalt rubber used to meet the minimum
threshold to contain at least 20% rubber.
Require that all producers of crumb-rubber asphalt be
subject to some sort of Material Plant Quality Program
process approved by Caltrans.
1.Double-referral . Senate Environmental Quality Committee heard
this bill on June 18th and dealt with the provisions related
to CalRecycle at that time. The bill passed out of that
committee on a 5 to 1 vote.
2.Technical amendments :
On page 2, line 9, replace "6.62" with "6.01"
On page 3, line 1, delete "metric"
On page 3, line 4, replace "8.27" with "7.50"
On page 3, line 5, delete "metric"
On page 3, line 8, replace "11.58" with "10.51"
On page 3, line 9, delete "metric"
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 54-22
Appr: 12-4
Nat Res: 5-1
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Monday,June 23, 2014.)
SUPPORT: California League of Conservation Voters
Californians Against Waste
City of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti
CRM Company
Manhole Adjusting, Inc.
Rubber Pavements Association
AB 2658 (BOCANEGRA) Page 6
Western Pavement Maintenance Association
OPPOSED: Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions
Pacific Northwest Oil Company
Paramount Petroleum Company
San Joaquin Refining Co.
Telfer Oil Company
Valero