MONTPELIER, Vt. (Feb. 6, 2004) —- Legislation in Vermont to require distinctive sidewall markings for tires sold within the state would be extremely difficult to implement, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association.
“Branding the tire at the manufacturing point would mean the creation of Vermont-only tires and opens up the potential for other states enacting similar customization,” said John Falardeau, RMA state legislative manager, at a hearing of the Vermont Senate Transportation Committee.
Further provisions of the legislation—covering state-sponsored collection of scrap tires in Vermont and their delivery to the Vermont Agency of Transportation for use in civil engineering projects—would be impractical and ineffective compared with the unfettered operation of a free scrap tire market, he added.