A Washington state House bill to ban lead wheel weights exemplifies larger differences between the tire industry and the environmental community on that issue.
The Northwest Tire Dealers Association (NWTDA) is joining with its members and the Tire Industry Association (TIA) to fight the bill, which unanimously passed a special assembly committee on Feb. 28. The bill now goes to the full House for a vote, though no date for that has been set.
TIA, which has been discussing the lead weights issue with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the past few years, said it believes a federal directive on wheel weights would be by far the most effective solution to the question-and the least difficult for U.S. tire dealers to follow. The EPA, however, is doubtful about federal actions and would prefer either state programs or a voluntary industry effort to eliminate lead in wheel weights.
The Washington bill would mandate the elimination of lead wheel weights on state-owned vehicles by Jan. 1, 2008. The ban would extend to all used vehicles in the state by Jan. 1, 2009, and all new vehicles by Jan. 1, 2010.
Penalties for tire dealers who install lead wheel weights would be $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offenses.
To facilitate the phaseout of lead weights, the Washington Department of Ecology, consulting with the Department of Health and the Department of General Administration, would be directed to prepare an approved list of environmentally preferred alternatives to lead, the bill states.
The bill's preamble states clearly the environmental concerns that have surrounded lead wheel weights over the past few years.
``Lead hazards associated with lead wheel weights represent a preventable environmental health problem,'' according to the preamble. ``Lead wheel weights fall off of vehicle wheels along Washington's roadways and become a hazard to children who collect them and to people that are exposed to fragments and dust generated when lead wheel weights are abraded and pulverized by traffic.''
Dick Nordness, executive director of the NWTDA, said his was the only testimony opposing the bill at a committee hearing a few days before the vote.
``There was one tire dealer from Vancouver who testified in favor of the bill,'' Mr. Nordness said. ``He claimed that 13 percent of all lead wheel weights fell out of tires after balancing. If we had a 13-percent failure in balancing, every tire dealer would have a line around the building from people who needed their tires rebalanced.''
There is no companion bill on lead wheel weights in the Washington Senate, Mr. Nordness said, adding, ``That's the one good thing about it.''
A ban on lead wheel weights is not a new issue. The European Union (EU) officially banned lead wheel weights in August 2005, and a number of states and cities-including Minnesota, Maine, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Blacksburg, Va.-have banned lead weights on public vehicles.
Tire dealers' main complaints against the alternatives, zinc and steel, are that wheel weights made from both substances are considerably more expensive than lead weights and hard to find.
``We wouldn't be surprised if this law creates a black market in lead weights,'' said Paul Fiore, TIA's director of government and business affairs. ``I have no idea how this could be enforced. In the bill, it sounds as if it would create a large new department.''
Furthermore, lead isn't the only substance used for wheel weights that has environmental concerns associated with it, according to Mr. Fiore.
``People need to know there are studies showing that zinc is very harmful to the environment,'' he said.
Mr. Fiore said he had heard that the EU had either banned or was about to ban zinc wheel weights, though this could not be confirmed at presstime.
Maine is not promoting zinc as a replacement for lead because of environmental questions.
In a written statement, an EPA spokeswoman said the agency has concerns that a great deal of discarded lead wheel weights are in the countryside unchecked. The agency estimates that 50 million pounds of lead are used annually for tire weights, and less than 50 percent of this amount is recycled.
Mr. Fiore said that, to his knowledge, Washington was the only state with legislation designed to ban lead wheel weights. The EPA, however, said that several states are considering regulations to address the disposal of lead wheel weights.
``We believe, based on our discussions with industry, that most new cars will be delivered without lead tire weights within the next year or two,'' the EPA spokeswoman said.
``So our challenge is to address the use of lead tire weights in the replacement tire market. We don't believe that federal regulation is the right approach, since such regulation could take many years to develop and equally long to implement.''
The agency is discussing with major tire retailers the possibility of a national voluntary program to phase out the use of lead wheel weights, the spokeswoman said. It hopes to announce such a program sometime this year, she added.
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A lotta lead
* 50 million pounds of lead are used annually for tire weights.
* Less than 50 percent of this amount is recycled.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency