SACRAMENTO—The California legislature will consider six tire-related bills in its upcoming session that deal with recycled materials, tire sales-only stores, rubberized asphalt projects and the establishment of a definition of a tire broker.
The bills will be addressed when the legislature reconvenes in August, according to the July 12 issue of CA Tire Bulletin, a newsletter published by TL Associates, the private consulting firm of Terry Leveille, legislative representative for the California Tire Dealers Association (CTDA). The legislation includes:
c Assembly Bill 501, which would define a “tire broker” as “a person that arranges for the shipment of used or waste tires to or from a site located within the state, or through the state.” The bill also would forbid the sale of brake pads in California that contain more than 0.01-percent cadmium and 0.1-percent chromium, mercury, lead or asbestiform fibers.
AB 501 has passed the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee and is scheduled for an Aug. 12 hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
c Assembly Bill 513, which would authorize $10 million annually from California's scrap tire management fund for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to allocate grants for rubberized asphalt concrete projects in the state.
CalRecycle distributes about $3 million in RAC grants annually and will have about $32 million in its scrap tire fund in fiscal year 2013-14, according to the bill summary. AB 513 also mandates grants of at least $2 for every 12 pounds of crumb rubber used in RAC projects.
AB 513 passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee July 3 and is scheduled for a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, though no date has yet been set.
c Assembly Bill 1021, which would bring processors and manufacturers of recycled materials, including scrap tires, into the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Funding Authority.
Among other things, AB 1021 would excuse tire recyclers from paying sales taxes on equipment to process scrap tires or make tire-derived products, according to Mr. Leveille.
AB 1021 has passed the Senate Environmental Quality and Senate Governance & Finance Committee, but a pending hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to be scheduled.
c Senate Bill 202, co-sponsored by Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc. and the CTDA, which would bring “tire sales-only” stores under the jurisdiction of the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR).
“(A) number of incidents have occurred where tire sales-only shops advertise tires for a certain price, and then after the tires are mounted present the customer with a final price higher than the advertised price,” the bill summary said. “This bill would authorize BAR to investigate complaints related to tire services and take disciplinary action.”
SB 202 has been assigned to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Two other bills, AB 8 and SB 11, would both extend various state vehicle and equipment fees to fund California's vehicle-related air quality and greenhouse gas initiatives until Jan. 1, 2024.
AB 8 would extend the state's $1.75 scrap tire disposal fee to every new tire sold and continue to earmark 75 cents of that fee for California's Air Resources Board (CARB).
SB 11 also would continue the 75-cent CARB earmark but reduce the money going to the scrap tire fund to 75 cents from the current $1. That reduction would cost the fund about $10 million annually, according to Mr. Leveille.
AB 8 has passed the California Senate but faces a further hearing before the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee. SB 11 has passed the Assembly Transportation Committee and is scheduled for an Aug. 12 hearing before the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
The California Assembly reconvenes Aug. 1, and the Senate Aug. 12. Adjournment day for the first year in California's two-year legislative session is Sept. 13.
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