DENVER (April 21, 2014) — Colorado House Bill 1352, a bipartisan bill designed to clean up the state's estimated 60 million stockpiled scrap tires, passed the Colorado House Transportation and Energy Committee April 18 by a 9-1 vote.
The bill now goes to the state's House Appropriations Committee.
HB 1352 would phase out the state's tire monofills; end the practice of subsidizing monofill operations and other low-end scrap tire markets; and slash Colorado's scrap tire abatement fee on each new tire sold in the state to 55 cents from the current $1.50.
Michael Blumenthal, vice president of the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the RMA's resident expert on scrap tires, testified in favor of HB 1352 April 17 before the Transportation and Energy Committee. In an April 19 op-ed article in the Denver Post, Mr. Blumenthal said Colorado's current scrap tire program is antiquated and inefficient.
“How has Colorado, a state that is a symbol of environmental beauty, become the nation's leading dumping ground for scrap tires?” Mr. Blumenthal wrote. “Quite simply, it's due to a waste tire program that permits tires to be landfilled and fails to incentivize newer, high-value end-use markets for waste tires.”
HB 1352 will help Colorado create economically viable, self-sustaining end-use markets, Mr. Blumenthal said.