Tire-related bills heading to Calif. senate

SACRAMENTO—Two tire-related bills have passed the California Assembly and been sent to the state Senate, according to the California legislative website.

The first bill, Assembly Bill 509, passed the assembly May 31 by a 45-30 vote. AB 509 would replace the state's current Rubberized Pavement Market Development Act with a new Tire Recycling Incentive Program Act, according to the Legislative Counsel's Digest of the bill on the California Assembly website.

The Tire Recycling Incentive Program Act would require the California Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (CalRecycle) to establish an incentive program to make payments to entities that purchase waste tire material to use in making products for end-users.

AB 509 would require CalRecycle to hold a public workshop by Jan. 1, 2019 to develop a plan for the incentive program. It would require CalRecycle to collect data from incentive recipients and publish them in an annual California Waste Tire Market Report, and also require the agency to evaluate the program in a public forum and propose changes accordingly.

Tire industry stakeholders, including the California Tire Dealers Association (CTDA) and the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), withdrew objections to AB 509 after the bill was amended in several places, including a provision that CalRecycle cannot institute a new regulatory fee of up to $1 per new tire sold until the agency has spent the balance of its Tire Fund, according to CTDA Legislative Representative Terry Leveille.

However, AB 509 may face opposition in the Senate if CalRecycle insists on a higher Tire Fund level than the $10 million stated in the bill to trigger the new fee, according to Leveille.

"Both USTMA and CTDA will fight any increase in the Tire Fund threshold in the Senate unless a compelling argument can be made," he said.

AB 1180, which identifies tires as a potential priority product under California's Green Chemistry program, also passed the Assembly May 31, by a vote of 47 to 25.

The CTDA withdrew its opposition to AB 1180 after the bill was amended to eliminate a $1.50-per-tire fee to fund stormwater cleanup, but the USTMA remains opposed.

AB 1180 was amended in the California Assembly Appropriations Committee to require the state's Department of Substances Control (DTSC) to identify tires that contain zinc as priority products and, by Jan. 1, 2020, begin adoption of tire regulations under the green chemistry initiative.

"Zinc oxide is an ingredient in all tires, and tires cannot be manufactured without its use," the USTMA said in a statement opposing the bill.

Whereas the DTSC is required under law to review substances of concerns in consumer products and potential alternatives, AB 1180 pre-empts that review and would automatically move tires into mandatory rulemaking, according to the USTMA.

"The proposed amendments to AB 1180 employ the political process, not science, to regulate a substance used in tires," the association said.