Waste Tire Management Program
2000 Annual Report

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Tire Markets and Quantification 
• Waste Tire Diversion and Marketing Program 
• Waste Tire Permitting, Enforcement, and Hauler Registration Programs
• Waste Tire Remediation and Engineering Technical Services Program
• Appendices
• Acknowledgements

Introduction

This report provides an overview of California’s waste tire program, including a summary of the California Integrated Waste Management Board’s (CIWMB) accomplishments in implementing the California Tire Recycling Act during fiscal year (FY) 1999/2000. The data compiled to analyze waste tire diversion rates are for calendar year 2000. For the purposes of this report, "CIWMB" refers to the full organization, and "Board" refers to the six appointed Board member positions in the CIWMB.

California is faced with the challenge of diverting or safely managing more than 31 million reusable and waste tires generated annually in the state. In addition, an estimated 1.7 million tires remain in unpermitted stockpiles in California. The state nearly doubled the number of waste tires recycled between 1991 and 2000, but the number of waste tires generated annually continues to exceed the number of tires diverted. CIWMB staff estimates that in 2000, 22.9 million tires (72.5 percent) of the 31.6 million reusable and waste tires generated were diverted from stockpiling or disposal.

To address the need for better waste tire management in California, the Legislature enacted Assembly Bill (AB) 1843 (Brown, Chapter 974, Statutes of 1989), known as the California Tire Recycling Act. This act promoted recycling of the annual flow of waste tires as well as stockpiled tires. The act specified that the program promote and develop markets as an alternative to landfill disposal and stockpiling of whole tires. To accomplish these provisions, the California Tire Recycling Act allowed the Board to award grants and loans to businesses, enterprises, and public entities involved in tire recycling activities. It also required CIWMB to develop waste tire facility regulations for the safe storage of waste tires, and established a permitting system for waste tire facilities. These programs were funded by a 25¢ fee on waste tires left for disposal. The tire fee is deposited in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund and appropriated to the CIWMB annually by the Legislature.

Senate Bill (SB) 744 (McCorquodale, Chapter 511, Statutes of 1993) mandated a waste tire hauler registration program as an additional effort to ensure waste tires are legally disposed of at authorized sites. The hauler registration program is also financed by the Tire Recycling Management Fund.

Assembly Bill (AB) 2108 (Mazzoni, Chapter 304, Statutes of 1996) changed the point of collection so that the fee was no longer a “return” fee, but a fee on retail tires purchased. This bill also afforded any traffic or peace officer the ability to enforce the waste tire hauler registration requirements, thus reducing even further the illegal hauling and disposal of waste tires.

In 1998, the California Tire Recycling Act was amended by AB 117 (Escutia, Chapter 1020, Statutes of 1998). AB 117 extended the sunset clause of the act from June 30, 1999, to January 1, 2001, and required CIWMB to develop a report and recommendations needed to address such waste tire issues as elimination of waste tire stockpiles; protection of public health, safety, and the environment; and to identify sustainable economic markets for waste tires in California.

Many of the recommendations in the AB 117 Report were addressed during the 1999-2000 Legislative Session with the passage of SB 876 (Escutia, Chapter 838, Statutes of 2000,). SB 876 was enacted as a comprehensive measure to extend and expand California’s waste tire diversion program. The measure’s key provisions include the following:

1. Increase the tire fee from $0.25 to $1.00 per tire until December 31, 2006, and reduce it to $0.75 thereafter.
2. Extend the California tire fee to tires on new motor vehicles.
3. Revise the definition of “waste tire” and add other definitions designed to provide regulatory relief for several thousand used tire dealers and waste tire recyclers.
4. Expand the tire manifest system.
5. Increase funding for recycling and recovery efforts.
6. Strengthen enforcement by making changes to the waste tire hauler and waste tire facility permit programs.
7. Develop a five-year plan to implement the provisions of SB 876.

SB 876 identified funding for the following specific purposes beginning July 1, 2001:

1. Clean up, abate, remove, or otherwise remediate tire stockpiles throughout the state. The CIWMB shall spend no less than $6.5 million dollars on these activities during each of the six inclusive fiscal years from FY 2001/02 through FY 2006/07[Public Resources Code (PRC) section 42889(e)].
2. Develop and enforce regulations related to the storage of waste tires and used tires; evaluate the usefulness of designating a local government as the enforcement authority of regulations related to the storage of waste and used tires. If CIWMB designates a local government for that purpose, CIWMB would provide funding [PRC section 42889(d)].
3. Conduct studies and research directed at promoting and developing alternatives to the landfill disposal of tires [PRC section 42889(f)].
4. Assist in developing markets and new technologies for used tires and waste tires [PRC section 42889(g)].
5. Implement and operate a waste tire and used tire hauler program and manifest system tracking the movement of waste and used tires [PRC section 42889(h)].
6. Evaluate the usefulness of providing financial incentives for citizens who report the illegal disposal of waste and used tires as a means of enhancing local and statewide waste and used tire enforcement programs [PRC section 42889(c)].
7. Assist the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in preparing a report regarding health effects of smoke from burning tires. The cost of preparing the report is limited to $150,000 [PRC section 42889(k)].
8. Administer the collection, refund, and audit of revenues in the fund, not to exceed 3 percent of the total annual revenue [PRC section 42889(b)].
9. Create an emergency reserve of not more than $1 million [PRC section 42889(i)].
10. Administer overhead costs not to exceed 5 percent of the total annual revenue [PRC section 42889(a)].
11. Transfer funds to the Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program pursuant to Chapter 2.5 of Part 7 [PRC section 42889(j)].

Without the passage of the new legislation, the Tire Recycling Act fee of 25¢ per tire would have sunset on January 1, 2001, leaving the CIWMB waste tire management program with only six months of revenue for FY 2000/01. With limited funding and no surety that SB 876 would be approved, the Board decided at its May 2000 meeting to augment the funding for the FY 1999/2000 tire recycling grants. It was hoped that awarding a large number of grants in the spring of 2000 would tide things over, as it would be at least a year before any new grants could be issued. This prior planning was necessary to expend funding already allocated in the Governor’s 1999-2000 Budget Bill. Further, before any new tire recycling grants could be issued for FY 2001/02, SB 876 required the development of a five-year spending plan; consequently, no tire recycling grants or contracts could be issued until the plan was developed and approved, and the Governor signed the 2001-02 Budget Bill providing for spending authority.

This report is organized into four sections:

• Section I: Tire Markets and Quantification. Provides estimates of reusable- and waste-tire generation, consumption, and disposal in California for 2000.
• Section II: Waste Tire Diversion Program. Provides a summary of CIWMB's diversion and market development programs implemented in FY 1999/2000.
• Section III: Waste Tire Permitting and Enforcement Program. Describes CIWMB's accomplishments in permitting and in enforcing regulations at waste tire facilities. This section also includes information about the tire hauler registration program.
• Section IV: Waste Tire Stabilization and Engineering Technical Services Program. Discusses current and past cleanup efforts, and includes information on the remediation efforts underway at the Filbin tire pile near Westley, California.

Markets and Quantification | Table of Contents

Last updated: December 02, 2007