AB 2908: Tire recycling: California tire regulatory fee and waste tire program.

(1)The California Tire Recycling Act requires, until January 1, 2024, a person who purchases a new tire to pay a California tire fee of $1.75 per tire, for deposit in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund, for expenditure by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fund the waste tire program and for other purposes, including to pay for the costs associated with a waste tire and used tire hauler program and manifest system, as provided. After January 1, 2024, existing law reduces the tire fee to $0.75 per tire.

Existing law requires any person generating waste tires or used tires that are transported or submitted for transportation, for offsite handling, altering, storage, disposal, or for any combination thereof, to complete a California Uniform Waste and Used Tire Manifest, as required by the department. Existing law requires a generator to provide the manifest to the waste and used tire hauler at the time of transfer of the tires, and to submit to the department, on a quarterly schedule, a legible copy of each manifest.

This bill would require, until January 1, 2024, upon a specified finding by the department, a waste tire generator that is a retail seller of new tires to end user purchasers to pay a California tire regulatory fee and to remit that fee to the state on a quarterly schedule for deposit in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund. The bill would require the department to track revenue from the California tire regulatory fee separately and would prohibit those funds from being used for activities other than those specified. The bill would require the department to identify the specific programs that the California tire regulatory fee would fund. The bill would require the department to establish the California tire regulatory fee in an amount that does not exceed $1 per new tire sold, and would require the department to base the amount of the fee on specified criteria, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to differentiate in setting the fees between the waste tire generators who are retail sellers depending upon the nature of the activity generating waste tires, the number of waste tires generated, and other appropriate bases.

The bill would require the department, prior to establishing the California tire regulatory fee or making any adjustment to the fee, to hold a public hearing, as specified. The bill would provide that an adjustment to the fee becomes effective on January 1 of the year following its adoption. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement the initial California tire regulatory fee, and would authorize the department to adopt regulations to adjust the California tire regulatory fee, as specified.

(2)Existing law prohibits the California tire fee from being imposed on a tire sold with, or sold separately for use on, a self-propelled wheelchair, a motorized tricycle or motorized quadricycle, or a vehicle that is similar to a motorized tricycle or motorized quadricycle, as specified.

This bill would prohibit the California tire regulatory fee from being imposed on those same vehicles.

(3)Existing law establishes, as a part of the waste tire program, the tire recycling program, which promotes and develops alternatives to the landfill disposal of used whole tires. The program provides for grants to certain entities involved in activities that result in reduced landfill disposal of whole used tires, and development and implementation of a waste tire incentive payment program to promote increased demand for waste tires recycled in this state. Under the act, until June 30, 2019, the Rubberized Pavement Market Development Act provides for the award of grants to certain public agency projects that use rubberized asphalt concrete.

This bill would extend the operation of the Rubberized Pavement Market Development Act to January 1, 2020, and would enact the Tire Recycling Incentive Program Act. The bill would require the department to establish this incentive program to make payments to eligible entities that purchase tire products that are processed in the state from waste tire material for incorporation in products for sale to end users or for use in local public works projects, as specified. The bill would include as an eligible entity a city, county, city and county, or special district that uses rubberized asphalt products that incorporate California-generated waste tire material for a local public works pavement project, as provided. The bill would require that no less than 50% of the total annual value of incentive payments be made available to those local entities. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2020, to hold a public workshop to develop a plan for the tire recycling incentive payment program, as specified. The bill would require the department to collect data from recipients of incentive payments and release that data annually in the California Waste Tire Market Report, as specified. The bill would require the department to evaluate the program in a public forum and propose changes accordingly. The bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to annually make available an allocation for incentive payments that is not less than 75% of the projected California tire fee revenue for that fiscal year at the time of the enactment of the annual Budget Act. The bill would authorize the department to reduce that allocation before the end of the fiscal year, if the department finds that actual California tire fee revenue falls short of projections.

(4)Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to reduce the landfill disposal and stockpiling of used whole tires by 25% within 4 years of full implementation of a statewide tire recycling program and to recycle and reclaim used tires and used tire components to the greatest extent possible in order to recover valuable natural resources.

This bill would declare that it is the policy goal of the state that not less than 75% of solid waste tires generated be source reduced or recycled in the state annually. The bill would require the department, if that policy goal is met for 3 consecutive years, to review existing tire recycling programs and make recommendations, as specified.

(5)Existing law requires a person generating waste or used tires that are transported or submitted for transportation to submit a California Uniform Waste and Used Tire Manifest, as defined, to the waste and used tire hauler and to submit copies of the manifest to the department. A waste and used tire hauler is required to possess that manifest while transporting waste or used tires, and the operator of a waste or used tire facility is required to submit a copy of the manifest to the department and the generator. Existing law requires the department to develop and implement a system for auditing manifests, including continuously conducting random sampling and matching of manifests.

This bill would revise those provisions to, among other things, require a waste and used tire hauler, on and after January 1, 2020, to submit an electronic manifest, instead of a paper manifest, to the department within 7 days of the date of the pickup or delivery for each load of waste or used tires transported.

(6)This measure would declare that its provisions are severable.