Scrap Tire Laws Multiply

Efforts to clean up scrap tire stockpiles and develop markets for the material have met with some success, and more legislative action is expected on the state level in 1995.

As with any subject in the field of recycling and solid waste management, these laws and regulations are subject to constant oversight, review and modification, either through legislative action or by regulatory modification. 1995 promises to be an active year for scrap tire regulatory action at both the state and federal level. Some states will be issuing new or modified regulations under existing laws; other states will be reviewing and modifying current laws; and at least one state will be considering how to proceed as key provisions of its scrap tire law are scheduled to sunset.

On the marketing side, significant progress is being made in the effort to develop sound markets for scrap tires. Based on a survey of all 50 states for its 1994 Market Update, the Scrap Tire Management Council, Washington, estimates that at the end of 1994, markets were in place to utilize 54 percent of all annually generated scrap tires — around 136.5 million of the nearly 250 million new scrap tires created each year. These figures are based on total units, not on weight. If the eight percent of tires that are retreaded each year were added to the total, scrap tires are being reused at a rate 62 percent — one of the highest reuse, recycling and recovery rates of any scrap commodity.

There is also relatively good news on the scrap tire stockpile front, the other part of the scrap tire management challenge. Several states have made substantial progress in attacking their stockpile problem, either through friendly persuasion of stockpile owners to initiate cleanup or by direct programs to remediate abandoned or illegal piles.

There is even new evidence to suggest that the stockpile cleanup problem, while still significant, is not as great a problem as once thought. Until now, the accepted estimate of the total number of stockpiled tires was that between 2 and 3 billion, made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its 1991 publicationMarkets for Scrap Tiress.

The STMC estimates, based on its Market Update survey, that the US scrap tire stockpile is actually less than one billion, and probably closer to 750 to 800 million tires. One of the interesting details the STMC discovered is that the stockpile problem is not uniform. There are some states, such as Maine and Ohio, that have significantly more than their fair share. This new information may influence the policies developed by legislators.

FEDERAL LEGISLATION. Any discussion of the prospect of legislative action in the 104th Congress must begin with the new leadership in both Houses of Congress. With the Republican victories in the 1994 elections, a new slate of leadership takes charge in Congress, and with them there are likely to be new priorities and initiatives on all environmental legislation.

Although it is not yet clear what these new priorities will be, it is clear that the direction will probably be far less aggressive in terms of expanding federal power and mandates, and much more intent on reestablishing what some in the new leadership would term "balance" in federal environmental legislation. Another likely direction will be allowing state and local governments greater leeway to adapt environmental regulation tailored to local needs and conditions.

One issue which will likely be considered is the mandate found in Section 1038(d) of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The mandate to require use of scrap tire rubber in federally aided asphalt paving has drawn significant opposition. As a result, language was added to the last two transportation appropriations bills which effectively imposed a moratorium on the first two years’ mandates.

In the meantime, all interested parties, including a substantial coalition of more than 110 organizations supporting the mandate, attempted to draft a compromise to Section 1038(d). The compromise would reduce the number of years the mandate would be in effect, lower the level of use a state would have to achieve, and grant the states greater flexibility in the use of scrap tire-derived rubber in highway construction in meeting the mandate.

The compromise language was included in the 1994 House version of legislation to the National Highway System, but not in the Senate version of the same legislation. The NHS legislation was not passed in 1994, so it must be considered again in 1995, and requires passage by the end of September 1995 to avoid substantial losses to the states in their highway funding. The NHS legislation is expected to be up for early consideration in the new Congress and the ISTEA compromise will likely be part of the discussion.

The key positions in Congress on virtually all issues are the chairs of the relevant committees and subcommittees. In the House, Rep. Tom Bliley (R-Va.) takes over the crucial Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the Senate, the shift is probably less dramatic as Sen. John Chaffee (R-R.I.) assumes the Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Senate committee has always operated in a highly bipartisan spirit and Sen. Chaffee has always had important influence in committee deliberations. For example, he is the architect of the mandate to use scrap tire rubber in asphalt paving contained in Section 1038(d) of ISTEA.

In the meantime, federally funded research on rubber modified asphalt is going forward with money appropriated during the last two years. The Federal Highway Administration and the EPA have contracted with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct a health effects study of worker exposure to fumes from the use of rubber in asphalt. This study is expected to be completed within several months.

Another extended study of the engineering aspects of utilizing rubber as a modifier for asphalt paving is being undertaken with funding provided by the FHWA. The lead researcher is Dr. Gary Hicks of Oregon State University, along with several other universities and research organizations. The study is aimed at developing recommendations for engineering practices for virtually all uses of rubber modified asphalt.

Other legislation which might involve scrap tires includes reauthorization of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, otherwise known as Superfund. In the last Congress, Superfund reauthorization legislation included an exemption for recycled materials, but excluded whole tires from the exemption, as well as any material, such as scrap tires, used as fuel. There is concern that if such a provision is included in the eventual reauthorization legislation, it might inhibit the growth of sound and effective scrap tire markets, including the use of tires as fuel.

Another environmental issue which might arise in the 104th Congress is the interstate transportation of waste and scrap materials. Scrap tire markets are developing as regional markets, and scrap tire derived material is freely crossing state borders to reach those markets. Here again, the concern is that restrictions on the free flow of scrap tires to legitimate end use markets could unfairly inhibit the growth of those markets.

Over the last several years, broad federal scrap tire legislation has been proposed in several different formats. Most proposals would have added provisions specifically covering scrap tires to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. However, as states respond to the challenge of scrap tire management and the markets of scrap tires expand in all regions of the country, the need for federal legislation diminishes.