READ FIRST TIME 03/07/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to cleanup of waste tires; amending RCW 70.95.510, 70.95.530, 70.95.555, and 70.95.560; adding new sections to chapter 70.95 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties; making appropriations; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that discarded tires in unauthorized dump sites pose a health and safety risk to the public. Many of these tire piles have been in existence for a significant amount of time and are a continuing challenge to state and local officials responsible for cleaning up unauthorized dump sites and preventing further accumulation of waste tires. Therefore it is the intent of the legislature to document the extent of the problem, create and fund an effective program to eliminate unauthorized tire piles, and minimize potential future problems and costs.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.95.510 and 1989 c 431 s 92 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) There is levied a one dollar per tire fee on the retail sale of new replacement vehicle tires for a period of five years, beginning ((October 1, 1989)) July 1, 2005. The fee imposed in this section shall be paid by the buyer to the seller, and each seller shall collect from the buyer the full amount of the fee. The fee collected from the buyer by the seller less the ten percent amount retained by the seller as provided in RCW 70.95.535(1) shall be paid to the department of revenue in accordance with RCW 82.32.045.
     (2) The department of revenue shall incorporate into the agency's regular audit cycle a reconciliation of the number of tires sold and the amount of revenue collected by the businesses selling new replacement vehicle tires at retail. The department of revenue shall collect on the business excise tax return from the businesses selling new replacement vehicle tires at retail:
     (a) The number of tires sold; and
     (b) The fee levied in this section.
     (3) All other applicable provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW have full force and application with respect to the fee imposed under this section. The department of revenue shall administer this section.
     (4) For the purposes of this section, "new replacement vehicle tires" means tires that are newly manufactured for vehicle purposes and does not include retreaded vehicle tires.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 70.95 RCW to read as follows:
     The waste tire removal account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from tire fees imposed under RCW 70.95.510 must be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used for the cleanup of unauthorized waste tire piles and measures that prevent future accumulation of unauthorized waste tire piles.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 70.95 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The fee required by this chapter, to be collected by the seller, shall be deemed to be held in trust by the seller until paid to the department of revenue, and any seller who appropriates or converts the fee collected to his or her own use or to any use other than the payment of the fee to the extent that the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the due date as prescribed in this chapter is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
     (2) In case any seller fails to collect the fee imposed in this chapter or, having collected the fee, fails to pay it to the department of revenue in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure is the result of his or her own acts or the result of acts or conditions beyond his or her control, he or she shall, nevertheless, be personally liable to the state for the amount of the fee.
     (3) The amount of the fee, until paid by the buyer to the seller or to the department of revenue, shall constitute a debt from the buyer to the seller and any seller who fails or refuses to collect the fee as required with intent to violate the provisions of this chapter or to gain some advantage or benefit, either direct or indirect, and any buyer who refuses to pay any fee due under this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Sec. 5   RCW 70.95.530 and 1988 c 250 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Moneys in the waste tire removal account may be appropriated to the department of ecology:
     (((1))) (a) To provide for funding to state and local governments for the removal of discarded vehicle tires from unauthorized tire dump sites;
     (((2))) (b) To accomplish the other purposes of RCW 70.95.020(((5))) as they relate to waste tire cleanup under this chapter; and
     (((3) To fund the study authorized in section 2, chapter 250, Laws of 1988)) (c) To conduct a study of existing tire cleanup sites. The office of financial management shall oversee the study process and approve the completed study. The completed study shall be delivered to the house of representatives and senate transportation committees by November 15, 2005. In conducting the study, the department shall consult on a regular basis with interested parties. The following identified elements at a minimum shall be included in the completed study:
     (i) Identification of existing tire cleanup sites in the state of Washington;
     (ii) The estimated number of tires in each tire cleanup site;
     (iii) A map identifying the location of each one of the tire cleanup sites;
     (iv) A photograph of each one of the tire cleanup sites;
     (v) The estimated cost for cleanup of each tire site by cost component;
     (vi) The estimated reimbursement of costs to be recovered from persons or entities that created or have responsibility for the tire cleanup site;
     (vii) Identification of the type of reimbursements for recovery by each of the tire cleanup sites;
     (viii) The estimated time frame to begin the cleanup project and the estimated completion date for each tire cleanup site;
     (ix) An assessment of local government functions relating to unauthorized tire piles, including cleanup, enforcement, and public health;
     (x) Identification of needs in the areas in (c)(ix) of this subsection for each one of the counties; and
     (xi) A statewide cleanup plan based on multiple funding options between twenty cents and sixty cents for each new tire sold at retail in the state starting on July 1, 2005. The plan shall include the estimated time frame to begin each of the tire cleanup sites and the estimated completion date for each one of the sites. In addition, the plan must include a process to be followed in selecting entities to perform the tire site cleanups. The 2006 legislature shall determine the final distribution of the tire cleanup fee and the appropriations for this statewide tire cleanup plan.
     (2) In spending funds in the account under this section, the department of ecology shall identify communities with the most severe problems with waste tires and provide funds first to those communities to remove accumulations of waste tires.
     (3) Immediately after the effective date of this section, the department of ecology shall initiate a pilot project in a city with a population between three and four thousand within a county with a population less than twenty thousand to contract to clean up a formerly licensed tire pile in existence for ten or more years. To begin the project, the department shall seek to use financial assurance funds set aside for clean up of the tire pile. For purposes of this subsection, population figures are the official 2004 population as estimated by the office of financial management for purposes of state revenue allocation.

Sec. 6   RCW 70.95.555 and 1988 c 250 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     Any person engaged in the business of transporting or storing waste tires shall be licensed by the department. To obtain a license, each applicant must:
     (1) Provide assurances that the applicant is in compliance with this chapter and the rules regarding waste tire storage and transportation; ((and))
     (2) Accept liability for and authorize the department to recover any costs incurred in any cleanup of waste tires transported or newly stored by the applicant in violation of this section, or RCW 70.95.560 or section 4 or 8 of this act, or rules adopted thereunder, after the effective date of this section;
     (3) Until January 1, 2006, post a bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars in favor of the state of Washington for waste tires transported or stored before the effective date of this section. In lieu of the bond, the applicant may submit financial assurances acceptable to the department;
     (4) After January 1, 2006, for waste tires transported or stored before the effective date of this section, or for waste tires transported or stored after the effective date of this section, post a bond in an amount to be determined by the department sufficient to cover the liability for the cost of cleanup of the transported or stored waste tires, in favor of the state of Washington. In lieu of the bond, the applicant may submit financial assurances acceptable to the department;
     (5) Be registered in the state of Washington as a business and be in compliance with all state laws, rules, and local ordinances;
     (6) Have a federal tax identification number and be in compliance with all applicable federal codes and regulations; and
     (7) Report annually to the department the amount of tires transported and their disposition. Failure to report shall result in revocation of the license.

Sec. 7   RCW 70.95.560 and 1989 c 431 s 95 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person who transports or stores waste tires without a license in violation of RCW 70.95.555 shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished under RCW 9A.20.021(2).
     (2) Any person who transports or stores waste tires without a license in violation of RCW 70.95.555 is liable for the costs of cleanup of any and all waste tires transported or stored. This subsection does not apply to the storage of waste tires when the storage of the tires occurred before the effective date of this section and the storage was licensed in accordance with RCW 70.95.555 at the time the tires were stored.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   A new section is added to chapter 70.95 RCW to read as follows:
     No person or business, having documented proof that it legally transferred possession of waste tires to a validly licensed transporter or storer of waste tires or to a validly permitted recycler, has any further liability related to the waste tires legally transferred.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   The sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, from the waste tire removal account to the office of financial management to reimburse the department of ecology to complete the study in section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   The sum of forty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2007, from the waste tire removal account to the department of revenue for administration of the fee established in section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect July 1, 2005.