FINAL BILL REPORT

SB 6720

                                  C 250 L 88

BYSenators Metcalf and Madsen

Providing for the management of waste tires.

Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources

House Committe on Environmental Affairs

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

The Department of Ecology estimates that 4 million waste tires are generated each year.  Approximately 1.5 million tires are retreaded or reprocessed into a useable oil.  The other 2.5 million tires are disposed into landfills or onto privately owned tire piles.  Approximately two-thirds of the state's tires are in Thurston, Pierce, and Spokane Counties.

The 1985 Legislature passed a law to promote tire recycling.  It prohibited the unauthorized disposal of tires and assessed a twelve hundredths of 1 percent (0.12%) tax on the sale of new replacement tires to fund tire collection and recycling of waste tires.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Ecology shall identify communities with the most severe waste tire problems and use the tire recycling account to provide priority funding for those communities.  A waste tire advisory committee is established to develop a report addressing the problem of waste tires within the state.

Persons storing or transporting waste tires are required to obtain a license from the department.  Violations are a gross misdemeanor.  Businesses are prohibited from contracting with persons not having a valid license.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      Senate    47     0

      House 94   0 (House amended)

      Senate    40     0 (Senate concurred)

EFFECTIVE:June 9, 1988