New state scrap-tire rules sent for review

Arkansas has moved forward with implementing its new scrap-tire law designed to improve recycling and prevent tire dumps.

The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission voted Aug. 25 to initiate emergency rule-making on the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s proposed regulation for used tires.

The rule-making of Regulation 36 will go through the traditional review process but at an expedited speed so the state’s nine waste-tire districts can more easily come into compliance when the law goes into effect Jan. 1.

The procedure implements Act 317 of 2017, which changes how tires are tracked, how fees on new tires are assessed and how funds for used-tire programs are distributed to the state’s regional waste-tire districts. Proponents say the law will increase accountability among solid waste districts and thus increase the number of tires being recycled and decrease the number of tire dumps.

Environmental Quality Department tire disposition reports dating to 2008 have varied, with less than 50 percent recycled in 2013 and 70.5 percent recycled in 2009.

State officials have previously expressed concern that the number of tires that districts report processing are inaccurate and that illegal dumping of tires in rural areas is an ongoing problem. Some waste-tire district officials disputed concerns about the number of tires being processed and have pushed legislators to weaken the department’s control of the districts.

Southeast Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District Director Andrew Armstrong said that if funds are collected at the level the Environmental Quality Department has projected and then are redistributed to districts according to the new regulation, his district may be able to buy the equipment necessary to recycle more than half its tires.

Currently, the district recycles only about 50 percent of its tires and sends the other half to the landfill.

“We don’t like to do it, but that’s the only option we have,” Armstrong said.

During the debate over House Bill 1267, which turned into Act 317, some district representatives voiced skepticism that the state would collect as much money as projected. The department has said the new program could as much as double the state’s current $5 million revenue in tire fees.

The 48-page rule-making expands on the 33-page law, spelling out how districts and others involved in the tire business must track, manage and collect fees for tires.

The requirements are:

Districts and people in the tire business must use an electronic “manifest” system to report collection, transportation, distribution recycling and disposal of tires to the state. Entities unable to do so must submit the same information via paper.

Districts must submit business plans to the department detailing debts, equipment, contracts, tire management methods, costs for tire programs, tire quantity and supporting documents.

Tire generators, tire wholesalers, commercial generators, auto repair shops, salvage yards and new and used car dealers must register with the department and collect and pay necessary tire fees.

Tire transporters must be licensed, provide a bond of at least $10,000 and meet other regulatory requirements.

Tire manufacturers must register with the department, properly dispose of tires and keep records of disposal for at least three years.

Fees will be charged upon removal of a tire from the rim, with a $3 fee charged for each new tire sold and $1 charged for each used tire sold, with some exceptions. Currently, a $2 fee is charged at the point of sale per new passenger car tire, and a $5 fee is charged per new truck tire with a rim size greater than 19 inches. Critics have noted that the fees leave out used tires. A tire retailer may keep 5 percent of the fee for administrative costs. The rest of the funds will go to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, with 93 percent then being funneled to the Used Tire Recycling Fund and 7 percent being transmitted to the Environmental Quality Department’s Fee Trust Fund.

The manifest system is designed to ensure that the quantity of tires being transported is being accurately reported. Tires are currently tracked by paper.

The Used Tire Recycling Fund would be used for grants for used tire programs and for administrative costs of overseeing the state’s used tire program. Funds will be distributed to districts based on information detailed in their business plans and whether they intend to fund an illegal dumps control officer position or to purchase equipment.

Throughout the drafting of Act 317 and Regulation 36, waste-tire districts have voiced preferences and concerns about changes pushed by the department and state Rep. Lanny Fite, R-Benton. Some have indicated they are happy to be able to continue to provide input through the rule-making process.

“Overall I think we’re pleased with it,” said Wendy Bland, director of the Benton County Solid Waste Management District.

Bland and her staff have voiced desires for clarifications and other changes to the department, although she declined to expand on what those “minor details” were.

Nonetheless, Bland said, she believes her district will be able to comply with the regulation if implemented as it is written currently.

In the nine-county Pulaski Waste Tire Inter-District, where 97 percent of tires are recycled through Davis Rubber Company, officials are working on understanding the electronic manifest system and drafting a business plan, said Craig Douglass.

“I don’t see any red flags on this,” said Douglass, director of the Regional Recycling and Waste Reduction District in Pulaski County, which is one of the nine counties in the district. “I think it’ll work fine, and ultimately it will be a lot simpler.”

Upcoming Events