Tire Business staff report
SACRAMENTO (April 6, 2012) — The Natural Resources Committee of the California Assembly has scheduled an April 23 hearing on AB 1647, a bill attempting to curb scrap tire exports from the state.
Sponsored by Rep. Richard Gordon, D-Redwood City, AB 1647 would shorten to 30 days from the current 45 the time that a district attorney has to issue an injunction against a scrap tire stockpiler who refuses to obey an order from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to clean up his property.
The hearing was moved forward from the original date of April 16, according to Terry Leveille, publisher of the California Tire Report and legislative representative for the California Tire Dealers Association.
According to Mr. Leveille, AB 1647 represents the first step toward cracking down on unpermitted scrap tire sites that divert tires from legitimate processors and recyclers. Although exact figures don’t currently exist, Mr. Leveille and others estimate that hundreds of thousands of California scrap tires are sent to China and other countries for use as tire-derived fuel.
Advocates for the California scrap tire recycling industry have been working on possible amendments to AB 1647 to toughen its stance against scrap tire stockpilers and exporters, Mr. Leveille said.