Colorado Governor Signs New Waste Tire Legislation

The continued management of waste tires in Colorado will be governed under provisions of a new law set to take effect January 1, 2020

Colorado’s waste tire fee is going up and the end-user fund is coming back. These are the major changes to Colorado’s Waste Tire Program emanating from newly enacted legislation designed to encourage resource recovery, recycling and reuse of waste tires in the state.

Starting January 1, 2020, the bill raises the current waste tire fee assessed on each new tire sold in the state, from 55 cents to up to $2.00 per tire.

The bill recreates the end users fund supported by revenue collected from the waste tire fee to provide rebates to end users for the processing of waste tires into tire-derived products or fuel.

The other portion of the fee revenue is earmarked for waste tire administration enforcement, market development, and cleanup fund established under the legislation.

Among other uses, the new law requires the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to maintain an online system for reporting waste tire violations. It also directs CDPHE to use monies in the fund to develop a model fire prevention, training and fire-fighting plan in conjunction with the division of fire prevention and control.

In the end users fund, the new law creates three tiers of rebate amounts, with full rebates going to crumb rubber end users and end uses that use tires for energy recovery or other clean technologies. In addition, the law provides for an additional rebate for waste tires obtained from rural counties.

Under Tier 2 fifty percent of the full rebate amount will go to end uses such as molded products and rubber mulch.

Tier 3 directs twenty-five percent of the full rebate amount to tire bale end uses and end uses for alternative daily cover and tire derived aggregate that meet ASTM Standard D6270.

The bill prohibits CDPHE from granting a waiver to an owner or operator of a waste tire monofill from requirements to process a certain number of waste tires and not to store waste tires; except if the owner or operator has demonstrated an annual net reduction in the number of waste tires at the monofill or has experienced an emergency event at the monofill such as a fire or flood.

© Scrap Tire News, July 2019