Title: Cherry Tire Recycling Act
Sponsor: Max Cherry (D-NC)
Co-sponsors: Ken Hollins (D-MN), Ross Wilder (D-TX), Zachary Wisniewski (D-WI), Tom Plawinski (D-CT), Lillian Wood (R-LA), Kurt Garwood (R-MI), John Devlin (D-VA), Allen Johns (D-VA) and Louis Laverone (R-CA), Mr. Johnson, Mr. Desmond, Mr. Cole, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Harper, Mr. Littwin, Mr. Hanscom.

Section I. Short Title

Short Title shall be 'Cherry Tire Recycling Act.'

Section II. Findings

(1) Every year, U.S. citizens dispose of millions of tires, most of which end up in landfills are are not recycled.

(2) There are very few programs to recycle tires in place.

(3) Tires can be recycled and made into other products and also put to other uses like being made into playground material as a replacement for asphalt or as a road subgrade.

(4) As a road subgrade, rubber from recycled tires makes the road last longer and prevents cracking, especially in areas with harsh Winters with a great deal of frozen precipitation. Thus, road life and budget are extended.

(5) Further recycling of tires could prove to be a huge positive impact for our environment.

Section III. Tire Recycling Improvement

(1) The Congress will express a sense of support towards tire recycling.

(2) Tire & automotive manufacturers are encouraged to support tire recycling and create programs advocating the practice and conducting the act.

(3) Local & state governments are encouraged to expand tire recycling programs and allow citizens to drop off tires for recycling at recycling centers and recycling drop-off areas.

(4) Businesses are encouraged to, if possible, use used tires as an alternative material for making products.

(5) All K-12 public school school playground asphalt is hereby replaced with surface made from recycled tires.

(6) Used tires are no longer accepted into national landfill's general dumping areas and must be put in a special area of the landfill designated for used tires only.

(7) In construction and repair of roads at all levels, it is are hereby required to place subgrades made from tires in order to prolong road life and budget.

Section IV. Enactment.

(1) This shall become law upon the signature of the President of the United States of America.

Madame Chair,
As a co sponsor on this bill I will take the liberty to mention a few points.

*This bill was unanimously endorsed by the Env Rts Caucus.
*Space is one of the top 3 problems facing landfills, and the bill will aleviate those concerns.
*The bill will create jobs as entrepreneurs and existing businesses will have an outlet for their recycling opertaions.

I find this to be a common sense approach to a neglected problem.

I yield.

Madame Chair,

I would like to ask the Gentlemen from Connecticut, in his role as co-sponsor, if he has any scientific data proving that space is a problem with landfills. There is scientific data that proves this otherwise.

I yield.

Madame Chair,
I, or one of the others sponsors will respond to the gentleman's concerns before this hearing ends.

I yield.

Madam Chairwoman,

I have a question for the sponsors of this legislation. Does the federal government have the authority to regulate the material on playgrounds? I support this legislation and plan on voting for it in committee and the floor. I just want some of the legal and constitutional issues clarified. I am willing to submit amendments to add a seperability clause and clarify any other issues to make sure there are no future problems.

Rep. Dave Anderson
Republican
11th District
New Jersey

Madame Chair,

To answer the question from the gentleman from New Jersey, all public schools fall under the auspices of the Department of Education. The federal government controls all funding and policy proposals for said Department. Therefore, the federal government has legal right to provide funding to public schools to replace playground asphalt with recycled tires when such a measure is proposed by the federal government.

I fully support this wise piece of legislation.

I yield.

Madame Chair,
Once again, in what is begining to become a habit, I thank the gentleman from Nebraska for his input. His infformation is consistent with my own on that issue.

To the gentleman from Calif:
My inofrmation comes from a variety of sources including the Environemntal literacy council, U of TN, Morehouse, afew state EPA's, etc.

My synopsis is as follows:

Landfill space is indeed shrinking nationally, though at lesser rates than a knee jerk environmentalist might imagine, and in different ways. The key is population density, and this is inversely proportional to available landfill space. This is hardly surprising.

Space is available, but at greater distances, and in lesser amounts, 5%-10% less than in 2000 might be a fair number to use. In addition to those areas that already export MSW, several states have the ability to handle but 5 more years of Munic. Solid Waste. (MSW).

Solid waste generated per person is on the rise, and has risen 74% since 1960 to 4.6 lbs/person/day in the USA.

The impacts of these trends are increases in costs which reflect better environmental controls, increased transportation costs, and fees charged for dumping "out of area" waste. The last cost 2 factors derive directly from the aforementioned problems with available landfill space.

In the 1970s, many communities paid as little as $2 per ton in tipping fees at landfill sites. By 1982 the average fee had increased fivefold to $10.80 per ton; and by 1988 the average cost had doubled again to $20.36 per ton. Today the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA) estimates that many landfills must charge more than $30 per ton. Expanding existing sites, which requires upgrading to meet the tighter new standards, could cost $12 to $25 per ton of added capacity, representing a fivefold increase in disposal costs in some instances.

Regardng tires in particular:
In 1990, over 240 million scrap tires were discarded in the United States and approximately 3 billion waste tires had accumulated in stockpiles. Each year, over 77% of the annual production of scrap tires, about 188 million tires per year, are landfilled, stockpiled or illegally dumped.

Whole tire landfilling requires a large amount of space, relative to weight because of theor construction and shape. Addditionally tires tend to float or rise in a landfill and come to the surface, thus disturbing the planning and operation of safe and secure landfills. Many private landfill owners have actually banned used tires because of their intractibility, thus contributing to the problems of illegal dumping.

For perhaps 2 decades now, I have personally particiapted in 2 annual river clean ups in my district, and have pulled more illegally dumped tires than I can count.

Legally dumped used tire stockpiles are also havens in which pests reside and mosquitoes breed, not to mention being a potential fire hazard. Tire fires are particulalrly dificult to extinguish, again owing to construction and shape that allows drafting and plentiful O2. The impacts on surface water runoff is another issue peculair to tires.

Even in areas where landfill space is plentiful, some movement has occurred with respect to tires. Nevada is but one example where the solid watse assoc there recommends tire-derived fuel (TDF) as a viable means of reducing waste tire landfilling while recovering their energy value.

By-product engineering has advanced greatly and has developed many uses for old tires. This bill addresses some of the main uses.

This is simple common sense legislation.

I yield.