Border
Research
Partnership
nacts.asu.edu
Overview of NACTS
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Trinational, Multidisciplinary, Public PolicyFocused
7 Partner Universities in Mexico and Canada
Trinational Board of Advisors
Three Foci: Sustainability, Security,
Competitiveness
Supporters/Partners: CSG-WEST/BLC, BGC, AMC,
MAG, EPA (SCERP), DHS, DOS, DFAIT, etc.
Local and customized solutions are often better
solutions
“North America Next: A Report to President
Obama on Building Sustainable Security,”
February 2009
Project Objectives
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Conduct solution-focused, legislative research in a
dynamic context to
◦ a) Determine the state-of-the-art in current legislation
◦ B) Develop recommendations on approaches for the BLC’s
members to consider
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BLC develops legislative package to discuss with
state legislatures (and other stakeholders).
NACTS tracks scrap tire legislation over time (as part
of broader NACTS-BLC partnership).
◦ CSG’s “Suggested State Legislation” as model/platform.
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Initial findings presented to Border Governors
Conference Environment Work Table, Sept. 2009 in
Monterrey
◦ 1. Sept. 3 letter from 10 states’ env. secretaries to NADB and
BECC
◦ 2. Oct. 7 NADB letter to 10 states’ env. secretaries
Presentation of project to the Border 2012 Tire Initiative
Workgroup, Oct. 2009 in San Diego (recorded for DHS’
Our Border site)
Draft report and executive summary circulated to BLC,
BGC and other key stakeholders Oct.-Nov. 2009
Appendices
Work by EPA on Border Tire Network (Ellie Kanipe)
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U.S.: Unique legislation and programs via agency rules,
Border 2012
◦ Challenges include: Very robust markets, statewide
abatement, southbound flows, consumer education
Mexico: Unique legislation that is in the process of
designating scrap tires as special management waste;
Border 2012
◦ Challenges include: Very robust markets, statewide
abatement, southbound flows, infrastructure,
consumer education; further legal definition of roles
and responsibilities
2003 BLC Recommendations
on Scrap Tires
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Encourage member states to “initiate or assertively
promote the development of harmonized set of
management or regulatory frameworks on the
quantification, collection, proper hauling,
importation/exportation, disposal, and possible end
uses of used and waste tires in all ten border states
between the U.S. and Mexico.”
The recommendations emphasize that “The
frameworks do not have to be identical in every
state, but the systems should be compatible.”
Some Leading Efforts
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Tamaulipas Decree LX-675 includes amendments to the state
sustainable development code specifying scrap tires as special
management waste.
CA Senate Bill 167 (Sen. Ducheny) requires a 5-year plan for
waste tire programs to specifically address the border region
with education, research, infrastructure, mitigation, cleanup,
prevention, enforcement, and market developments for reuse
and recycling projects.
Texas Senate Bill 617 (Senator Shapleigh), would have rendered
tires not meeting inspection criteria unusable.
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Arizona HB 2278 (Rep. Jones) would have used crumb rubber
from scrap tires as fill material for abandoned mines.
*Arizona has used over 14 million scrap tires on successful
Asphalt-Rubber roadway paving; 3/4 of AZ’s 5 million annually
produced scrap tires are recycled in A-R pavement
construction.
Approach 1
Increase recycling and
market development
Examples
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Markets can be developed by
permanently or temporarily
mandating a prescribed
percentage of goods to be made
from reused or recycled scrap
tires.
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Arizona, California, and New
Mexico provide subsidies, grants,
and/or loans derived from each
state’s created scrap tire fee
account
Approach 2
Increase Revenue
Examples
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State-mandated tire
management and recycling fees
have proven viable.
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Arizona tire retailers “collect a fee
of two per cent of the purchase
price for each tire sold but not
more than two dollars for each
tire sold.”
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New Mexico collects an
additional $1.50 tire fee with all
passenger vehicle tag fees.
Approach 3
Enhance Enforcement
Example
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A percentage of tire fees can be
used to fund enforcement efforts.
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States can revoke permits and
registrations from non-compliant
scrap tire users and sites.
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California punishes by fine or
imprisonment those who accept
or knowingly direct, transport, or
abandon waste tires to or at an
unpermitted major waste tire
facility
Approach 4
Prevent Land
Contamination
Examples
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Border states can help reduce the
need for scrap tire abatement by
prohibiting scrap tires from
landfills.
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Prohibiting the dumping of scrap
tires also incentivizes users to be
more cautious and creative with
their scrap tire end-uses.
Approach 5
Create abatement
programs or enhance
existing programs
Examples
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The CA Integrated Waste
Management Board “may expend
available moneys to perform any
cleanup . . . required by . . . the need
for prompt action to prevent
substantial pollution, nuisance, or
injury to the public health or safety.”
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“If the owner of property . . . refuses
to allow the board . . . to enter onto
the property and perform all
necessary cleanup . . . the board or
its contractors shall be permitted
reasonable access to the property to
perform that activity.”
Approach 6
Example
Clarify and define the
shared responsibility for
managing tires as special
management waste in
the Mexican legal
framework.
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Tamaulipas Decree LX-675
includes amendments specifying
scrap tires as special
management waste.
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The legal foundations for the comprehensive management
of scrap tires in Mexico do exist, particularly in the
municipal-level legal instruments.
The Tamaulipas legislation shows significant advances in its
specificity.
Nuevo León’s decentralized waste management agency
serves as an interesting model.
Recommendations for BLC
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Conduct strategic outreach to border state legislatures and
key committees to discuss the promote and develop
customized legislative approaches.
Create a permanent legislative review committee to address
scrap tire legislative developments
Maintain permanent participation with the Border 2012 Tire
Initiative Workgroup.
Continue to coordinate with the Border Governors Conference
Environmental Work Table on developments in the 10 state
legislatures on scrap tire management.
Recommendations for
U.S. state legislatures to consider:
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Broad, comprehensive, binational approaches: For
example, direct state environmental agencies to allocate
resources toward border-related scrap tire projects in a
number of key areas, specifically directing funding
toward projects in Mexico when warranted and to the
benefit of the U.S. state.
Focused approaches: For example, require tire sellers to
render scrap tires unusable and therefore not
marketable in Mexico.
Recommendations for Mexican
state legislatures to consider:
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Clarify legal definitions: Clarify the classification of scrap
tires as special management waste and work with
municipalities to update regulations on local integrated
waste management program implementation.
Specify best management practices: Legislate the special
handling and final deposition of waste tires in suitable
sites.
Help build markets: Legislate locally customized
approaches to stimulate the development of markets for
scrap tire recycling and reuse.
Your feedback is essential.
Erik Lee, Associate Director, North American Center for
Transborder Studies, ASU erik.w.lee@asu.edu, Tel.
480.727.8926
Visit us at nacts.asu.edu
Thank you!