Waste Tire Program Transition
Governor Haslam signed Public Chapter 457, which makes changes to Tennessee’s Waste Tire Program and becomes effective on July 1, 2014. Those changes and how the Division of Solid Waste Management will implement the new law is summarized below.
Although the new law sets out two ways for counties to receive $1.00 per new tire sold, a majority of county mayors responded in a survey the Division conducted in late 2013 that they preferred direct payment from the Department of Revenue. As such, the Division of Solid Waste Management will terminate waste tire recycling grants on July 1, 2014 for any contract extending beyond June 30, 2014. Termination of these contracts will expedite counties receiving direct payment from the Department of Revenue.
Tires received by the counties until June 30, 2014, will be reimbursed at $1.00 per tire in accordance with terms in the existing grant contracts. After July 1, 2014, the Department of Revenue will make direct payments to the counties based on quarterly tire pre-disposal fee collections. The amount a county will receive is $1.00 per new tire sold by tire generators based on quarterly reporting to the Department of Revenue.
The following timeline outlines the tasks required to transition from the waste tire recycling grant program to direct pay from the Department of Revenue.
The Division will identify and quantify legacy illegal tire dump sites and develop a priority schedule for funding.
The Division will conduct meetings to discuss the transition of the waste tire program.
The Division will submit a request through the Department of Finance and Administration and the Comptroller to terminate grants whose expiration date extends beyond June 30, 2014.
The Division will meet with counties having legacy illegal tire dump sites targeted to be funded in FY 2015 and provide information about the application process for cleanup of these sites.
Counties may contact the Department of Revenue to register for quarterly tire generator pre-disposal fee payment reports.
Counties may contact Emerge Knowledge (Re-TRAC), if they choose, to negotiate continuing electronic manifesting for their county and to obtain information about continued service through Re-TRAC for local tire programs.
The Division will not issue any new grants for waste tire recycling. The Division’s contract with Emerge Knowledge (Re-TRAC) for the electronic manifesting of tires will end. Grants with expiration dates beyond June 30, 2014 will have been terminated.
All counties must submit the final request for reimbursement for waste tire recycling grants to close FY 2013-2014’s financial accounting. Counties will download Re-TRAC reports and manifests to a CD or print a copy for the fiscal year and retain for grant audit purposes.
Counties report to their Solid Waste Planning Region for inclusion in the Annual Progress Report the number or weight of tires recycled and indicate the beneficial end user of the recycled tires. Counties report the number or weight of tires landfilled, if any, and give financial justification.