The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) The problem posed by used tire storage and disposal requires a comprehensive, statewide response, including, but not limited to, reducing landfill disposal of used whole tires, recycling of tires into secondary uses, source material development and promotion of secondary markets for used tire byproducts, tire shredding, and energy recovery.
(b) California is currently faced with an existing used tire inventory of at least 100 million tires, an amount which grows by over 20 million tires per year. Without a dedication of resources to address the state’s growing tire population, the health and safety of all Californians will be increasingly at risk.
(c) There are currently no dedicated resources for the recycling of used tires, or a comprehensive tire shredding program. Therefore, the levying of a fee on the disposal of used whole tires in the state is needed to support tire recycling activities.
(d) Used tires represent a valuable state resource which should be reclaimed and recycled whenever possible. An abundance of tire recycling alternatives exist which have been demonstrated to be environmentally safe. These alternatives need to be promoted in order to achieve the maximum use of used tires.
(e) Shredding of used tires represents a preferable alternative to whole tire storage or disposal. Given the rapidly decreasing amount of landfill space available to local jurisdictions, shredding represents a positive way of storing tires until a secondary use can be developed.
(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 35, Sec. 25. Effective March 30, 1990.)