| 18 | | - | Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than July 1, 2018, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall establish a tire hauler license. Such tire hauler license shall be required of any person who engages in the commercial hauling of discarded tires in this state. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require such licensure for any person transporting used tires in this state for verifiable personal use. In establishing such license, the commissioner may establish a reasonable fee for such license. Any such license shall require that such licensee does not illegally dump such tires and only delivers such tires to facilities that store, dispose of or use such discarded tires in a manner that protects the public health and the environment. The commissioner may prescribe the form and manner of application for such license. In developing such tire hauler license requirements, the commissioner may review and consider the tire hauler license and permit requirements of other states, including, but not limited to, the states of Michigan, Maryland and Texas. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section. |
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| 30 | + | (1) "Brand" means a name, symbol, word or mark that attributes a tire to the producer of such tire; |
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| 31 | + | |
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| 32 | + | (2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection; |
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| 33 | + | |
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| 34 | + | (3) "Covered entity" means any permitted transfer station, tire retailer, car dealership, automotive garage or private or public sector fleet maintenance garage; |
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| 35 | + | |
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| 36 | + | (4) "Department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; |
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| 37 | + | |
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| 38 | + | (5) "Discarded tire" means any tire that a person discarded or abandoned or intends to discard or abandon; |
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| 39 | + | |
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| 40 | + | (6) "Tire stewardship program" or "program" means the state-wide program described in section 2 of this act and implemented pursuant to the tire stewardship plan; |
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| 41 | + | |
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| 42 | + | (7) "Tire" means a product composed primarily of rubber that is mounted on the wheels of all types of passenger and commercial on-road and off-road motorized vehicles including passenger vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, mobile homes, trailers, aircraft, earthmoving, road building, mining, logging, agricultural, industrial and other vehicles to provide mobility. "Tire" does not include any tire from any toy, bicycle, commercial aircraft or personal mobility devices; |
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| 43 | + | |
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| 44 | + | (8) "Performance goal" means a metric to measure, on an annual basis, the performance of the tire stewardship program, taking into consideration technical and economic feasibilities, in achieving continuous, meaningful improvement in increasing the rate of tire recycling in the state and any other specified goal of the tire stewardship program; |
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| 45 | + | |
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| 46 | + | (9) "Producer" means any person who manufactures a tire that is sold, offered for sale or distributed in the state under the producer's own name or brand. "Producer" includes (A) the owner of a trademark or brand under which a tire is sold, offered for sale or distributed in this state, and (B) any person who imports a tire into the United States that is sold or offered for sale in this state and that is manufactured by a person who does not have a presence in the United States. "Producer" does not include any manufacturer of tires with less than one-tenth of one per cent of the nationally recognized market share; |
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| 47 | + | |
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| 48 | + | (10) "Recycling" means any process in which discarded products, components and by-products may lose their original identity or form as they are transformed into new, usable or marketable materials. "Recycling" does not include the use of incineration for energy recovery; and |
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| 49 | + | |
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| 50 | + | (11) "Stewardship organization" means a nonprofit organization created by two or more tire producers with a minimum of five per cent of the nationally recognized market share to design, submit and implement a tire stewardship program as described in section 2 of this act. |
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| 51 | + | |
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| 52 | + | Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) On or before July 1, 2018, each producer, or such producer's designee, shall join a stewardship organization and such stewardship organization shall submit a plan, for the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection's approval, to establish a state-wide tire stewardship program, as described in this subsection. Such tire stewardship program shall, to the extent it is technologically feasible and economically practical: (1) Minimize public sector involvement in the management of discarded tires; (2) provide for free, convenient and accessible state-wide opportunities for the receipt of discarded tires from any person in the state with a discarded tire that was discarded in this state, including, but not limited to, participating covered entities that accumulate and segregate a minimum of six cubic yards of discarded tires for collection at one time; (3) provide for the free collection of discarded tires from municipal transfer stations that accumulate and segregate fewer than one hundred tires, provided any such municipal transfer station requires collection due to space or permit requirements; (4) provide for producer-financed end-of-life management for discarded tires collected pursuant to subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection; (5) provide suitable storage containers at, or make other mutually agreeable storage and transport arrangements for, permitted municipal transfer stations for segregated, discarded tires, at no cost to such municipality. |
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| 53 | + | |
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| 54 | + | (b) Any plan submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall: (1) Identify each producer participating in the tire stewardship program; (2) describe how the program will be financed; (3) establish performance goals for the first two years of the program; (4) identify proposed facilities to be used by the program; (5) detail how the program follows the solid waste hierarchy, as defined in the state-wide solid waste management plan and will promote the recycling of discarded tires; and (6) include a description of the public education program for such tire stewardship program. |
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| 55 | + | |
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| 56 | + | (c) Each stewardship organization shall establish and implement a system for financing the organization's applicable tire stewardship program that covers, but does not exceed, the costs of (1) developing the plan described in subsection (b) of this section, (2) operating and administering the tire stewardship program described in subsection (a) of this section, and (3) maintaining a financial reserve sufficient to operate such tire stewardship program. Each stewardship organization shall maintain all records relating to such tire stewardship program for a period of not less than three years. |
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| 57 | + | |
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| 58 | + | (d) For any tire stewardship program established by any stewardship organization, recycling shall be preferred over any other disposal method for tires to the extent that recycling is technologically feasible and economically practical. |
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| 59 | + | |
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| 60 | + | (e) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall approve any plan for the establishment of a tire stewardship program, provided such plan meets the requirements of subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of this section. Not later than ninety days after submission of a plan pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall make a determination whether to approve the plan. In the event that the commissioner disapproves a plan because it does not meet the requirements of subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of this section, the commissioner shall describe the reasons for such disapproval in a notice of determination that the commissioner shall provide to the applicable stewardship organization. The stewardship organization shall revise and resubmit the plan to the commissioner not later than forty-five days after receipt of the commissioner's disapproval notice. Not later than forty-five days after receipt of the revised plan, the commissioner shall review and approve or disapprove the revised plan and provide a notice of determination to the stewardship organization. A stewardship organization may resubmit a revised plan to the commissioner on not more than two occasions. If the stewardship organization fails to submit a plan that is acceptable to the commissioner because it does not meet the requirements of subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of this section, the commissioner shall modify the resubmitted plan to conform with the requirements of subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of this section, and approve such modified plan. Not later than one hundred twenty days after the approval of a plan pursuant to this section, or one hundred eighty days, in the case of a plan modified by the commissioner, the stewardship organization shall implement the applicable tire stewardship program. |
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| 61 | + | |
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| 62 | + | (f) (1) Each stewardship organization shall submit any proposed substantial change to the tire stewardship program to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection for approval. For the purposes of this subdivision, "substantial change" means: (A) A change in the processing facilities to be used for discarded tires collected pursuant to the tire stewardship program, or (B) a material change to the system for collecting tires under a tire stewardship program. |
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| 63 | + | |
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| 64 | + | (2) Not later than July 1, 2021, each stewardship organization shall submit a report of updated performance goals to the commissioner for approval that are based on the experience of the tire stewardship program during the first two years of such program. |
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| 65 | + | |
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| 66 | + | (g) Each stewardship organization shall notify the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection of other material changes to the program on an ongoing basis, without resubmission of the plan to the commissioner for approval. |
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| 67 | + | |
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| 68 | + | (h) Not later than October 15, 2020, and each year thereafter, each stewardship organization shall submit an annual report to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, on a form prescribed by the commissioner. Such report shall include: (1) The tonnage of tires collected pursuant to the tire stewardship program from (A) public covered entities, and (B) all other covered entities; (2) the tonnage of tires diverted to recycling; (3) a summary of the public education that supports the tire stewardship program; (4) an evaluation of the effectiveness of methods and processes used to achieve the various performance goals of the tire stewardship program; and (5) recommendations for any changes to such tire stewardship program. |
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| 69 | + | |
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| 70 | + | Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Upon implementation of a tire stewardship program as described in section 2 of this act, any covered entity that participates in such program shall not charge for the receipt of discarded tires that are discarded in this state. Such covered entity may restrict the acceptance of tires by number, source or physical condition. |
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| 71 | + | |
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| 72 | + | Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than three years after the approval of any plan pursuant to section 2 of this act, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall submit a report, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment. Such report shall provide an evaluation of the applicable tire stewardship program, establish a goal for the amount of discarded tires managed under such program and establish a separate goal for the recycling of such tires, taking into consideration technical and economic feasibilities. |
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| 73 | + | |
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| 74 | + | Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Each producer that is a member of a stewardship organization and each stewardship organization shall be immune from liability for any claim of a violation of antitrust law or unfair trade practice, if such conduct is a violation of antitrust law, to the extent such producer or council is exercising authority pursuant to the provisions of sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act. |
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| 75 | + | |
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| 76 | + | Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may seek civil enforcement of the provisions of sections 2 and 3 of this act pursuant to chapter 439 of the general statutes. |
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| 77 | + | |
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| 78 | + | (b) Whenever, in the judgment of the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, any person has engaged in or is about to engage in any act, practice or omission that constitutes, or will constitute, a violation of any provision of section 2 or 3 of this act, the Attorney General may, at the request of the commissioner, bring an action in the superior court for the judicial district of New Britain for an order enjoining such act, practice or omission. Such order may require remedial measures and direct compliance with the provisions of section 2 or 3 of this act. Upon a showing by the commissioner that such person has engaged in or is about to engage in any such act, practice or omission, the court may issue a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order or other order, as appropriate. |
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| 79 | + | |
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| 80 | + | (c) Any action brought by the Attorney General pursuant to this section shall have precedence in the order of trial, as provided in section 52-191 of the general statutes. |
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| 81 | + | |
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| 82 | + | Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective from passage) In the event that another state implements a tire stewardship program, each stewardship organization may collaborate with such state to conserve efforts and resources used in carrying out each tire stewardship program, provided such collaboration is consistent with the requirements of sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act. |
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