EMERGENCY RULES An agency may adopt a new or amended section or repeal an existing section on an emergency basis if it determines that such action is necessary for the public health, safety, or welfare of this state. The section may become effective immediately upon filing with the Texas Register, or on a stated date less than 20 days after filing and remaining in effect no more than 120 days. The emergency action is renewable once for no more than 60 additional days. Symbology in amended emergency sections. New language added to an existing section is indicated by the use of bold text. [Brackets] indicate deletion of existing material within a section. TITLE 30. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Part I. Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Chapter 330. Municipal Solid Waste The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (commission or TNRCC) adopts on an emergency basis an amendment to sec.330.602, concerning municipal solid waste disposal fees for landfills and new sec.330.804, concerning The Use of Tire Shreds in Landfills. Emergency adoption of the new section and amendment is necessary to prevent imminent peril to the public health, safety or welfare. The commission has received numerous reports from state, city and county health officials that whole tires are piling up at generator locations. The concerns associated with this problem include fire, the creation of breeding grounds for mosquitoes, snakes and rodents, and human health problems, as well as traffic safety due to tires piling up alongside roadways. Whole tire piles are easily ignited and extremely difficult to control. An uncontrolled burning tire pile releases toxic chemicals into the air and may also result in contamination to groundwater. The dangerous conditions involving the overabundance of whole tire piles is connected in large part to the fact that many waste tire processors are close to or over authorized tire shred storage capacity. This situation intensified significantly after January 1, 1996, when the end-use market requirement became a condition of reimbursement for processors. In spite of significant efforts to promote the development of end-use markets for whole tires and tire shreds, only 37% of the scrap tires generated in Texas are being forwarded to end use markets. Due to the lack of sufficient end-use markets to meet the volume of tires generated, tire shreds have piled up at storage sites. While significant regulatory requirements designed to protect human health, safety and the environment are imposed on tire shred storage sites, eliminating the piles through recycling is the best mechanism to protect public health and the environment. Storage facility health and safety requirements, although significant safeguards while a facility is operating within its authorized limits, are not designed to afford any protection once a facility exceeds it authorized capacity. The utilization of tire shreds in landfills will enable the continued collection of tires, because storage space will be made available with the movement of the existing shred piles. This will in turn reduce whole tire piles and the hazards these piles represent. Under the amended section, owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills who utilize tire shreds in their landfill design could receive a reduction in the fee they pay for waste disposal. This is a one-time, 50% (62. 5 cents per ton) reduction in the fee corresponding to the number of tire-shred tons used in the landfill design. Therefore, a landfill using 15 tons of tire shreds in an approved component of landfill design would receive a 50% reduction in its Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Fee for 15 tons of municipal waste in the quarterly billing period following use of the tire shreds. High transportation costs have made the use of tire shreds cost prohibitive for many landfill owners and operators. This fee reduction is designed to mitigate the cost differential between tire shreds and other more commonly used material. Utilizing tire shreds as part of the landfill design is an approved method for recycling tires. There are currently several landfills throughout the state which utilize tire shreds. With the reduction in the disposal fee, it is anticipated that 1.1 to 2 million tons of tire shreds will be utilized and thus recycled in landfill drainage layers, protective covers or final covers. This reduction in the Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Fee will serve as an incentive to encourage the recycling of tire shreds stored in waste tire storage facilities throughout the state. In authorizing the fee reduction for the use of tire shreds in landfill design, the agency is in no manner approving or advocating the use of any particular method or process for the use of tire shreds. While this rule would not result in a direct use of money from the disposal fee fund since it would be in the form of a reduction on the amount that would otherwise be paid by a landfill into the fund, the authorized uses set forth in sec.361.014 are consistent with what the solid waste disposal fee reduction rule would promote. The commission has prepared a Takings Impact Assessment for these rules pursuant to Texas Government Code Annotated sec.2007.043. The following is a summary of that Assessment. The specific purpose of the rule is to provide, on an emergency basis pending adoption on a permanent basis, procedures that will allow the commission to prevent imminent peril to the public health, safety, and welfare by establishing an incentive for the beneficial use of shredded tires in landfills. Due to the lack of sufficient end-use markets to meet the volume of tire shreds produced, tire shreds have piled up at storage sites, raising the threat of fires, creation of breeding grounds for mosquitos, snakes and rodents, and human health problems, as well as traffic safety due to tires piling up alongside roadways. When tire storage sites are filled to capacity, tire processors cannot legally accept additional tires for shredding and, therefore, cannot collect waste tires from generators. The rules will substantially advance this specific purpose by allowing landfill operators to use tire shreds in their landfills as part of the leachate collection system drainage layer, protective cover, or final cover as a means of reducing the amount of tire shreds in storage which prevent tire processors from shredding additional tires. Since transportation of the tire shreds to a landfill location is expensive, the commission will provide an incentive by reducing the amount of solid waste disposal fees paid to the commission by 50% for the equivalent tonnage of tire shreds used at the landfill. Promulgation and enforcement of these rules will not affect private real property because the rules pertain only to a new incentive to increase the level of activities with regard to the collection, shredding, and beneficial use of waste tires, all of which are currently authorized. Subchapter P. Fees and Reporting 30 TAC sec.330.602 The amendment is adopted under the authority of sec.361.024 which gives the commission the authority to adopt rules consistent with Chapter 361, Health & Safety Code, and sec.361.484, Health & Safety Code, which gives the commission the authority to adopt rules necessary to implement Subchapter P, Chapter 361, Health & Safety Code, relating to the Waste Tire Recycling Program. The rules implement the Health & Safety Code, sec.sec.361.013, 361.476 and 361.477. The rules implement the Health & Safety Code, sec.sec.361.013, 361.476 and 361.477. sec.330.602. Fees. (a) Landfilling. Each operator of a facility in Texas that disposes of municipal solid waste by means of landfilling, including landfilling of incinerator ash, is required to pay a fee to the commission for all waste received for disposal. The fee rate for waste disposed of by landfilling is dependent upon the reporting units used. It is recommended that waste amounts be measured and reported in short tons (2, 000 pounds); however, reporting by cubic yards is acceptable. (1)-(7) (No change.) (8) Fee Reduction. The fee may be reduced in accordance with Subchapter R, sec.330.804 of this title (relating to The Use of Tire Shreds in Landfills). (b)-(c) (No change.) Issued in Austin, Texas, on March 20, 1996. TRD-9603903 Kevin McCalla Director, Legal Services Division Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Effective date: March 20, 1996 Expiration date: July 18, 1996 For further information, please call: (512) 239-1970 Subchapter R. Management of Whole Used or Scrap Tires 30 TAC sec.330.804 The new section is adopted under the authority of sec.361.484, Health and Safety Code, which gives the commission the authority to adopt rules necessary to implement Subchapter P, Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, relating to the Waste Tire Recycling Program, and sec.361.024 which gives the commission the authority to adopt rules consistent with Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code. The rules implement the Health and Safety Code, sec.sec.361.013, 361.476 and 361.477. sec.330.804. The Use of Tire Shreds in Landfills.
    To provide an incentive for the use of tire shreds in landfills, but still protect the viability of the municipal solid waste fund, the following procedures are established: (1) General. Owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills who, after January 1, 1996, received commission or executive director approval to utilize tire shreds in their landfills as part of the drainage layer, protective cover or final cover, may request a one-time 50% reduction in their solid waste disposal fee of $1.25 per ton, for every ton of tire shreds utilized. In addition, municipal solid waste landfill owners and operators who begin construction of a landfill in which the use of tire shreds for any of the above- listed uses had been previously authorized but delivery of said tire shreds occurred after January 1, 1996, may request a one-time 50% reduction in their solid waste disposal fee of $1.25 per ton, for every ton of tire shreds utilized. (2) Maintenance of the municipal solid waste fund. In order to ensure the continued viability of the Municipal Solid Waste Fund, the executive director may, on a prospective basis, suspend the reduction in solid waste disposal fees, or reduce the percentage of the reduction. (3) Fee reduction application. To receive the reduction in the fee, owners and operators shall apply to the executive director utilizing the forms provided by the executive director. Applications shall be reviewed in the order in which they are submitted. (4) Special requirements. The executive director may impose reasonable requirements on landfill owners or operators who apply to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission for a reduction under this section, as necessary, to carry out the objectives of the section. Issued in Austin, Texas, on March 20, 1996. TRD-9603904 Kevin McCalla Director, Legal Services Division Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Effective date: March 20, 1996 Expiration date: July 18, 1996 For further information, please call: (512) 239-1970