What used to be called “the tire bill” because it more than doubled the fee Coloradans would have to pay to recycle their old tires now has a new name.
“It’s ‘the research bill,’ ” Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, said Tuesday. “The word ‘tire’ doesn’t appear in the bill anymore.”
Riesberg said he agreed with Coloradans who were upset that lawmakers decided to hike the tire fee when they went looking for ways to finance grants for research in renewable energy and other fields.
“There wasn’t any correlation,” he said.
Riesberg on Tuesday amended his bill to strip the tire provision, and to have the program funded by grants, gifts and donations. The hope is, he said, that the governor’s office would provide stimulus money it receives for the research program.
Senate Bill 31 by Riesberg and Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, originally called for the fee to increase from $1.50 per tire to $3.25 per tire.
Opponents said it was unfair to pass on a fee hike that had nothing to do with reducing Colorado’s huge stockpile of old tires. El Paso County, with about 35 million tires, has the largest pile of scrap tires in the nation.
Colorado in 1995 first instituted a waste tire fee of 75 cents per tire, according to the Department of Local Affairs. Lawmakers increased the fee an additional 25 cents in 2003 and another 50 cents in 2007.
The state collected $3.9 million last fiscal year under the waste tire program. The money is spent in a variety of ways, from research to giving grants to communities to help deal with dumped tires.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
