HD69 - Policies Regarding Reimbursements Made From the Waste Tire Trust Fund


Executive Summary:
The Department of Environmental Quality submits the following results of our review of the policies regarding the reimbursements made from the Waste Tire Trust Fund (WTTF) as required by HJR 580. In addition to compiling information from DEQ data files, the program staff surveyed the localities and regional entities which have participated in the various waste tire projects to determine their perspective on the program's services and direction.

In summary, our review supports the following findings:

1. DEQ's waste tire services are readily available to Virginia localities (75 currently participate), which have contributed over $580,000 in local funds as compared to $4.5 million from the Waste Tire Trust Fund. Regional programs provide an economy of scale efficiency for service providers and End User Reimbursements stimulate markets in all sections of Virginia.

2. Long term funding is secured by the dedicated $0.50 tax on the retail sale of tires. Money has been encumbered to fund all existing and planned regional programs. Note that 95% of localities responding to the survey have funding mechanisms in place (mostly tipping fees) to replace WTTF support after two years.

3. Participating localities have full flexibility in selecting services from the regional management projects. Few localities have requested services not now available. A tremendous amount of local waste tire management infrastructure has been generated to service waste tire needs into the foreseeable future.

4. Ninety-three percent (93%) of localities responding to the DEQ survey indicate the current services are acceptable, and should be continued in some form. The only common request is for regional programs to be funded longer than the two-year service period in the agreements.

The results of these study efforts indicate that most Virginia localities are satisfied with the funding and/or services provided by DEQ from the Virginia Waste Tire Trust Fund, and plan to continue providing a similar waste tire service once WTTF funding has ended. However, a majority of localities surveyed expressed a preference for continued WTTF funding to offset the long-term costs of their programs.