§ 8-9-405 - Waste tire grants.
8-9-405. Waste tire grants.
(a) The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality shall, by July 1, 1992, establish a program to make waste tire grants to regional solid waste management boards which desire, individually or collectively, to:
(1) Construct or operate or contract for the construction or operation of a waste tire processing facility and equipment purchases therefor;
(2) Contract for a waste tire processing facility service within or outside the regional solid waste management district;
(3) Remove or contract for the removal of waste tires from illegal waste tire sites within the regional solid waste management district;
(4) Perform or contract for the performance of research designed to facilitate waste tire recycling;
(5) Establish waste tire collection centers at solid waste disposal facilities, waste tire processing facilities, or waste tire generators, that shall accept automobile and truck or specialty tires from registered tire dealers at no charge, provided the waste tires had a waste tire management fee collected at the time of retail sale;
(6) Establish at least one (1) waste tire collection center within the district that may accept all tires for which a management fee was not previously collected, including, but not limited to, mining, farming, or off-the-road vehicle tires. Any fee charged for the tires must not be in excess of the costs of properly removing and disposing of the tires;
(7) Provide incentives for establishing privately operated waste tire collection centers for the public. This provision does not pertain to off-the-road tires that are exempt from the tire management fee;
(8) Establish educational programs designed to inform the public of available recycling options and programs;
(9) Fund additional transportation costs incurred as a result of using waste tire disposal alternatives as a preference over landfill disposal; or
(10) Use moneys for other purposes approved by the department.
(b) Regional solid waste management boards may join together, pooling their financial resources, when utilizing their funds for the purposes described in this section.
(c) (1) Grant funds for waste tire management programs shall be distributed to the regional solid waste management boards.
(2) To be eligible to receive waste tire management grant funds, regional solid waste management boards shall provide the department with quarterly financial and progress reports, as determined by the department.
(3) Distribution of grant funds shall be based upon moneys available in the fund and upon approved quarterly financial reports. The reports shall show funds expended on waste tire projects during the previous quarter and expenses expected on waste tire projects during the next quarter and any other information as determined by the department. Accordingly, and upon department approval, quarterly distributions shall be made to the boards.
(4) Any formula for distribution of grant funds that takes into account population data shall use data from the latest available federal decennial census.
(d) The department shall provide technical assistance, upon request, to a regional solid waste management board desiring assistance in applying for waste tire grants or choosing a method of waste tire management which would be an eligible use of the grant funds.
(e) The department shall expand the waste tire grant program by setting aside a portion, not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the Waste Tire Grant Fund available, other than those fees established in 8-9-404(a)(2)(B), to regional solid waste management districts, in order to provide supplemental aid wherever needed.