Senate Bill No. 635
(By Senators Rowe, McCabe and Burnette)
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[Introduced March 26, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article twenty-four,
chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
ten, all relating to waste tire remediation; and creating and
imposing a tax on the sale of new and reconditioned tires in
West Virginia.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article twenty-four, chapter seventeen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 24. WASTE TIRE REMEDIATION.
§17-24-4. Division of highways to administer funds for waste
tire remediation; rules authorized; duties of
commissioner.
(a) The division of highways shall administer all funds made
available to the division for remediation of waste tire piles and
for the proper disposal of waste tires removed from waste tire
piles. The commissioner of the division of highways is hereby
authorized and empowered: (i) To propose for legislative
promulgation in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, emergency and legislative rules
necessary to implement the provisions of this article; and (ii) to
administer all funds appropriated by the Legislature to carry out
the requirements of this article, and any other funds from whatever
source, including, but not limited to, federal, state or private
grants.
(b) The commissioner shall also have the following powers:
(1) To apply and carry out the provisions of this article and
the rules promulgated hereunder;
(2) To investigate from time to time the operation and effect of this article and of the rules promulgated hereunder and to
report his or her findings and recommendations to the Legislature
and the governor.
(c) The provisions of articles two-a and four, chapter
seventeen of this code and the policy, rules, practices and
procedures thereunder shall be followed by the commissioner in
carrying out the purposes of this article.
(d) On or before the first day of June, two thousand one, the
commissioner shall determine the location, approximate size and
potential risk to the public of all waste tire piles in the state
and establish, in descending order, a waste tire remediation list.
(e) The commissioner may contract with the department of
health and human resources and /or the division of corrections to
remediate or assist in remediation of waste tire piles throughout
the state. Utilization of available department of health and human
resources and the division of corrections work programs shall be
are given priority status in the contract process so long as such
the programs prove a cost effective method of remediating waste
tire piles.
(f) Waste tire remediation shall be stopped and the division
of environmental protection notified upon the discovery of any potentially hazardous material at a remediation site. The division
of environmental protection shall respond to the notification in
accordance with the provisions of article eighteen, chapter
twenty-two of this code.
(g) The commissioner is authorized to shall establish a tire
disposal program within the division to provide for a cost
effective and efficient method to accept passenger car and light
truck waste tires at such the division of highways county
headquarters as have sufficient space for temporary storage of
waste tires and personnel to accept and handle waste tires. The
commissioner may pay a shall establish a waste tire bounty
collection program for payment of a waste tire bounty fee for each
tire an once used on a motor vehicle licensed in West Virginia to
an individual West Virginia resident or West Virginia business
which brings to sites designated and publicized by the division to
accept waste tires for payment of a waste tire bounty fee, adjusted
in amount from time to time for all areas of the state where the
commissioner finds that a waste tire bounty fee would encourage the
special cleanup from time to time of abandoned waste tires and
improve the natural beauty and safety of the state. The
commissioner may establish and adjust waste tire bounty fees and reasonable a limit limits on the number of West Virginia tires for
which an individual or business may be paid for during any calender
month for any site so designated. The commissioner may in his
discretion authorize commercial businesses to participate in the
waste tire bounty collection program: Provided, That no person or
business who has a waste tire pile subject to remediation under
this article may participate in this program.
§17-24-10. Imposition of tax on tires; use of scrap tire tax
proceeds.
(a) There is imposed a waste tire disposal tax on the sale of
new or reconditioned tires of two dollars on each new tire or
reconditioned tire sold in this state.
(b) There shall be an onsite waste tire disposal tax credit to
the customer of one dollar for every clean tire not to exceed eight
in number, which a customer of a tire retailer elects to leave with
the tire retailer at the time of sale. A clean waste tire other
than the tire replaced may be brought to the place of sale by the
customer and left with the tire retailer, to earn the credit
allowed in this subsection.
(c) The tax less credit for tires left with the tire retailer
at the time of sale by a customer shall be collected by tire retailers who sell new tires or reconditioned tires in this state
and shall be reported on the consumers sales tax form submitted to
the division of tax and revenue.
(d) All revenue collected by the tax commissioner from the tax
on sales of new tires and reconditioned tires imposed by this
section shall be deposited to the "Tire Bounty and
Remediation/Environmental Cleanup Fund" account to be used to pay
the costs of the tire bounty collection program pursuant to section
four of this article and for the other waste tire remediation
purposes of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create and impose a tax
on the sale of new and reconditioned tires in West Virginia to be
used in waste tire remediation.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§17-24-10 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.