ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 5851

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 18, 2025

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5851.

      As amended, this bill would prohibit persons from engaging in scrap tire collection unless they possess a license issued by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

      The bill would define "scrap tire collection" to mean the pick-up and transportation of scrap tires from their source to a licensed scrap tire facility, disposal facility, storage facility, or other destination. The bill would require the DEP to establish a scrap hauler license, including an application process and eligibility requirements for applicants.  The bill would require the DEP to establish a system for the manifesting, tracking, collection, recycling, and disposal of scrap tires, and would authorize the DEP to require licensed scrap tire haulers to utilize the system.

      The bill would establish various requirements for obtaining a scrap tire hauler license, including that each tire hauler would be required to maintain financial assurance in the amount of no less than $150,000 per hauler. The bill would also prohibit licensed tire haulers from storing tires at any location unless the location meets all applicable safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements established by the DEP.

      The bill would also require the DEP to establish a permit for scrap tire storage, collection, or disposal sites.  The bill would require that these sites maintain adequate financial assurance for closure as a condition of approval, in an amount sufficient to ensure proper cleanup and site restoration in the event of abandonment or noncompliance.  The bill would also establish certain exemptions from the permit requirement, including for persons who store fewer than 1,000 in secure, enclosed containers.

      The bill would establish a civil administrative penalty of not more than $7,500 for a first offense, not more than $10,000 for a second offense, and not more than $25,000 for a third and every subsequent offense, for violations of the bill's provisions. The bill would also establish a civil penalty of up to $7,500 for violations of the bill's provisions, and a civil penalty of up to $50,000 for persons who fail to obey administrative orders, court orders, or to pay civil administrative penalties in full. The penalties would be assessed for each day during which the violations continued.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments to the bill would:

      (1) add a definition for the term “generator;”

      (2) provide that an applicant for a scrap tire hauler license is required to provide proof of general liability insurance to the department, in addition to other documentation already required under the bill;

      (3) provide that the department is required to administer the scrap tire hauler licensing program established by the bill in a manner intended to establish a baseline level of accountability and transparency for scrap tire haulers and not as a means of restricting market participation or creating unnecessary barriers to entry;

      (4) provide that convenience centers operated by municipalities, counties, authorities, or other political subdivisions are exempt from the requirement to obtain a scrap tire storage, collection, or disposal permit;

      (5) provide that a person or facility that holds a valid and active permit or approval issued by the department pursuant to the “Solid Waste Management Act,” the “New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act,” or any other State solid waste or recycling law or regulation, which expressly authorizes the receipt, storage, transfer, processing, or disposal of scrap tires, would not be required to obtain a separate scrap tire storage, collection, or disposal site approval under the bill’s provisions for those same activities;

      (6) provide that the department may require reporting of scrap tire quantities through existing solid waste or recycling reporting mechanisms; and

      (7) provide that the bill’s provisions cannot be construed to limit the number of scrap tires that may be generated or accumulated by a generator in the ordinary course of its operation, provided that the scrap tires were managed, transported, and disposed of in accordance with the bill’s provisions.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.