Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No | Negative | Negative | Neutral | Negative | Neutral |
SB 570 would amend the Health and Safety Code to require a used or scrap tire generator, including a tire dealer junkyard, or fleet operator, who stores used or scrap tires outdoors on its business premises to lock the used or scrap tires in a secure manner during non-business hours.
This bill would also require a person who uses more than 1,000 used or scrap tire in a construction project to obtain approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Tire retailers would be required to post conspicuous sineage detailing the requirements for disposing of scrap and used tires.
This bill codifies specific regulations on the transportation of scrap and used tires, including which type of transporters a generator may contract with. A generator who contracts with a transporter who the generator knows is unregistered would be liable for civil and criminal penalties.
Civil penalties under this bill would be not less than $1000 per day per violation.
Some provisions of this bill would simply codify current practices of the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualify while other provisions would constitute new regulations. Irrespective of these distinctions, this bill represents a clear growth of government regulation on private business and a diminishing of property rights. Retailers are capable of maintaining their own anti-theft policies and generators should not be liable for penalties for contracting for services with an unregistered transporter. For these reasons, we oppose SB 570.
On a further note, we recognize that the intent of this bill is to address the very real issue of illegal tire dumping on public and private property. Considering that it is already illegal to dump tires, a limited government approach to this problem would focus on enforcement of existing law rather than adding new regulations and new civil and criminal penalties.