With the adoption of the New York State Waste Tire Management & Recycling Act of 2003, the State began a concerted effort to recycle/reuse scrap tires and provide economically viable and environmentally beneficial alternatives to landfilling or stockpiling. Among other things, the 2003 Act called for the development of the New York State Waste Tire Stockpile Abatement Plan. Released in July 2004, the Plan calls for the abatement of all noncompliant waste tire stockpiles by December 31, 2010. As of 2004, there were an estimated 29 million tires among all of the sites in New York. Five of those sites were believed to hold more than 1 million tires each, including two sites estimated to contain 8 to 11 million tires.

A key aspect of the New York State Waste Tire Management & Recycling Act of 2003 is that for the first time it established waste tire management priorities in New York State, which are to:

• Reduce the number of waste tires generated

• Remediate waste tire stockpiles in noncompliance

• Recycle waste tires into value-added products

• Beneficially use waste tires in an environmentally acceptable manner, including the       beneficial use in civil engineering applications

• Recover, in an environmentally acceptable manner … energy from waste tires that cannot be economically recycled or otherwise beneficially used

Another key aspect of the Act is that it established a $2.50 waste tire management and recycling fee per new tire sold in the state effective though the end of 2010. Fees will be used for the remediation of uncontrolled stockpiles, and for a number of activities that support the continued diversification of market outlets for waste tires such as market analyses, demonstration projects, and technology development. The Act also establishes a framework for New York State Agencies to work together to achieve the state’s goals to “make an essential contribution to the development and implementation of environmentally, economically and technically viable waste tire management programs.”