RMA opposes New York scrap tire bill

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 4)—The plan of New York Gov. George Pataki to help close the state's budget deficit with a $2.50 fee on new tires is inadequate to solve the state's scrap tire problems, a Rubber Manufacturers Association official said at a hearing before a state senate committee. "Tire fees should be used to clean up scrap tires, not state budget deficits," Michael Blumenthal, RMA senior technical director, said in a news release outlining his testimony. Pataki's plan would give $2 of the fee from each tire to the state's general fund to spend on any government program, the RMA said. Twenty-five cents would go to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for scrap tire abatement programs, and 25 cents would go to tire retailers for administrative costs associated with collecting the fee.