JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (June 7)—The Missouri legislature has adjourned for the year without passing legislation to renew the state's scrap tire fee—50 cents on each new tire sold in the state—which lapsed Jan. 1.
First instituted in 1990, the fee has paid for the cleanup of some 12 million waste tires in the state, according to the Web site of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
While a spokesman for the Missouri DNR said he needed to obtain further information on the fate of scrap tire programs in Missouri, Michael Blumenthal, senior technical adviser for the Rubber Manufacturers Association, said the personnel in the department's scrap tire section are being reassigned.
"The state will have no funds for (scrap tire) abatement, enforcement or market development," Blumenthal said. "If a permit for processing or using scrap tires comes in, it will be processed, but how long will it take?" The legislature almost certainly will reconsider the issue when it reconvenes, he added, but it won't do so until January.