JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (April 27, 2009)—The Missouri Senate has approved a bill that would extend the state's 50 cent fee on every new tire sold until Jan. 1, 2015.
Currently, the state scrap tire fee—instituted in 1990—will lapse Jan. 1. The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill earlier this year to extend the fee until Jan. 1, 2020, but the Senate substituted the 2015 date on the floor. The House has placed the Senate bill on its calendar, but a date for a vote has not yet been scheduled.
The new bill, approved by a 30-2 vote, also increases the percentage of the fee to be used to remove tires from illegal tire dumps to 50 percent from the current 25. It raises to 45 percent from the current 5 percent the percentage that may be used on grants to people or groups that will use products made from scrap tires.