MINUTES OF THE

SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Sixty-seventh Session

April 1, 1993

The Senate SubCommittee on Natural Resources was called to order by Chairman Ernest E. Adler, at 8:30 a.m., on Thursday, April 1, 1993, in Room 238 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Senator Ernest E. Adler, Chairman

Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr.

Senator Dina Titus

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

Senator Thomas J. Hickey

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

Caren Jenkins, Senior Research Analyst

Caroline Allen, Committee Secretary

OTHERS PRESENT:

Ashley Hall, Lobbyist, Automotive Recycling and Dismantlers of Southern Nevada

Allan Bloomberg, President, Automotive Recycling and Dismantlers of Southern Nevada

Jeanette Friedman, Representative, Southern Nevada Recycling Association and Silver Dollar Recycling

Robert Combs, R. C. Farms, Inc.

Clint Combs, R. C. Farms, Inc.

"Hank" James Albert Combs, R.C. Farms, Inc.

John Pappageorge, Lobbyist, Silver State Disposal

Tom Izola, Vice President, Silver State Disposal

Frank Cassis, Counsel, Lockwood Land Fill

John Madole, Lobbyist, Nevada Chapter of Associated General Contractors

Ron Hill, Deputy Director, Nevada Department of Transportation

Tony Horner, Representative, Carsonite International

Mr. Shamanski, President, Carsonite International

Wes Stephenson, Owner/Operator, Big O Tires, Las Vegas, Nevada

Carl Cahill, Director, Environmental Health Services, Washoe County

David Rowles, Director, Administrative Services, Clark County Health District

Claire Smootes, Environmental Supervisor/Manager, Clark County Health Services

Verne Rosse, Representative, Nevada Environmental Protection Agency

Chairman Ernest E. Adler opened the hearing by stating this would be

a discussion of defining "recyclables" and funding sources for recycling and disposal of waste tires. He mentioned that Senator

Hickey was sitting in to help out.

Ashley Hall, Lobbyist, Automotive Recycling and Dismantlers of Southern Nevada, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee.

He alluded to Senate Bill (S.B.) 97.

SENATE BILL 97: Makes various changes regarding regulation of and funding for management of solid waste.

He stated that during the testimony of Senate Bill 97, there was some

discussion of deep concern regarding "recycling" being brought into

the definition of a "solid waste management system." He then referred to Allan Bloomberg. He mentioned Mr. Bloomberg and others had met with some representatives of the Nevada State Environmental

Protection Agency.

He indicated there were some issues that were clarified, that were important to them. He further indicated there were testimonies that would be helpful in addressing the concerns and needs of the recycling interest in the state of Nevada and at the same time working in cooperation with the subcommittee and the Nevada State Environmental Protection Agency.

Chairman Adler asked that Mr. Hall would specifically address the

definitional aspects of the subject matter.

Mr. Hall stated they would.

Allan Bloomberg, President, Automotive Recycling and Dismantlers of Southern Nevada, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee.

Senator Hickey interjected by stating he had faxed up to him from a southern Nevada attorney, that is, a definition dealing with recycling and he asked if he could be excused to obtain a copy from the bill drafter's room.

Chairman Adler excused Senator Hickey to obtain copy of that material.

Mr. Bloomberg mentioned he represented over 90 small independantly owned businesses in the state of Nevada. He stated all of them were either automotive or scrap recycling, that is, ferrous and non-ferrous. He mentioned that when they saw that Senate Bill 97 was referring and putting in recycling and including it as a solid waste disposal system, they were somewhat concerned that they would be lumped in as a land-fill site. He further indicated they wanted to avoid being labeled as such. He further expounded on his views.

Further discussion ensued concerning this matter.

Jeanette Friedman, Representative, Southern Nevada Recycling Association and Silver Dollar Recycling, introduced herself to members of the subcommittee. She mentioned they fall under the category Mr. Bloomberg was trying to describe, as Silver Dollar's recycling materials were never intended for the land-fill. She further indicated they operate a four-acre concreted facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada and stated they purchased material from the public, in large and industrial accounts. She further expounded on her views.

Further discussion ensued concerning this matter.

Robert Combs, his sons Clint and Hank Combs, R.C. Farms, Inc., came forward before the subcommittee. He thanked the subcommittee for taking the time to discuss the issue of the recycling in which they all were involved. Robert Combs stated he had been involved as a family recycler for at least 30 years in Las Vegas, Nevada. He informed the committee also that his sons represent a sixth generation recycler. He further indicated the primary source of material that was recycled initially was the food waste from restaurants, merchants, stores, markets and hotels. He stated also that since then, they have been requested by the establishments to broaden the material that is being recycled. He further expounded on his views.

Clint Combs, R.C. Farms, Inc., introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He stated he wanted to explain about a subsidiary of

R.C. Farms which they call waste management. He explained the purpose of their total business, in general, was taking solid waste materials from the solid waste stream and the land-fills. He stated they try to get every pound of recylable material they can get their hands on, particularly the food waste. He stated waste management was formed basically, for two reasons, primarily to get their hands on

recyclable food waste and to give the hotels back their reusable items, such as, silverware, plates, glasses and the like, that were mistakenly thrown away. He further expounded on his views.

"Hank" James Albert Combs, R.C. Farms, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He further expanded on the views that were presented by his brother Clint Combs.

Clint Combs interjected and informed the subcommittee that because of government intervention through their local solid waste disposal, (that is, their franchise solid waste handler), an excess of 385 tons of food waste is now going to the land-fill that was being recycled by their company.

Chairman Adler asked if that was 385 tons per year?

Mr. Combs responded that this was 385 tons per month.

Chairman Adler asked if most of the food waste was obtained from the hotels?

Mr. Combs responded much of the food waste came from the hotels, but some came from small restaurants, bakeries, etc.

Further discussion ensued from this subject.

John Pappageorge, Lobbyist, Silver State and Reno Disposal, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He mentioned he would not read the two pages of opinion that was presented by John T. Moran, Legal Counsel, for Silver State Disposal regarding the definition or proposed revisions to the change in the Nevada Revised Statutes. He stated, however, that he would answer any questions that were asked.

Verne Rosse, Representative, Nevada Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA), introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He related to the proposed revision that Mr. Pappageorge mentioned and expressed that the important thing to keep in mind was to keep the integrity of

the EPA approval process intact under Senate Bill 97.

Chairman Adler commented that since this was a very sensitive issue, he wanted to give all the parties, including the recyclers who had submitted their definition, time to look at it again and work more on the wording. He commented that if even a word or two was changed, it was possible that the entire meaning would be altered in what they all were attempting to do. He also stated he would like an opportunity to look at the definition more closely.

Further discussion ensued.

Tom Izola, Vice President, Silver State Disposal, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He stated the land-fill life in Clark County and Washoe County is in excess of 100 years, indicating further this was not an issue of an emergency situation to resolve. He stated they try to do recycling in a cost-effective manner, so that it does not impact the cost of garbage disposal services to their people and the customers. He further expounded on his views and conveyed that he thought it was important that recycling should remain a portion of the definition of solid waste.

Further discussion ensued.

Frank Cassis, Counsel, Lockwood Land Fill, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He stated that regarding the issue of definitions, the concern that he had as legal counsel, in working with the contracts and the state and federal laws was a concept that the legislature had changed a definition of recycling. He further stated

that what people failed to recognize is that the definitions came about as a result of Assembly Bill 320 of the Sixty-sixth Session and

that they work.

ASSEMBLY BILL 320

OF THE SIXTY-SIXTH SESSION: Makes various changes regarding reducing,

recycling and disposing of solid waste.

Chairman Adler stated that he would like to have others comment on the subject of recycling of tires.

John Madole, Lobbyist, Nevada Chapter of Associated General Contractors, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He stated he would support an amendment to whatever bill was being proposed which would re-establish the $1 fee that was in Assembly Bill 120.

ASSEMBLY BILL 120: Limits authority of division of enforcement for

industrial safety and health of department of industrial relations to adopt certain regulations relating to hazardous materials.

He further indicated this was supposed to have gone to the Nevada Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging of the recycling of tires.

Further discussion ensued.

Ron Hill, Deputy Director, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He mentioned in December 1991, President Bush signed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, commonly called "Ice Tea." He stated one of the provisions in "Ice Tea" was to require the Nevada State Department of Transportation to use recycled tires in asphalt

pavements. He further expounded on his views, further indicating this process to be an issue that the federal law had brought to the forefront and something they would have to address.

Chairman Adler stated one of the things that concerned him was, because there had not been any action taken legislatively, they were not sure these would be California or Nevada tires.

Mr. Hill stated that with the state funded program, his specifications would be Nevada tires would be used, but he was not sure of what the expense would be. He emphasized the problem was with the federally funded projects. He didn't think the federal laws would allow them that flexibility, to require the tires to come from a particular state.

Chairman Adler stated, he thought if there were facilities available to utilize the local tires, this might be possible.

Further discussion ensued.

Senator Titus asked Mr. Hill if he would explain again how NDOT

would use the money that comes from the tires?

Mr. Hill stated the money would be used totally for recycling, whether it would be with highway products or highway pavements, further emphasizing the money would be dedicated toward a recycling fund.

Tony Horner, Representative, Carsonite International, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He informed the subcommittee Carsonite International had been in Carson City for 17 years,

a company manufacturer of various type of highway products. He stated Carsonite had spent considerable funds and effort in research, in order to develop products that use recyclable material. He mentioned one of these was the noise barrier that has recycled rubber in it. He further expounded on his views and added he supported John Madole's proposal that some money be set aside for these markets to develop, otherwise, he thought that the recycling process would fail.

Mr. Shamanski, President, Carsonite International, greeted the subcommittee members and stated that the federal government, in the development of the "Ice Tea" provision in the 1991 highway act was really providing an incentive for the private sector to develop products that could be used from recycled tires. He stated he also believed that is what the 1991 Nevada legislation did with their recycling provisions where $1 per tire would be earmarked for the Nevada Department of Transportation to evaluate and motivate the

private sector to develop products which they could purchase. He further stated recycling and recyclable materials only becomes a reality when an end-used product is developed. He stated unless there was a market for that, it would be unlikely to get the private sector interested in developing the product. He emphasized that government cannot solve the problem of recycling, but government can provide the incentive for the private sector to solve it. He further expounded on his views.

Chairman Adler inquired about the process.

Mr. Shamanski stated they used tire crumb rubber, that is, tires that have been reduced through a chipping and grinding process, further stating this to be environmentally safe, with no hazards.

Further discussion ensued.

Wes Stephenson, Owner/Operator, Big O Tires, Las Vegas, Nevada, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He stated he was invited by David Emny, Nevada Environmental Protection Agency

to appear before the committee, further emphasizing he had spent much time and resources investigating a number of things concerning Nevada's scrap tire problems. He stated his business sold about 60,000 tires per year, consequently collecting about 60,000 scrap

tires per year. He stated most of the taxpayers purchasing these tires are under the impression that this will take care of Nevada's tire problems, yet so far, has not done much to take care of the problem. He stated he had met with the Environmental Protection Agency and Bureau of Land Management to get an understanding of the tire problems. He further indicated he had met with the Nevada Mining Association about their large tires and what they do with those. He stated he felt he had a pretty good understanding of where the tires are and how big the problem is. Further discussion ensued.

Carl Cahill, Director, Environmental Health Services, Washoe County introduced himself to members of the subcommittee. He expressed his views.

Further discussion ensued.

David Rowles, Director, Administrative Services, Clark County Health District, introduced himself to members of the subcommittee.

He stated that the Clark County Health Services had been involved with the regulation of solid waste since 1972. He also stated he did not feel that they were newcomers to the issues or interests that have come along since that time or that will come along, subsequently.

Chairman Adler asked if they had ever regulated the independent recyclers?

Claire Smootes, Environmental Supervisor/Manager, Clark County Health Services, came forward and responded to Chairman Adler's question. His response was, no. He expressed he was in support of the independent recyclers, however. He expounded on his views.

Further discussion ensued.

Mr. Robert Combs, R.C. Farms came forward with final comments and stated he disagreed with the attorney from Reno and further expounded on his views.

Chairman Adler closed the hearing and stated he would reschedule another hearing to discuss recycling and there was a need for some type of funding.

There being no further business before the Senate Committee on Natural

Resources, Chairman Smith adjourned the hearing at 10:50 a.m.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Caroline Allen,

Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Senator R. Hal Smith, Chairman

DATE:

Senate Subcommittee on Natural Resources

April 1, 1993

Senate Subcommittee on Natural Resources

April 1, 1993

Senate Subcommittee on Natural Resources

April 1, 1993

Senate Subcommittee on Natural Resources

April 1, 1993