Environmental Action Magazine, Wntr 1994 v25 n4 p37(2) 
                New life for retired tires. (Intermodal Surface Transportation 
                Efficiency Act) 
            Brief Summary: The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency 
            Act's provision requiring federally funded roads to contain a 
            percentage of crumb rubber may not be implemented. Opponents of the 
            tire-recycling measure have persuaded regulators to cut funding for 
            the program despite its benefits. 
            Full Text: COPYRIGHT Environmental Action Inc. 1994 
            Chances are the tires you replaced on your car in years past have 
            ended up contributing to the nation's estimated 2 to 3 billion 
            stockpiled used tires. Every year, this supply grows by 200 million. 
            With the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency 
            Act (abbreviated ISTEA and pronounced "ice tea") in 1991, Congress 
            passed into law an innovative way to reduce the burgeoning number of 
            tires in this country. 
            Section 1038 of ISTEA requires that starting in 1994, 5 percent of 
            roads built with federal funds use a pavement made with recycled 
            tires called crumb rubber modified asphalt. By 1997, 20 percent of 
            roads built with federal funds must use recycled tires in the 
            pavement. 
            Studies show that roads using the crumb rubber outlast roads built 
            without rubber. Adding rubber to asphalt increases its flexibility 
            and reduces water penetration that can cause potholes and cracking. 
            In order to meet ISTEA's 1997 requirements, about 100 million scrap 
            tires will be used each year. To process them, 13 new recycling 
            plants will be needed, employing 75 to 80 people each, according to 
            the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology. Adding in 
            suppliers and support companies, the measure would create 3,000 to 
            4,000 new jobs in all, in or near urban areas. As these roads 
            increasingly prove to be cost effective, additional plants will be 
            needed to process more tires. 
            Although the measure has numerous benefits for both the economy and 
            the environment, it is now under fire by the American Association of 
            State Highway Transportation Officials and the National Asphalt 
            Paving Association. These powerful lobbies stripped funds to 
            implement Section 1038 from ISTEA appropriations for 1994. And they 
            are likely to try to further erode the measure as the House Public 
            Works and Transportation Committee starts discussion of the National 
            Highway Systems Map during approval hearings this winter. 
            Opponents of Section 1038 say emissions from recycled tire asphalt 
            increase hazards to workers building roads. However, studies by EPA 
            and the Federal Highway Administration show that there are no 
            adverse health effects from this kind of asphalt. Forty-three top 
            state department of transportation officials have written to 
            Congress telling it to repeal Section 1038. 
            What You Can Do 
            Environmental Action Foundation has launched a campaign to save 
            Section 1038. Your representative needs to know how important this 
            measure is. Many state departments of transportation, including New 
            Jersey, California, Florida and Arizona, are now using crumb rubber. 
            If you live in one of these states, tell your representative to 
            support a federal program based on the asphalt's success at home. It 
            is especially important to write to your representative if he or she 
            is on the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, chaired 
            by Rep. Norman Mineta (D-CA). The following representatives are 
            members of the committee: 
            AL: Bud Cramer; AR: Tim Hutchinson; AZ: Sam Coppersmith; CA: Bill 
            Baker, Bob Filner, Dan Hamburg, Steve Horn, Jay Kim, Buck McKeon, 
            Walter Tucker; FL: Corrine Brown, john Mica; GA: Mac Collins, Nathan 
            Deal; IL: Jerry Costello, Tom Ewing, William Lipinski, Glenn 
            Poshard, George Sangmeister; LA: James Hayes; MA: Peter Blute; MD: 
            Wayne Gilchrest; MI: Barbara-Rose Collins, James Barcia, Peter 
            Hoekstra; MN: james Oberstar; MO: Pat Danner, Bill Emerson; MS: Mike 
            Parker; NC: Tim Valentine; NH: Dick Swett, Bill Zeliff; NJ: Bob 
            Franks, Robert Menendez; NY: Sherwood Boehlert, David Levy, Susan 
            Molinari, Jerrold Nadler, Jack Quinn; OK: James Inhofe; OR: Peter 
            De-Fazio; OH: Douglas Applegate, James Traficant; PA: Lucien 
            Blackwell, Robert Borski, William Clinger, Bud Shuster; SC:James 
            Clyburn; TN: Bob Clement, John Duncan; TX: Peter Geren, Eddie 
            Bernice Johnson, Greg Laughlin; UT: Karen Shepherd; VA: Leslie 
            Byrne; WA: Maria Cantwell, Jennifer Dunn; WI: Thomas Petri; WV: Nick 
            Rahall, Bob Wise. 
             
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