While not exactly a chicken-or-egg debate, when it comes to regulating a deadly tire chemical, Washington state lawmakers are being called upon to decide what comes first in the effort to save salmon.
In public hearings this week, speakers were clearly divided in their views on companion bills in the House and Senate to ban the anti-degradation chemical 6PPD by the year 2035. Arguing that nine years is enough, supporters testified that the Legislature should act now to encourage tire manufacturers to find a solution. Opponents contend that what is needed first is a safe and effective replacement for 6PPD — something not yet identified but under intense investigation.
Additionally, opposition to the legislation involves fees proposed on the sale of tires containing 6PPD. Both House Bill 2421 and Senate Bill 6119 call for a fee of either $3 or $6 per tire (based on tire size) beginning next year. Revenues would be used primarily for administration, research and stormwater management related to 6PPD. (See Our Water Ways for a fuller explanation of the legislation.)
The chemical 6PPD is added to rubber to prevent tire degradation, thus extending the life of essentially every tire currently on the road. The chemical captures ozone, a highly reactive compound that can rapidly degrade rubber and shorten tire life. The chemical reaction reduces the ozone attack but creates another chemical, 6PPD-quinone — a compound so toxic that it can kill adult coho salmon in a stream before they can spawn. Young coho also have been found to be highly vulnerable to 6PPDQ, and other salmon and trout are affected to varying degrees.
“You’ve heard about the investments of millions of dollars we’re making in salmon recovery and culvert replacement,” said Carl Schroeder of the Association of Washington Cities, testifying Monday in favor of the bill before the House Environment and Energy Committee. “We don’t want to see those investments undermined by a continued release of these chemicals with their effects on salmon.”
Over the past 100 years, the primary way of dealing with stormwater was to direct it to the nearest body of water, Schroeder noted. Retrofitting old stormwater systems is essential, he said, but it is “really important to swim upstream and try to keep this stuff from being introduced in the first place.”
Laurie Valariano, executive director of the group Toxic Free Future, said millions of dollars have been spent studying the problem. What is needed now, she argued, is a deadline to phase out the dangerous chemical.
“Nothing is more motivating than a deadline for companies using 6PPD and for companies developing safer alternatives,” she added.
Alexei Calambokidis, Washington state policy director for Trout Unlimited, said tire-related companies have been working on alternatives to 6PPD since researchers with the University of Washington and Washington State University first identified the toxic compound in 2020. This legislation gives the companies an additional nine years to find a solution, he said.
“There are many alternative chemicals proposed and in development,” Calambokidis told the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee on Tuesday. “We need both the financial incentive (from the fee) and the deadline to incentivize adoption. We think nine years is more than ample.
“This is a unique Washington discovery,” he added. “We are the leaders in the science on this issue. We should also lead on the solution.”
Tracey Norberg, executive vice president and general counsel for the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, said even after a replacement chemical for 6PPD is found, further steps are needed to ensure tire performance and safety before reformulated tires can be produced on a commercial scale.
“It would be premature today to say how many years each of these steps will take,” she told the House committee. “Banning 6PPD without a viable replacement could jeopardize motorist safety, and we will not put tires on the road that have not been rigorously tested and shown to be safe and compliant with federal safety standards.”
Norberg said her organization represents the 11 companies that manufacture tires in the United States, and it is leading a consortium of more than 30 tire manufacturers worldwide studying possible alternatives to 6PPD.
Pressed to say how long it might take to find a replacement, Norberg speculated that testing could take up to 10 years or even longer once a strong candidate for replacement is identified.
“Here, we do not have alternatives available today,” she explained, “so the clock can’t start ticking until the innovation has happened. Chances are we are talking about developing a new molecule, so there’s not chemistry that even exists today.”
Jennifer Ziegler, representing the Les Schwab Tire Company, urged the lawmakers to launch a meaningful “stakeholder effort” that would include tire companies — such as what occurred before the state phased out copper in automobile brake pads to protect salmon.
“We believe you should call us together and talk about what the right deadline is,” she told the House committee Monday, repeating her message to senators the next day. “Pull us all together, work through the research, work through what is on the horizon, and then come back next year and talk about what makes the most sense.”
Ziegler said she also has concerns about the proposed fee on tires containing 6PPD, a fee that would go into effect next year. That tire fee comes on top of a previous increase — from $1 to $5 per tire this year — to raise money to address the waste tire problem, such as cleaning up huge piles of discarded tires throughout the state.
“We think it’s too soon to turn around and add another fee on top of that one,” Ziegler told the Senate committee.
She also questioned language in the bill that would preclude retailers from informing tire customers about the fee increase by placing a line item or notice on the bill or receipt given to a customer. That is “contrary to everything Les Schwab tries to do in terms of building a strong customer relationship with our customers,” she said.
Sheri Call, president of the Washington Trucking Association, said the fee becomes a “mandatory cost increase, not an incentive” so long as trucking companies have no alternative to buying tires containing 6PPD. The result of the fee would be to encourage companies to buy tires in other states.
“For fleets and owner-operators who replace tires regularly, these costs are astounding,” she said. “Trucking is a pass-through industry. While costs rise, they are reflected in the price of goods delivered to Washington communities, affecting affordability for businesses and consumers alike.”
Several opponents of the legislation pointed out that Washington already has a process for eliminating unsafe chemicals in the marketplace. The so-called Safer Products for Washington Program, approved by the Legislature in 2019, has focused attention on 6PPD as well as many other chemicals.
While that program has been effective in some cases, environmentalists argue that it won’t work for 6PPD, primarily because state regulators cannot act unless they can identify a chemical that is “feasible and available.” Tire manufacturers readily acknowledge that they could be looking for a chemical not yet available.
The Safer Products law also does not have a process for avoiding “regrettable alternatives” that may be incrementally safer than 6PPD but still tremendously damaging to the environment, according to supporters of the current legislation. The proposed law would give the Washington Department of Ecology authority to block the use of such unfavorable alternatives.
As proposed, the law would not apply to tires on new cars, and an amendment offered by the sponsors would make it clear that the law would apply only to vehicles used on public roads.
Video recordings of the hearings are available through TVW: House Environment and Energy Committee at 58:43 into the committee session, and Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee at 1:05:30 into the committee session.