§ 130A-309.63.  Scrap Tire Disposal Account.

(a) Creation. - The Scrap Tire Disposal Account is established as a nonreverting account within the Department of Environmental Quality. The Account consists of revenue credited to the Account from the proceeds of the scrap tire disposal tax imposed by Article 5B of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.

(b) Use. - The Department may use revenue in the Account only as authorized by this section.

(1) The Department may use up to seventy-five percent (75%) of the revenue in the Account to make grants to units of local government to assist them in disposing of scrap tires. To administer the grants, the Department shall establish procedures for applying for a grant and the criteria for selecting among grant applicants. The criteria shall include the financial ability of a unit of local government to provide for scrap tire disposal, the severity of a unit of local government's scrap tire disposal problem, the effort made by a unit of local government to ensure that only tires generated in the normal course of business in this State are provided free disposal, and the effort made by a unit of local government to provide for scrap tire disposal within the resources available to it.

(2) The Department may use up to fifteen percent (15%) of the revenue in the Account to make grants to encourage the use of processed scrap tire materials. These grants may be made to encourage the use of tire-derived fuel, crumb rubber, carbon black, or other components of tires for use in products such as fuel, tires, mats, auto parts, gaskets, flooring material, or other applications of processed tire materials. These grants shall be made in consultation with the Department of Commerce, the Division of Environmental Assistance and Outreach of the Department, and, where appropriate, the Department of Transportation. Grants to encourage the use of processed scrap tire materials shall not be used to process tires.

(3) The Department may use up to one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000) of the revenue in the Account for administrative costs and to support a position for implementation of the requirements of this Part.

(4) The Department may use the remaining revenue in the Account only to clean up illegal scrap tire collection sites that the Department has determined are a nuisance. The Department may use funds in the Account to clean up a nuisance tire collection site only if no other funds are available for that purpose.

(c) Eligibility. - A unit of local government is not eligible for a grant for scrap tire disposal unless its costs for disposing of scrap tires for the six-month period preceding the date the unit of local government files an application for a grant exceeded the amount the unit of local government received during that period from the proceeds of the scrap tire tax under G.S. 105-187.19. A grant to a unit of local government for scrap tire disposal may not exceed the unit of local government's unreimbursed cost for the six-month period.

(d) Reporting. - The Department shall include in the report to be delivered to the Environmental Review Commission pursuant to G.S. 130A-309.06(c) a description of the implementation of the North Carolina Scrap Tire Disposal Act for the fiscal year ending the preceding June 30. The description of the implementation of the North Carolina Scrap Tire Disposal Act shall include the beginning and ending balances in the Account for the reporting period, the amount credited to the Account during the reporting period, and the amount of revenue used for grants and to clean up nuisance tire collection sites.  (1993, c. 548, s. 6; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 594, s. 23; 1997-209, ss. 1, 2; 2001-452, s. 3.4; 2002-126, s. 12.5(b); 2010-31, s. 13.1(d); repealed by 2013-360, s. 14.16(b), effective July 1, 2013; reenacted by 2025-66, s. 1(b).)