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DEQ outlines new grants, options after lawmakers spotlight illegal tire piles and recycling gaps
Summary
At a House Natural Resources hearing, DEQ officials described a plan to roll out parish grants, reported $7.6 million in the waste tire fund and said the agency is exploring technologies such as tire-derived fuel and pyrolysis to address growing tire volumes and illegal dumping.
The House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment on March 18 received an update from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on the state—s waste tire program, including a fund balance, enforcement challenges at large illegal piles and a planned parish grant to address local cleanup costs.
DEQ Secretary Aurelia Giacometo told the committee the agency has conducted statewide "tire town halls," inspected large legacy piles and is preparing a grant program for parishes. "It—ms seen as something that is a waste," Giacometo said by way of an analogy about creating value for waste streams; she urged viewing tires as a potential feedstock or fuel rather than pure waste.
Michelle Burnett of DEQ—s Office of Management and Finance told the committee the waste tire trust fund balance as of fiscal 2024 is $7.6 million. Giacometo said the governor's budget included an additional $1.3 million in authority to expand work on tire issues.
The committee heard that the state currently permits four permanent waste-tire processors that accept shredded or otherwise processed tires for approved "beneficial end uses," and that there are roughly 120 local collection centers operated by parishes where residents can drop a small number of tires.
Giacometo described a short-term plan to offer parish-directed grants so local governments can address piles and illegal dumping while DEQ explores longer-term market-based and technological options. "We have 4 permanent processors," she said; "we want to start on new projects." She told lawmakers DEQ plans to roll the parish grant program out by the summer following the hearing.
Lawmakers raised the scale and safety of specific legacy piles. Representative Rodney McCormick flagged a site in north Caddo Parish that DEQ staff estimated at roughly 200,000 tires and described by local first responders as a significant fire hazard near populated areas and a water body. DEQ staff said enforcement is difficult when site ownership is unclear and that some owners have left the state or declared bankruptcy.
On technology and markets, Giacometo said DEQ has looked at tire-derived fuel and pyrolysis, which can convert tires into energy feedstocks for industrial furnaces and cement kilns. She said pyrolysis can produce heat that "generates even more heat than coal itself" and that some operations report clean combustion for certain industrial uses. She and DEQ staff emphasized these technologies are not an overnight fix and would require permitting, investment and market development.
Representative Mack and others urged practical consumer-facing options and noted that creating a financial value for tires (analogous to a beverage deposit) tends to reduce litter and encourage recovery. Several members said they welcome a grant program that will help parishes cover collection and disposal costs.
No formal committee vote was taken on the item. DEQ said it will circulate details of the upcoming parish grant program, provide a list of permitted processors and collection centers, and continue investigations into large illegal piles. Committee members asked DEQ to propose statutory or regulatory changes if enforcement gaps remain.
