(1) For purposes of this section and ss. 403.718 and 403.7185:

(a) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection.

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 403.717

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the Department of Environmental Protection or any successor agency performing a like function. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or upon any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter other lands or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters, or otherwise enter the environment. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Landfill: means any solid waste land disposal area for which a permit, other than a general permit, is required by…. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Person: means any and all persons, natural or artificial, including any individual, firm, or association; any municipal or private corporation organized or existing under the laws of this state or any other state; any county of this state; and any governmental agency of this state or the Federal Government. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Processing: means any technique designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any solid waste so as to render it safe for transport; amenable to recovery, storage, or recycling; safe for disposal; or reduced in volume or concentration. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Recycling: means any process by which solid waste, or materials that would otherwise become solid waste, are collected, separated, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or intermediate or final products. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Solid waste: means sludge unregulated under the federal Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act, sludge from a waste treatment works, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, or garbage, rubbish, refuse, special waste, or other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from domestic, industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, or governmental operations. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Solid waste disposal facility: means any solid waste management facility that is the final resting place for solid waste, including landfills and incineration facilities that produce ash from the process of incinerating municipal solid waste. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Solid waste management: means the process by which solid waste is collected, transported, stored, separated, processed, or disposed of in any other way according to an orderly, purposeful, and planned program, which includes closure. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Storage: means the containment or holding of a hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous waste. See Florida Statutes 403.703
  • Transport: means the movement of hazardous waste from the point of generation or point of entry into the state to any offsite intermediate points and to the point of offsite ultimate disposal, storage, treatment, or exit from the state. See Florida Statutes 403.703
(b) “Motor vehicle” means an automobile, motorcycle, truck, trailer, semitrailer, truck tractor and semitrailer combination, or any other vehicle operated in this state, used to transport persons or property and propelled by power other than muscular power. The term does not include traction engines, road rollers, vehicles that run only upon a track, bicycles, electric bicycles, mopeds, or farm tractors and trailers.
(c) “Tire” means a continuous solid or pneumatic rubber covering encircling the wheel of a motor vehicle.
(d) “Waste tire” means a tire that has been removed from a motor vehicle and has not been retreaded or regrooved. The term includes, but is not limited to, used tires and processed tires. The term does not include solid rubber tires and tires that are inseparable from the rim.
(e) “Waste tire collection center” means a site where waste tires are collected from the public prior to being offered for recycling and where fewer than 1,500 tires are kept on the site on any given day.
(f) “Waste tire processing facility” means a site where equipment is used to treat waste tires mechanically, chemically, or thermally so that the resulting material is a marketable product or is suitable for proper disposal. The term includes mobile waste tire processing equipment.
(g) “Waste tire site” means a site at which 1,500 or more waste tires are accumulated.
(h) “Lead-acid battery” means a lead-acid battery designed for use in motor vehicles, vessels, and aircraft, and includes such batteries when sold new as a component part of a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft, but not when sold to recycle components.
(i) “Indoor” means within a structure that excludes rain and public access and would control air flows in the event of a fire.
(j) “Processed tire” means a tire that has been treated mechanically, chemically, or thermally so that the resulting material is a marketable product or is suitable for proper disposal.
(k) “Used tire” means a waste tire which has a minimum tread depth of 3/32 inch or greater and is suitable for use on a motor vehicle.
(2) The owner or operator of any waste tire site shall provide the department with information concerning the site’s location, size, and the approximate number of waste tires that are accumulated at the site and shall initiate steps to comply with subsection (3).
(3)(a) A person may not maintain a waste tire site unless such site is:

1. An integral part of the person’s permitted waste tire processing facility; or
2. Used for the storage of waste tires prior to processing and is located at a permitted solid waste management facility.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to dispose of waste tires or processed tires in the state except at a permitted solid waste management facility. Collection or storage of waste tires at a permitted waste tire processing facility or waste tire collection center prior to processing or use does not constitute disposal, provided that the collection and storage complies with rules established by the department.
(c) Whole waste tires may not be deposited in a landfill as a method of ultimate disposal.
(d) A person may not contract with a waste tire collector for the transportation, disposal, or processing of waste tires unless the collector is registered with the department or exempt from requirements provided under this section. Any person who contracts with a waste tire collector for the transportation of more than 25 waste tires per month from a single business location must maintain records for that location and make them available for review by the department or by law enforcement officers, which records must contain the date when the tires were transported, the quantity of tires, the registration number of the collector, and the name of the driver.
(4) The department shall adopt rules to administer this section and s. 403.718. Such rules:

(a) Must provide for the administration or revocation of waste tire processing facility permits, including mobile processor permits;
(b) Must provide for the administration or revocation of waste tire collector registrations, the fee for which may not exceed $50 per vehicle registered annually;
(c) Must provide for the administration or revocation of waste tire collection center permits, the fee for which may not exceed $250 annually;
(d) Must set standards, including financial assurance standards, for waste tire processing facilities and associated waste tire sites, waste tire collection centers, waste tire collectors, and for the storage of waste tires and processed tires, including storage indoors;
(e) May exempt not-for-hire waste tire collectors and processing facilities from financial assurance requirements;
(f) Must authorize the final disposal of waste tires at a permitted solid waste disposal facility provided the tires have been cut into sufficiently small parts to assure their proper disposal; and
(g) Must allow waste tire material that has been cut into sufficiently small parts to be used as daily cover material for a landfill.
(5)(a) The department shall encourage the voluntary establishment of waste tire collection centers at retail tire-selling businesses, waste tire processing facilities, and solid waste disposal facilities, to be open to the public for the deposit of waste tires.
(b) The department may establish an incentives program to encourage individuals to return their waste tires to a waste tire collection center. The incentives may involve the use of discount or prize coupons, prize drawings, promotional giveaways, or other activities the department determines will promote collection, reuse, volume reduction, and proper disposal of waste tires.
(c) The department may contract with a promotion company to administer the incentives program.