Waste Tire Recycling, Abatement and Disposal Act of 1991

Waste Tire Recycling, Abatement and Disposal Act of 1991 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to make it unlawful, after specified dates, to: (1) dispose of whole waste tires on the land or in a landfill; (2) receive waste tires at collection sites unless such tires are processed, converted to shredded tire material, or transferred to a tire retreading business within seven days of receipt; (3) operate a collection site except in compliance with specified conditions applicable to waste tire piles; (4) store more than 1,500 waste tires for more than seven days at collection sites other than as shredded tire material in tire stockpiles; (5) engage in specified activities with respect to the transportation, storage, disposal, or collection of waste tires without an approved permit; and (6) operate a waste tire stockpile containing shredded tire material from more than 2,500 waste tires or, in the case of a tire processor, more than 30 days' supply of shredded tire material to be used as feedstock within the process.

Exempts from such prohibitions specified tire retailers and retreaders, businesses removing tires from vehicles, solid waste disposal facilities storing waste tires, and persons storing or using waste tires for marine or agricultural purposes. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose alternative requirements on such facilities and individuals.

Requires tire haulers, collectors, and processors to submit specified registrations to the Administrator or a designated State agency.

Authorizes State Governors to apply to the Administrator to implement waste tire recycling, abatement, and disposal programs. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for the minimum elements of such programs, including permit and fee requirements. Sets forth program approval procedures. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States for the implementation of such programs. Requires the Administrator to enforce programs for States that fail to do so.

Authorizes the Administrator, to assure compliance with the prohibitions of this Act, to: (1) order the owner or operator of any waste tire dump, stockpile, or other collection site or any other person who has transported tires to such site to abate the dump, stockpile, or site; and (2) undertake action to abate a tire collection site using funds from the Waste Tire Recycling, Abatement, and Disposal Trust Fund. Permits the Administrator to commence civil actions against persons operating or maintaining such sites or depositing waste tires at such sites. Prescribes fines for violations of the Administrator's orders.

Provides that if the Administrator takes abatement actions at a waste tire collection site, the owner or operator of such site or any person who has transported tires to such site shall be liable for the costs of such actions.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior, the Administrator of the General Services Administration, and the head of other Federal agencies owning land on which a tire collection site is located to implement a plan to abate waste tire dumps and stockpiles on such lands. Requires all waste tires in such dumps and stockpiles to be disposed, recycled, or transferred to tire processing facilities by December 31, 1996. Authorizes appropriations.

Permits the EPA Administrator to make grants to States from funds appropriated from the Waste Tire Recycling, Abatement, and Disposal Trust Fund for waste tire programs.

Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer monies from the Fund to: (1) the Secretary of the Interior, the Administrator of the General Services Administration, or the head of any Federal agency on which a waste tire collection site is located for abating such sites; and (2) the Secretary of Transportation or heads of other Federal agencies engaged in road building for offsetting costs associated with the procurement of rubber-modified asphalt pavement for road construction, surfacing, or resurfacing. Authorizes the use of Fund monies for enforcing Federal tire recycling, abatement, and disposal programs for States that fail to do so. Permits the EPA Administrator to use Fund monies to make grants and enter into contracts for research and development on waste tire processing and recycling technologies or on the use, performance, and marketability of products made from materials produced from waste tire processing.

Requires the Administrator to conduct a research program to determine: (1) the health and environmental risks associated with the production and use of rubber-modified asphalt pavement; (2) the performance of such pavement under climate and use conditions; and (3) the degree to which such pavement can be recycled.

Sets forth enforcement provisions. Provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.

Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from making grants to a State under Federal highway provisions (other than for safety projects) unless the State has certified that at least ten percent of the asphalt pavement laid in the State and financed by such grants shall be rubber-modified asphalt pavement. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) establish a phase-in period for such requirement (for up to eight years) if necessary to establish rubber-modified asphalt pavement production and application facilities; and (2) increase the percentage of such pavement used in federally-assisted highway projects, as appropriate.

Authorizes the Secretary to set aside such requirement for a three-year period if there is evidence that: (1) techniques for mixing and applying such pavement increase risks to health and the environment as compared to risks associated with conventional pavement; (2) such pavement cannot be recycled to the same degree as conventional pavement; or (3) such pavement does not perform satisfactorily as a material for the construction or surfacing of highways and roads. Permits determinations to set aside requirements to be renewed for an additional three years.

Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) modify the minimum percentage of rubber-modified asphalt pavement to be used in highway projects if there is not a sufficient quantity of waste tires available in a State; and (2) grant a State credit toward such percentage requirement for volumes of such pavement used in other road and construction projects, provided that the total volume of such pavement used in the State annually is not less than ten percent of the conventional pavement used in federally-assisted highway projects.

Directs the Administrator to promulgate final procurement guidelines for rubber products containing crumb rubber derived by processing waste tires by December 31, 1993.