OLYMPIA, Washington — Proposed Washington State House bill that would have established minimum rolling resistance standards for replacement tires sold in the state of Washington is stalled.
According to the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association and the Tire Industry Association, Senate Bill 6304, which would have set consumer tire rolling resistance regulations in Washington State, is “dead,”. Senate Bill 6304 was set for a floor vote after getting approval from the Senate Transportation Committee Feb. 5, but the Senate adjourned Feb. 13 without taking action on the bill, killing the legislation in the process.
If passed, Senate Bill 6304 would have established and enforced “energy efficiency standards for replacement tires” sold in the state.
The bill was one of two introduced in Washington earlier this year and was intended to bolster the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure ahead of the power train transition. In the process of helping to ensure more energy efficient vehicles, both versions of the bill — which were introduced separately in the state House and Senate — took aim at replacement tires, placing particular focus on rolling resistance.
House Bill 2262, which contained similar language regarding tire rolling resistance standards, failed to make it out of committee.
“My understanding is that it’s sitting in committee and didn’t get a vote,” Roy Littlefield IV, vice president of government affairs for TIA, told MTD. “It was supposed to make it out of committee today.”
House Bill 2262, if it had passed, would have given the Washington Department of Commerce the ability to adopt and implement any combination of the following:
- Requirements for any tire brand name owners and manufacturers with replacement tires in production offered for sale or distribution in the state to report information necessary to implement this section.
- A rating system for the energy efficiency of replacement tires based on their rolling resistance coefficient.
- Testing procedures in alignment with enacted regulations by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration as they existed, as of the effective date of this section.
- Minimum energy efficiency standards for replacement tires based on their rolling resistance;
- A database of replacement tires in production offered for sale or distribution in the state.
The bill also says, Tire retailers who violate rules may be issued a warning by the department or another state agency as designated by the department for any first violation. Repeat violations are subject to a civil penalty ranging from $100 to $1,000 per occurrence.”
Tracey Norberg, U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association executive vice president and general counsel, spoke in opposition to the tire-related language in the both Washington proposals. In doing so, she emphasized that the association and its member companies are not opposed to tire efficiency standards.
USTMA said it believes that the most effective replacement tire efficiency standards should be consistent across the U.S., and North America is working to ensure that they are implemented at the federal level, rather than the state level.
“We have been actively engaged on this issue since 2002 and support national and North American standards on tire performance and safety, including tire efficiency,” Norberg told the Senate Transportation Committee during a Feb. 1 hearing. “We recognize the vital role that tires play in vehicle fuel economy and really support this action at the federal level.”
