Senate Bill S8020

                                BILL NUMBER:S8020

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting
the sale and use of wheel weights containing lead

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill will prohibit the sale and
use of wheel weights containing lead.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the environmental
conservation law by adding a new section 37-0113. This section
prohibits the use or sale of lead wheel weights or vehicles equipped
with such weights after April 1, 2011. It also defines "new motor
vehicle", and "person."

Section two sets out the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
Wheel weights are used in cars and trucks to keep the
wheels balanced. If wheels are unbalanced, they vibrate and this can
make the cars harder to handle as well as increase tire wear. The
majority of wheel weights currently in use are clip ons that are
attached at the edge of a wheel's rim. An average vehicle contains
              

ten wheel weights (two on each of the four wheels and two more on the
spare).

Most wheel weights are made up of 95 percent lead. Approximately 50
million pounds per year of lead is used worldwide in the manufacture
of wheel weights. An average of 4.5 ounces of lead is clipped to the
wheel rims of every car in the U.S. This amounts to 10-12.5% of
vehicle lead use, excluding the lead-acid battery.

Many wheel weights are lost on the streets when cars hit curbs,
potholes or barriers. It is estimated that about 13% of all wheel
weights fall off a car while it is in motion. This results in the
loss of about 1.6 million pounds of lead onto roads or in parking
lots. When the weights fall off, they are pulverized by other cars and
trucks which results in the spread of lead dust throughout the
environment, including leaching into rain runoff and soil.

Dr. Robert A. Root (Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 108,
Number 10. October 2000) has published a study documenting the rates
at which lead weights fall off their host vehicles and are gradually
abraded into lead dust. This study established that lead wheel
weights are "a major source of lead exposure that heretofore has not
been recognized." This is problematic since lead is extremely toxic
and has been linked to

brain damage and other developmental and behavioral problems,
especially in children.

Some tire dealers are already phasing out lead wheel weights and laws
banning them have been enacted in California, Maine, Vermont and
Washington. Many lead-free weights are produced in the U.S. and are
made of substances such as zinc and steel alloy. Asian and European
car makers have used lead alternatives for a number of years.
Efforts have also been made to collect and recycle lead wheel weights
at the end of a vehicle's life and about 75% are successfully
recycled; 25% of the wheel weights remain at large in the
environment, however.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.