Louisiana House Bill HB704

Louisiana 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/27/26
• Refer: 2/27/26
• Refer: 3/9/26

Caption

ENVIRONMENT/WASTE TIRES: Increases the cap on fees collected for the Waste Tire Management Dedicated Fund Account and dedicates additional revenue for a tire buy back program (OR +$5,100,000 SG RV See Note)

Summary

HB 704 revises Louisiana’s waste tire fee structure and adds a new tire buy back program. The bill increases the maximum fee the Department of Environmental Quality may levy on tire sales by $1.00 across three tire categories: passenger/light truck/small farm service tires, medium truck tires, and off-road tires. It also directs that $1.00 from each tire sale be used to administer a tire buy back program, and it authorizes DEQ to adopt rules to create and implement that program. The bill keeps the existing Waste Tire Management Dedicated Fund Account in place and continues to dedicate tire-fee revenue to addressing the state’s waste tire problem. It also preserves the requirement that the department’s waste tire rules be subject to legislative review by the House and Senate environmental committees. The measure is framed as a funding and program expansion bill rather than a broad rewrite of waste tire law.

Impact

HB 704 would amend R.S. 30:2418 to raise the statutory cap on waste tire management fees and to earmark a portion of tire-sale revenue for a new tire buy back program. In practical terms, it would increase the amount DEQ may collect from tire sales, expand the revenue available for waste tire management, and create a new administrative mandate for the department to develop buy back rules. The bill would affect tire retailers, tire purchasers, DEQ, and waste tire processors, while also increasing statutorily dedicated revenue for the Waste Tire Management Dedicated Fund Account.

Sentiment

There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition from debate. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to be presented as an environmental management and cleanup funding proposal, with an emphasis on reducing waste tire accumulation and creating an incentive-based buy back program. The pending status in House Natural Resources suggests the bill had not yet advanced to final action at the time of the snapshot.

Contention

The most likely points of contention are the higher tire fees and the new revenue dedication. Retailers, consumers, and trucking or off-road tire purchasers may object to the added cost, while supporters would likely argue that the increase is modest and necessary to fund waste tire cleanup and the buy back program. Another possible issue is the department’s discretion to design the buy back program through rulemaking, which could raise questions about implementation details, administrative burden, and whether the program will effectively address the waste tire problem.