Article 1 - Recycled Materials

California Public Resources Code — §§ 42700-42704.6

Sections (6)

Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 901, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1997.

The Director of Transportation, upon consultation with the board, shall review and modify all bid specifications relating to the purchase of paving materials, and base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials, using recycled materials. The recycled materials shall include, but are not limited to, recycled asphalt pavement, crushed concrete subbase, foundry slag, asphalt flux produced from the reprocessing or re-refining of used oil, and paving materials utilizing recycled materials, including, but not limited to, crumb rubber from automobile tires, ash, and glass and glassy aggregates. The specifications shall be based on standards developed by the Department of Transportation for recycled paving materials and for recycled base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials. The standards and specifications shall provide for the use of recycled materials and shall not reduce the quality standards for highway and road construction.

§ 42701

Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 392, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2007.

(a)In purchasing any materials to be used in paving or paving subbase for use by the Department of Transportation and any other state agencies that provide construction and repair services, the State Procurement Officer shall contract for those items that utilize recycled materials in paving materials and base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials, unless the Director of Transportation determines that the use of the materials is not cost effective. In determining the cost-effectiveness of the materials subject to this section, the factors that the director shall consider include both of the following:

(1)The lifespan and durability of the pavement containing the materials.

(2)The maintenance cost of the pavement containing the materials.

(b)This section also applies to any person who contracts with the Department of General Services or with any other state agency to provide these construction and repair services.

(c)The recycled materials shall include, but are not limited to, recycled asphalt, crushed concrete subbase, foundry slag, and paving materials utilizing crumb rubber from automobile tires, ash, and glass and glassy aggregates. The specifications shall be based on the standards of the Department of Transportation for recycled paving materials and for recycled base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials.

§ 42703

Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 198, Sec. 1. (AB 3246) Effective January 1, 2019.

(a)Except as provided in subdivision (d), the Department of Transportation shall require the use of crumb rubber in lieu of other materials at the following levels for state highway construction or repair projects that use asphalt as a construction material:

(1)On and after January 1, 2007, the Department of Transportation shall use, on an annual average, not less than 6.62 pounds of CRM per metric ton of the total amount of asphalt paving materials used.

(2)On and after January 1, 2010, the Department of Transportation shall use, on an annual average, not less than 8.27 pounds of CRM per metric ton of the total amount of asphalt paving materials used.

(3)On and after January 1, 2013, the Department of Transportation shall use, on an annual average, not less than 11.58 pounds of CRM per metric ton of the total amount of asphalt paving materials used.

(b)(1) The annual average use of crumb rubber required in subdivision (a) shall be achieved on a statewide basis and shall not require the use of asphalt containing crumb rubber in each individual project or in a place where it is not feasible to use that material.

(2)On and after January 1, 2007, and before January 1, 2015, not less than 50 percent of the asphalt pavement used to comply with the requirements of subdivision (a) shall be rubberized asphalt concrete.

(3)On and after January 1, 2015, the Department of Transportation may use any material

meeting the definition of asphalt containing crumb rubber, with respect to product type or specification, to comply with the requirements of subdivision (a).

(c)(1) The Secretary

of the Transportation Agency shall, on or before January 1 of each year, prepare an analysis comparing the cost differential between asphalt containing crumb rubber and conventional asphalt. The analysis shall include the cost of the quantity of asphalt product needed per lane mile paved and, at a minimum, shall include all of the following:

(A) The lifespan and duration of the asphalt materials.

(B) The maintenance cost of the asphalt materials and other potential cost savings to the department, including, but not limited to, reduced soundwall construction costs resulting from noise reduction qualities of rubberized asphalt concrete.

type or specification of asphalt containing crumb rubber, considering the cost-effectiveness of each type or specification separately in comparison to the cost-effectiveness of conventional asphalt paving materials.

(2)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if, after completing the analysis required by paragraph (1), the secretary determines that the cost of asphalt containing crumb rubber exceeds the cost of conventional asphalt, the Department of Transportation shall continue to meet the requirement specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), and shall not implement the requirement specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). If the secretary determines, pursuant to an analysis prepared pursuant to paragraph (1), that the cost of asphalt containing crumb rubber does not exceed the cost of conventional asphalt, the Department of Transportation shall implement paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) within one year of that determination, but not

before January 1, 2010.

(3)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the Department of Transportation delays the implementation of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the Department of Transportation shall not implement the requirement of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) until three years after the date the department implements paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).

(d)For the purposes of complying with the requirements of subdivision (a), only crumb rubber manufactured in the United States that is derived from waste tires taken from vehicles owned and operated in the United States may be used.

(e)The Department of Transportation and the board shall develop procedures for using crumb rubber and other derived tire products in other projects.

(f)The Department of

Transportation shall notify and confer with the East Bay Municipal Utility District before using asphalt containing crumb rubber on a state highway construction or repair project that overlays district infrastructure.

(g)For purposes of this section the following definitions shall apply:

(1)“Asphalt containing crumb rubber” means any asphalt pavement construction, rehabilitation, or maintenance material that contains reclaimed tire rubber and that is specified for use by the Department of Transportation.

(2)“Crumb rubber” or “CRM” has the same meaning as defined in Section 42801.7.

(3)“Rubberized asphalt concrete” or “RAC” means a paving material that uses an asphalt rubber binder containing an amount of reclaimed tire rubber that is 15 percent or

more by weight of the total blend, and that meets other specifications for both the physical properties of asphalt rubber and the application of asphalt rubber, as defined in the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard Specification for Asphalt-Rubber Binder.

§ 42704

Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 230, Sec. 1. (AB 812) Effective January 1, 2013.

(a)On or before January 1, 2014, the Department of Transportation may, with input from the Caltrans/Industry Rock Products Committee, establish specifications for the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) of up to 40 percent for hot mix asphalt mixes.

(b)Subdivision (a) does not limit the authority of the Department of Transportation to establish specifications for the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement in amounts greater than 40 percent for hot mix asphalt mixes.

(c)(1) On or before March 1, 2016, the Department of Transportation shall submit a report to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795 of the

Government Code on its progress, since the year 2011, toward the development and implementation of the specifications for reclaimed asphalt pavement, as specified in subdivision (a).

(2)This subdivision shall become inoperative on March 1, 2020, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

§ 42704.5

Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 609, Sec. 1. (AB 2355) Effective January 1, 2015.

By January 1, 2017, a local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway shall do either of the following:

(a)Adopt the standards developed by the Department of Transportation pursuant to Section 42700 for recycled paving materials and for recycled base, subbase,

and pervious backfill materials.

(b)Discuss at a

regularly scheduled public hearing of the local agency’s legislative or other governing body why the standards are not being adopted.

§ 42704.6

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 443, Sec. 1. (AB 978) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)A local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway shall, to the extent feasible and cost effective, apply standard specifications that allow for the use of recycled materials in streets and highways.

(b)The standard specifications described in subdivision (a) shall allow recycled materials at a level no less than the level allowed in the department’s standard specifications, as those standard specifications may be amended or updated from time to time, for all of the following:

(1)Recycled base and subbase materials as set forth in Sections 25-1.02 and 26-1.02 of the department’s standard specifications.

(2)Reclaimed

asphalt pavement and other materials in asphalt as set forth in Section 39-2.02B of the department’s standard specifications.

(3)Reclaimed aggregate, fly ash, returned plastic concrete, and other materials in concrete as set forth in Sections 90-1.02, 90-2.02, and 90-9 of the department’s standard specifications.

(c)If a local agency’s standard specifications do not allow for the use of recycled materials at a level that is equal to or greater than the level allowed in the department’s standard specifications, as described in subdivision (b), on the basis that the use of those recycled materials at those levels is not feasible, a person bidding on a contract advertised by the local agency to supply materials subject to those specifications may request the local agency to provide the reason for that determination. The local agency shall provide the reason for that determination

via email correspondence to the person’s official point of contact specified in the request.

(d)This section does not prohibit a local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway from exceeding the maximum level allowed in the department’s standard specifications for the use of materials described in subdivision (b).

(e)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Department” means the Department of Transportation.

(2)“Local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway” does not include any special district, any city whose population, according to the most recent census, is equal to or less than 25,000 people, or any county whose population, according to the most recent census, is equal to or less than

100,000 people.