Blog

2024 Legislative Update

TSRA at Keep Tennessee Beautiful and Tennessee Battery Recycling Workshop.
Hello TSRA Members,
It has been a busy March. I represented the TSRA at the Keep Tennessee Beautiful’s Great American clean up kick off lunch on March 1st. Then, on March 6th, attended the Tennessee Battery Recycling, Reuse &Second Life Applications Workshop put together by Tennessee Tech and TDEC. We were well received at both events as positive actors in our state, which is a testament to the hard work you all put into our communities every day.
Our Lobbyist team, Kim Adkins and Steve Buttry, have also been working hard and put together a legislative update below. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Thank you all for what you do to make this organization successful.
“Legislative committees started to shut down this week, a sign that the legislature will finish session mid-to-late April. Next week will be another busy week with heavy bill volume.
The EPR bill (SB 573 Campbell / HB 550 Harris) was officially assigned to the General Subcommittee / taken off notice in the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday – effectively killing the bill. The bill didn’t have enough votes to pass out of the committee.
Second, The “Clean Act” caption bill (SB 803 Briggs / HB 1451 Faison) was amended to create another litter study / task force to be conducted by a university is being taken off notice by the House bill Sponsor Rep. Faison – effectively killing the bill.
On Wednesday, a Solid Waste Task Force passed the Senate Ag Committee and will be heard on the House side in the next few weeks.  The amended version of SB2705 sponsored by Chairman Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) would create a 15 person task force to look for solutions to the state’s solid waste issues. The task force would be comprised of six appointees by Chairman Southerland, six by Chairman Chris Todd (R-Madison County) of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and three from the Governor. The amendment also allows companies to voluntarily donate funds to the decades long standing recycling grants fund / program. The House may have a different version of the task force, but we anticipate some type of committee or task force will pass this year on solid waste and diversion.”
Andrew Rice
President
TSRA President

TSRA Day on the Hill

TSRA Members gathered Tuesday morning from across the state to meet with legislators and form the 2024 legislative agenda.  It was a great meeting and very informative.  Speakers were Speaker Cameron Sexton, Sen. Paul Baily and Representative Clark Boyd.  Many members met individually with their respective leaders throughout the day as well.  TSRA continues to be a growing force on capitol hill that helps educate, lead and promote the recycling industry!

 

TSRA Presents at TRC Conference in Gatlinburg

TSRA at the Tennessee Recycling Coalition (TRC) Conference.
Hello TSRA Members,
             I wanted to share that we had a great response from participating at the Tennessee Recycling Coalition Conference in Gatlinburg on Thursday August 24th. I gave a talk on who the TSRA is, current TN metal laws, and the metal markets. We plan to continue to participate with the TRC and their conference next year.
I would also like to encourage members to help raise funds for Representative Clark Boyd’s and Senator Paul Baily’s PACs. They have been great friends to our industry and keynote speakers for us. I will take all of our checks together in person to our lobbyist group Kim and Steve next week.
Please make checks out to:
JCB PAC – for Clark Boyd
PB PAC – For Paul Baily
Mail Checks to:
CFC Recycling
54 Recycle DR
Tullahoma, TN 37388
Thank you,
Andrew Rice
CFC RECYCLING
​Vice President
TSRA President
Cell: 931-247-8404

2023 Summer Meeting Recap

TSRA 2023 Summer Meeting Recap
The 2023 TSRA summer meeting was a great success. There were 39 people in attendance.
Roxana Gumucio with the Tennessee Department Of Commerce and Insurance spoke on the scrap metal registration program and the strong working relationship our groups have. She stated there are currently 228 registered dealer locations and 680 individual registrations.
Steve Buttry and Kim Adkins with Capitol Strategy Group gave a legislative recap from the Tennessee 2023 legislating session.
We voted to approve a new dues structure starting in 2024. The new due date for all association membership dues will be changed to July starting in 2024. Changing all companies’ invoices and association dues to the same month makes it easier for the officers to track and send out invoices.
Senator Paul Baily was a fantastic speaker. He talked about converter theft and his current and past partnership with our industry.
I also wanted to let everyone know that we will be voting for officer positions of President, Vice President, and Secretary at our Winter meeting in February 2024.
Finally, I would like to thank Mitchell Saulsbury, Aaron Kolb, Scot Bondurant, and Ali Ball for helping make the meeting great.
Andrew Rice,
TSRA President

TSRA Joins Forces to help Pass CDL Even Exchange Bill

TSRA joins other groups for signing of Commercial Driver License Even Exchange Bill with Governor Bill Lee
Commercial Drivers’ License Even Exchange Bill: The estimated commercial driver shortage is over 80,000 drivers with the potential to grow to over 160,000 by the year 2028. SB 105/HB 88 by Senator Bo Watson and Representative Pat Marsh enables Tennessee to implement the “Even Exchange Program” as allowed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). This program allows qualified military personnel,which includes activity duty, reservist, and national guard with driving experience, to be exempt from the knowledge test required to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL). FMCSA establishes the minimum standards that each state must follow in administering the program. Tennessee will join 18 other states that have implemented the program. TSRA was an active member of the coalition lead by the Beverage Association of Tennessee in support of this legislation. This new law will help alleviate the shortage of commercial drivers. This bill passed and became known as Public Chapter No. 422 in 2023.
Tennessee Scrap Recyclers Association | TNSRA.com

TSRA Day on the Hill Recap

Hello TSRA Members,             
We had another successful Day on the Hill meeting. The day started with a short business meeting to go over current bills and our legislative agenda for 2023 followed by meetings with Lt. Governor Randy McNally, Speaker Cameron Sexton, and Transportation Chairman Dan Howell. The day ended meeting with Chairman Clark Boyd. He has been a great help this year creating a TN Catalytic Converter Task Force and sponsoring the catalytic converter legislation (HB484) in the House this year. On Tuesday night before the Day on the Hill meeting a group of us enjoyed some great networking, food, and hockey. See some pictures of both events in this email. Hope we will see you all at our next event. Andrew Rice TSRA PresidentC: 931-247-8404E: [email protected]