The tire shop may not charge you an “environmental fee” for tires

It is the discarded-tire management law, and for anyone changing tires it has one clear headline: the charge that funds that whole system is paid by whoever imports or manufactures the tire, not by you at the counter. The law expressly prohibits the tire shop from billing it to you as an “environmental fee” or “handling.”

Anyone who buys or changes tires in Puerto Rico. Those bound are the tire seller — the person engaged in selling new or used tires — and the tire storer. Outside the Act are solid tires with rings, tires weighing three hundred (300) pounds or more, and bicycle tires or similar ones.

• That the tires be covered by the Act: solid tires with rings, tires of 300 pounds or more, and bicycle or similar tires are excluded.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Read the invoice before paying

   Look for a line saying “environmental fee,” “eco,” “disposal” or “tire handling.” The law prohibits it in so many words: “Tire sellers and storers are prohibited from charging the consumer an environmental fee or a fee for handling discarded tires.” It sits in the additional prohibitions and penalties article.

2. 2

   Step 2: They cannot bill you the transport either

   It is a second prohibition, in the article on storers and sellers, in case the first left a gap: the seller “may not bill its client for the subsequent transport and handling of the discarded tire on behalf of the Fund, nor the charge created by this Act.” Not the transport, not the handling, not the charge.

3. 3

   Step 3: Who does pay the charge

   The Discarded Tire Handling Charge exists and is real: it is set by regulation, based on weight, on every importation of tires, whether new, used or manufactured in Puerto Rico. But the importer or manufacturer pays it, “before taking possession of or selling, as the case may be, the tire(s).” That money goes into the Discarded Tire Handling Fund. That is why it does not appear on your invoice: it was already paid before the tire reached the shop.

4. 4

   Step 4: You may leave up to four tires

   This surprises many people. The seller or storer “shall accept from any citizen not engaged in transporting discarded tires up to a maximum of four (4) such tires.” It does not say you must have bought tires that day: it says “any citizen.” The limit of four is what separates a citizen from a hauler, who needs a permit from the Junta.

5. 5

   Step 5: The sign that must be in plain sight

   The law requires the seller to inform clients “by a legible and visible sign, that every tire replaced will remain at its facility to be handled as this Act establishes.” If the sign says the opposite — take your old tire or pay to leave it — that sign does not reflect the law.

6. 6

   Step 6: Tires of 300 pounds or more go a different route

   They are excluded from the weight-based charge, but the law does not abandon them: whoever imports or manufactures tires weighing three hundred (300) pounds or more shall accept back those it sold once discarded, shall bear the handling and disposal costs, and must include in writing on every sales invoice this information: “Tires weighing 300 pounds or more will be handled and disposed of by the importer, so upon discarding they will be returned to this company free of charge.”

7. 7

   Step 7: The fine is not token

   Any person who violates this Act or its regulations, or fails to comply with any resolution, order or agreement issued by the Junta or the Authority, commits a misdemeanor and, if convicted, shall be fined no less than five hundred (500) dollars and no more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) dollars per violation. In addition to the fine, the Court may impose restitution to answer for any environmental or economic damage or damage to third parties’ property.

The Act defines “Junta” as the Environmental Quality Board, and it is to that entity that the text assigns this Act’s permits, licences and administrative penalties. The OGP compilation we read, revised in 2026, still names the Junta, so we reproduce that name and do not substitute another agency. The Act designates no consumer complaint window in its text specifically for an improper charge: the prohibition exists and the sanction is a misdemeanor. For the administrative consumer route, the step by step is in our DACO complaint guide.

• Paying the “environmental fee” without asking: the law bars the seller or storer from charging it to you.
• Accepting a bill for transport or handling of the old tire: that is also prohibited.
• Believing the Charge does not exist: it does, but the importer or manufacturer pays it before selling.
• Taking the old tire home because the shop says it will not take it: it must accept up to four from any citizen.
• Assuming the Act covers every tire: solid tires with rings, tires of 300 pounds or more, and bicycle tires are out.
• Thinking tires of 300 pounds or more have no route: they go back to the importer free of charge, and the invoice must say so.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA)

  DRNA

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• DACO services

  DACO

  www.daco.pr.gov