Chapter 093

2008 -- S 2797 SUBSTITUTE A

Enacted 06/26/08

 

A N A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY

          

     Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Paiva-Weed, Gibbs, Maselli, and Bates

     Date Introduced: March 05, 2008

 

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

 

     SECTION 1. Section 23-18.8-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-18.8 entitled "Waste

Recycling" is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

     23-18.8-2. Legislative findings. -- The general assembly recognizes and declares that:

      (1) Any environmentally and economically sound solid waste management system must

incorporate recycling;

      (2) A sound recycling program will be best achieved by cooperation of the Rhode Island

resource recovery corporation, the department of administration, the department of environmental

management and the cities and towns of the state;

      (3) All solid waste capable of being recycled should be recycled, as a target, no less than

fifteen percent (15%) thirty-five percent (35%) of the solid waste generated in the state should be

disposed of through recycling; every effort should be made to exceed this target;

      (4) A recycling facility should be operational at the central landfill;

      (5) Upon full implementation of the recycling program, all solid waste management,

both from cities and towns, and from commercial establishments, will be separated into

recyclable and nonrecyclable components;

      (6) Recycling operations should begin at resource recovery plants upon initiation of plant

operations;

      (7) In order to develop a workable implementation schedule the department of

environmental management should develop schedules for the entry of cities and towns into the

source separation system;

      (8) Private contractor arrangements for recovery of recyclables at the point of origin or at

the municipal level should be encouraged and not interfered with;

      (9) Recyclable materials recovered at recycling facilities are to be made available to

private industry in the first instance, and where cost effective, operation of recycling facilities

should be by the private sector;

      (10) The corporation should provide, for a period of three (3) years, the reasonable

additional allowable costs for implementing this program for the cities and towns;

      (11) The definition of recyclable materials should be the responsibility of the department

of environmental management and should be changed from time to time depending upon new

technologies, economic conditions, waste stream characteristics, environmental effects, or other

factors;

      (12) Telephone directories, five hundred thousand (500,000) of which, at an average

weight of five and one-quarter (5.25) pounds, are distributed yearly in the state, contribute

significantly to the solid waste stream, which would be greatly reduced if directories were printed

on recyclable paper and bound with a binder which will not interfere with recyclability.

     (13) Any person who generates commercial solid waste and employs fifty (50) or more

employees, shall contract for recycling services as part of any agreement between a private waste

hauler and the commercial establishment for the disposal of solid waste. A commercial

establishment of any size may work with the city or town where it is located to consider options

that would allow the city or town to collect the commercial recyclables generated by the

commercial establishment.

 

     SECTION 2. Section 23-18.9-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-18.9 entitled "Refuse

Disposal" is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

     23-18.9-1. Responsibility for refuse disposal. -- (a) (1) Each city and town is required to

make provision for the safe and sanitary disposal of all refuse which is generated within its

boundaries, including refuse from commercial and industrial sources, but excluding refuse from

sources owned or operated by the state or federal governments, hazardous waste as defined in

chapter 19.1 of this title and any refuse which is not acceptable at a facility provided by the

Rhode Island resource recovery corporation under chapter 19 of this title. The disposal facilities

used to meet this responsibility may be located within or outside the municipality, may be

publicly or privately owned, and may include facilities used only by the owner. Each city and

town will be required to separate solid waste into recyclable and non-recyclable components

before the material is disposed of in any state owned facility. Implementation of the program of

separation by any city or town may be by separation at the source of generation or by separation

at collection points or transfer stations. Cities and towns may allow private and volunteer

collection of recyclables. The department of environmental management shall adopt and

promulgate regulations to define recyclable materials, and shall from time to time determine an

implementation schedule for the recyclable separation programs of the cities and towns. The

implementation schedule shall be determined and adopted by the department of environmental

management after consultation and cooperation with the cities and towns. The department shall

adopt and promulgate an implementation schedule and rules and regulations which require that

commercial solid waste be separated into recyclable and non-recyclable components before the

material may be disposed of at any state owned solid waste disposal facility. The department shall

adopt and promulgate an implementation schedule and rules and regulations which require that

the solid waste generated at state facilities be separated into recyclable and non-recyclable

components before the material may be disposed of in any state owned solid waste disposal

facility.

      (2) During the first three (3) years after a city or town enters the recycling program, a

city or town shall be deemed to have achieved compliance with the requirement of separation if

that city or town shall have achieved at least the same percentage of separation as achieved by

similar communities with compulsory programs of separation of recyclables.

     (3) Beginning July 1, 2012 every city or town that enters into a contract with the Rhode

Island resource recovery corporation to dispose of solid waste shall be required to recycle a

minimum of thirty-five percent (35%) of its solid waste and to divert a minimum of fifty percent

(50%) of its solid waste. The recycling and diversion rate shall be achieved as prescribed in the

addendum required in subdivision 23-19-13(e)(3). For purposes of this section "diversion rate"

means the total amount (reflected as a percentage) of material, diverted from disposal through

waste prevention, recycling or re-use.

      (b) The governing body of each city and town shall discharge its responsibility set forth

in subsection (a) by:

      (1) Adopting reasonable rules and regulations governing the licensing of all qualified

persons engaged in the business of collection and hauling of refuse and operation of transfer

stations with respect to all refuse within its boundaries. All persons engaged in the business of

collection or hauling of refuse and operation of transfer stations within the boundaries of a

municipality, shall be issued a license upon application. No municipality shall unreasonably deny

a license to any reasonably qualified person.

      (2) Contracting with the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation or a person

approved by the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation for the disposal of municipal refuse,

unless a municipality is operating its own landfill on December 1, 1986 or is disposing of its

municipal refuse under a contract approved by the corporation which was in effect on March 1,

1985, in which case the municipality shall be free to continue to use the landfill until its closure,

or to continue to dispose of its municipal refuse under the contract until the expiration of the

original term of the contract or the expiration of any extension of the contract approved by the

corporation or sooner termination.

      (3) In the case of cities and towns where municipal waste collection is provided by

private contract between the generator of the waste and the hauler, adopting rules and regulations

for the fair allocation of the municipal rate provided under the provisions of section 23-19-13(g)

among those haulers licensed to collect and haul refuse within the cities and towns.

      (4) Adopting rules and regulations that govern the separation of solid waste into

recyclable and non-recyclable components. Regulations adopted under this chapter may not be

inconsistent with any rules, regulations, standards, and criteria adopted by the department of

environmental management or the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation. Each city and

town is empowered to adopt the regulations and to contract with the Rhode Island resource

recovery corporation for the enforcement of the licensing provisions thereof, including

compliance with the provisions of a license designating a final disposal site for all refuse

collected or hauled by the licensee within the municipality's boundaries and requiring the

separation of recyclable materials. from municipal, non-municipal, residential and commercial

sources.

      (c) To assist each city and town in carrying out these responsibilities, the department of

environmental management Rhode Island resource recovery corporation shall:

      (1) Administer any financial assistance granted by the state to localities, as provided in

this chapter, and establish and publish rules and regulations concerning eligibility, disbursement,

and use of financial assistance.

      (2) Provide technical assistance to cities and towns concerning their refuse problems.

 

     SECTION 3. Section 23-19-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-19 entitled "Rhode

Island Resource Recovery Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

     23-19-13. Municipal participation in state program. -- (a) (1) Any person or

municipality which intends to transfer, treat, or dispose of solid waste originating or collected

within the state, or which intends to make arrangements to do so, shall utilize, exclusively, a

system or facility designated by the corporation as provided under this chapter. All transfer

stations in existence as of December 1, 1986 are empowered so long as they maintain the

appropriate license to continue their operations, and the corporation shall not exercise its powers

under this chapter to compete with their operation and activity. No municipality shall have power

to engage in, grant any license, or permit for or enter into any contract for the collection,

treatment, transportation, storage, or disposal of solid waste, and no municipality or any person

shall engage in any activities within the state, including disposal of solid waste, which would

impair the ability of the corporation to meet its contractual obligations to its bondholders and

others, or which would be in competition with the purposes of the corporation as provided in this

chapter. The corporation shall not be empowered to engage in the transportation, transfer, or

storage of solid waste, except in temporary situations where a municipality has defaulted in its

obligation under this section, or in conjunction with its activities at its disposal sites. Provided,

however, that municipal contracts which were in existence on March 1, 1985, are excepted from

this requirement until expiration of the original term of the contract or the expiration of any

extension approved by the corporation, or sooner termination of the contracts, and provided,

further, that municipalities operating their own landfills on December 1, 1986 shall be free to

continue to use the landfills until closure of the landfills. Without limiting the generality of the

preceding, municipalities and persons are expressly empowered to contract with the corporation

and/or, subject to the approval of the corporation, with a duly licensed private disposal facility for

the disposal of solid wastes. The approval shall be conditioned upon a finding by the board of

commissioners of the corporation that any proposed contract with a Rhode Island municipality or

person is in conformity with the statewide resource recovery system development plan and this

chapter, and that the proposed contract will not impair the ability of the corporation to meet its

contractual obligations to its bondholders and others. The contracts may have a maximum total

term, including all renewals, of up to fifty (50) years.

      (2) The corporation shall charge fees for its solid waste management services that,

together with other revenues available to the corporation, will, at a minimum, be sufficient to

provide for the support of the corporation and its operations on a self-sustaining basis, including

debt service on its bonds and other obligations.

      (b) Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the provisions of any

other laws of this state, general, special, or local, restricting the power of any municipality to

enter into long term contracts with the corporation, the provisions of this chapter shall be

controlling. The corporation shall provide suitable and appropriate assistance to communities

under these circumstances. Notwithstanding the preceding, if the corporation deems it desirable,

it may from time to time permit municipalities to contract among themselves for the disposal of

their wastes.

      (c) Municipalities, along with private producers of waste which contract with the

corporation for disposal of their wastes, shall continue to be free to make their own arrangements

for collection of wastes at the source and/or the hauling of wastes to the designated processing

and/or transfer stations, so long as those arrangements are in compliance with the provisions of

chapter 18.9 of this title and with this chapter, and any municipal license relating thereto.

      (d) All municipalities and state agencies which are participants in the state waste

disposal program shall initiate a separation and recycling program within one year after the date

on which the resource recovery facility utilized by that municipality or agency is operational and

accepting waste for incineration.

      (e) (1) The corporation and any municipality may enter into a contract or contracts

providing for or relating to the disposal of solid waste originating in the municipality and the cost

and expense of the disposal.

      (2) The contract may be made with or without consideration and for a specified or

unspecified time not to exceed fifty (50) years, and on any terms and conditions which may be

approved by the municipality and which may be agreed to by the corporation in conformity with

its contracts with the holders of any bonds or other obligations. Subject to the contracts with the

holders of bonds, the municipality is authorized and directed to do and perform any and all acts or

things necessary, convenient, or desirable to carry out and perform the contract and to provide for

the payment or discharge of any obligation under the contract in the same manner as other

obligations of the municipality.

     (3) All municipalities that contract with the corporation for the disposal of solid waste

shall prepare as an addendum to its fiscal year 2010 contract with the corporation a plan that

includes a description of the process by which thirty-five percent (35%) of its solid waste will be

recycled and fifty percent (50%) of its solid waste will be diverted beginning July 1, 2012. This

addendum shall include a residential and municipal waste stream evaluation, a plan for the

reduction of solid waste and recyclables generated and the process by which recyclable materials

are to be segregated. The corporation shall have the right to execute or deny execution of the

municipal solid waste and recycling services contract pending approval of the addendum. Once

the corporation approves this addendum, the municipality must implement the plan and report on

the results annually to the corporation. The corporation shall enforce the provisions of this section

pursuant to subdivision 23-19-13(g)(3).

     (4) The corporation shall notify every city or town that it contracts with no later than

August 1, 2008 as to the addendum requirements that must be included in the fiscal year 2010

contracts to recycle thirty-five percent (35%) and divert fifty percent (50%) of solid waste

beginning July 1, 2012.

      (f) The municipalities and the state have shared responsibility for the payment of the cost

of municipal solid waste disposal. The state will pay its share of the cost of the solid waste

disposal services to be provided by the corporation to the municipalities at its solid waste

management facilities and its central landfill in the town of Johnston, and at any back-up facility

which the corporation is required to provide, by providing solid waste disposal operating

subsidies as provided in subsections (i) and (j).

      (g) (1) The corporation shall charge each municipality with which it has a long-term

contract for solid waste disposal services a tipping fee per ton of source separated solid waste

excluding separated recyclable materials, sludge, and demolition debris delivered to any

corporation facility computed in accordance with this subsection. For purposes of this chapter,

"fiscal year" shall mean the twelve-month period, July 1 to June 30. The municipal tipping fee

shall be equal to one hundred seven and one-half percent (107.5%) of the prior fiscal year's

municipal tipping fee through the end of the 2009 fiscal year. One dollar and ten cents ($1.10) per

ton on all garbage, including recycled garbage, collected by the corporation as tipping fee shall be

paid to the town of Johnston. In addition to any other fees the corporation shall also charge a

three dollar ($3.00) tipping fee per vehicle. Any vehicle carrying municipal solid waste shall be

exempt from this three dollar ($3.00) tipping fee. All fees collected shall be paid to the town of

Johnston on a biannual basis. No tipping fee shall be charged for recyclable materials delivered to

a recycling facility provided by or through the corporation.

      (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (g)(1), the municipal tipping fee may

be increased, if, due to the commencement of operation of a new resource recovery facility during

the previous fiscal year, the state subsidy as calculated pursuant to subsection (i), not considering

landfill revenues and losses, is projected to be greater than the state subsidy projected by the

corporation and the department of administration when the projections were officially accepted

by the corporation on the basis of contracts entered into for the initial resource recovery facility.

The amount by which the projected state subsidy exceeds the original projections will be

apportioned between the state and the municipalities in the same ratio as the state subsidy for the

previous year divided by the number of tons of municipal solid waste processed by the

corporation bears to the municipal tipping fee for that year. The increased municipal tipping fee

herein provided shall be subject to the same escalation factor as the municipal tipping fee set forth

above.

      (3) The corporation shall establish in the contract, the maximum amount of municipal

solid waste that each municipality will be entitled to deliver to the corporation at the municipal

tipping fee. Solid waste in excess of the contract amount will be charged to the municipality at the

non-municipal rate. In determining the maximum amount of municipal solid waste which will

qualify for the municipal tipping fee, the corporation shall consider the municipality's solid waste

per capita average, the statewide solid waste per capita average, and any other factors that it shall

deem appropriate.

      (4) Seaweed collected and removed by a municipality shall be deemed "yard waste" for

purposes of this chapter and any rules, regulations and/or plans promulgated by the corporation

pursuant to this chapter, and shall be accepted by the corporation at the same rate and cost as all

other municipal yard waste.

      (h) The corporation, after the initial resource recovery facility becomes operational, shall

charge each non-municipal user of its facilities a fee per ton equal to the projected annual

resource recovery system cost less energy revenues and interest earnings on bond reserve funds,

if any, divided by the projected tons to be processed by the corporation at its resource facilities

for the year. Landfill costs shall not be considered in the calculation unless landfill costs exceed

revenues generated at the landfills; in those cases, excess landfill costs will be added to the

system costs.

      (i) The annual state subsidy for the cost of disposal of municipal solid waste shall be

calculated for each fiscal year or portion of each fiscal year according to the following formula:

The annual state subsidy shall equal the total projected annual resource recovery system costs

(minus costs associated with the central landfill) for the next fiscal year less the sum of the

following: (1) projected resource recovery system revenues for the year; and (2) projected landfill

revenues; provided, however, that in the event that the landfill is projected to operate at a loss, the

amount of the loss shall be added to the subsidy.

      (j) (1) On or before October 1 of each year, the corporation shall submit a budget to the

director of administration for the succeeding fiscal year using actual resource recovery system

revenues and costs, and the audit of the preceding fiscal year prepared by the corporation's

independent auditors and accepted by the auditor general. On or before December 1 of each year,

the director of administration, in consultation with the corporation, shall review the budget of the

corporation and shall determine and certify the annual state subsidy for the succeeding fiscal year

to the governor who shall submit to the general assembly printed copies of a budget which shall

include the state subsidy as previously determined in this subsection. The state subsidy

appropriation shall be on a system basis but shall contain specific appropriations for each

resource recovery facility. If the amount appropriated exceeds the amount needed for a specific

facility, the corporation, with the approval of the director of administration, may reallocate the

appropriated but unadvanced funds to other corporation facilities or costs. If the audit prepared by

the corporation's independent auditors indicates that the amounts appropriated and disbursed to

the corporation as a subsidy were in excess of the amounts which would have been required for

the year if actual resource recovery system revenues and costs had been used in the calculation of

the subsidy, the excess shall be credited against the current fiscal year's subsidy.

      (2) At any time, if the corporation determines that the state subsidy will be insufficient to

discharge the corporation's obligations for the current fiscal year, it shall request, in writing, to

the director of administration for a supplemental appropriation. After review, the director of

administration will recommend to the governor additional funding for the corporation, and the

governor after further review, shall submit a supplemental appropriation bill request for the funds

to the general assembly.

      (3) From the appropriations made by the general assembly, the state controller is

authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer every month for the

payment of those sums that may be required upon receipt by him or her of properly authenticated

vouchers.

      (k) If, in any fiscal year, the appropriation for the state subsidy is not made and if the

corporation has insufficient other funds to discharge its obligations to holders of its bonds and

notes as certified by the state auditor general, the corporation shall be empowered to charge both

municipal and non-municipal users whatever fees are necessary to discharge its obligations to

holders of its bonds and notes, and the municipal tipping fee set forth in subsection (g) shall not

be applicable for the fiscal year.

      (l) On or after the date established for separation of recyclable solid waste in the

statewide plan for separation of recyclables by the department of environmental management,

only segregated solid waste shall be accepted at the corporation's facilities.

      (m) Costs associated with participation in the state program shall not constitute state

mandated costs under section 45-13-7.

 

     SECTION 4. Section 39-3-11.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-3 entitled "Regulatory

Powers of Administration" is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

     39-3-11.2. Interim rates. -- Notwithstanding the provisions of titles 23 and 39, the

municipal tipping fee charged by the resource recovery corporation shall be as follows:

     (1) thirty-two Thirty-two dollars ($32.00) per ton from July 1, 2007 2008 to June 30,

2008 2009, for any municipality that recycles between zero percent (0%) and twenty-four percent

(24%) of its solid waste at the corporation's material recycling facility ("MRF") in Johnston.

     (2) Thirty-one dollars ($31.00) per ton from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, for any

municipality that recycles between twenty-five percent (25%) and twenty-nine percent (29%) of

its solid waste at the Corporation's ("MRF") in Johnston.

     (3) Thirty dollars ($30.00) per ton from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, for any

municipality that recycles between thirty percent (30%) and thirty-four percent (34%) of its solid

waste at the Corporation's ("MRF") in Johnston.

     (4) Twenty-nine dollars ($29.00) per ton from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, for any

municipality that recycles thirty-five percent (35%) or more of its solid waste at the Corporation's

("MRF") in Johnston.

     (5) The corporation shall issue a rebate not later than August 1, 2009 to those

municipalities qualifying for a year end tipping fee adjustment according to the municipality's

actual recorded tonnage delivered to the MRF in Johnston, and in accordance with the provisions

of the municipality's current-year signed solid waste and recycling services agreement with the

corporation.

 

     SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon passage.

     

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LC02168/SUB A

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