Chapter 185
2008 -- S 2853
SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/02/08
A N A C T
RELATING
TO HEALTH AND SAFETY
Introduced
By: Senators Sosnowski, Paiva-Weed, McCaffrey, Gibbs, and Felag
Date
Introduced: March 12, 2008
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. Section
23-19-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-19 entitled "Rhode
Island Resource Recovery Corporation" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
23-19-3.
Declaration of policy. -- The following are declared to be policies of
the state:
(1) That the
ultimate solid waste management objective of the state is to maximize
recycling and reuse of solid waste;
(2) That solid
waste management facilities and projects are to be implemented either by
the state or under state auspices, in
furtherance of these goals;
(3) That
appropriate governmental structure, processes, and support must be provided so
that an effective and integrated statewide
network of solid waste management facilities may be
planned, financed, developed and operated for
the benefit of the people and municipalities of the
state;
(4) That solid
waste management activities be conducted in an environmentally sound
manner;
(5) That private
industry be encouraged to continue playing a key role in the state's solid
waste management programs;
(6) That solid
waste management facilities and services be provided for municipalities,
institutions, and persons in the state at reasonable
costs, by state solid waste management systems
and facilities, where the services and
facilities are considered necessary and desirable; the
facilities and services shall be used by all
persons and municipalities within the state under terms
and conditions that the Rhode Island resource
recovery corporation shall reasonably fix and
establish; provided, however, that
municipalities operating their own landfills on December 1,
1986 shall be free to continue to use the
landfills until the closure of the landfills; and provided,
further, that this subdivision shall not be
construed to affect or impair any valid contract for
disposal of municipal waste which was in effect
on March 1, 1985 until the expiration of the
original term of the contract, or the expiration
of any extension approved by the corporation, or
sooner termination of the contract; after the
closure of the landfill or expiration or earlier
termination of the contracts, the municipalities
shall be required to use the facilities and services
as the corporation shall direct;
(7) That
provision shall be made for planning, research, and development, and
appropriate innovation in the design,
management, and operation of the state's system for solid
waste management, in order to permit continuing
improvement and provide adequate incentives
and processes for lowering operating and other
costs;
(8) That the
Rhode Island resource recovery corporation established pursuant to this
chapter shall plan and implement solid waste
management facilities where necessary and
desirable throughout the state, in accordance
with the general laws and with applicable state
regulations, including, without limitation,
regulations of the department of health and the
department of environmental management;
(9) The creation,
licensing, and operation of landfill solid waste disposal facilities should
be limited to what is reasonably required to
service the needs of the inhabitants and businesses of
this state, having regard for alternative
technologies for waste disposal;
(10) That the
Rhode Island resource recovery corporation will provide, either by contract
with a private concern or directly by the
corporation, a recycling facility as defined by the
department of environmental management at, or
within a convenient distance of, all solid waste
disposal facilities under its jurisdiction.
These recycling facilities will provide cities and towns
with a place to deposit their recyclable materials
at no tipping cost to the municipalities; provided,
however, that tipping fees may be charged in
accordance with this chapter when the solid waste
processing facility is designed to process
nonsource separated or partially source separated solid
waste for recycling at least seventy percent
(70%) of the municipal solid waste stream.
(11) An
integrated approach shall be adopted with respect to solid waste management
planning and implementation activities that
shall be based on the following priorities to the extent
economically feasible:
(i) Reduction of
the amount of source waste generated;
(ii) Source
separation and recycling;
(iii) Waste
processing such as recycling based technology to reduce the volume of waste
necessary for land disposal;
(iv) Land
disposal;
(12) That the
central landfill should be reserved for the disposal of solid waste generated
within the state; and
(13) That the
resource recovery corporation will operate the central landfill in a manner
designed to afford to the environment and to the
citizens of the state who reside near the landfill
the maximum protection which is available for
the land disposal of rubbish and minimize or
eliminate land disposal of solid waste.
(14) That due to
the myriad of over four hundred (400) toxic pollutants including lead,
mercury, dioxins, and acid gasses known to be
emitted by solid waste incinerators, the known and
unknown threats posed by solid waste
incinerators to the health and safety of Rhode Islanders,
particularly children, along with the known and
unknown threats to the environment are
unacceptable.
(15) That despite
the use of state of the art landfill liner systems and leachate collection
systems, landfills, and particularly incinerator
ash landfills, release toxic leachate into ground and
surface waters which poses an unacceptable
threat to public health, the environment, and the
state's limited ground and surface water
resources.
(16) That
incineration of solid waste is the most costly method of waste disposal with
known and unknown escalating costs that would
place substantial and unreasonable burdens on
both state and municipal budgets to the point of
seriously jeopardizing the public's interest.
(17) That the
highest and best use of leaf and yard debris is for use in the composting
process and the resulting compost material is a
valuable soil amendment for agricultural and
landscaping operations. The corporation shall
accept segregated leaf and yard debris collected
from municipalities as part of a municipal leaf
and yard waste diversion program. Municipalities
shall have a .025 ton per person cap on the
amount of leaf and yard debris they deliver to the
corporation's facility annually. This material
shall be accepted at no charge to municipalities,
provided that the corporation may charge
twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per ton for every ton that
exceeds the per person cap established for the
municipality. This material shall be composted at
the corporation's facility. The resulting
compost shall be used by the corporation for operational
and construction needs, and may be periodically
available to municipalities and state agencies at
no charge. The corporation shall quantify the
amount of leaf and yard debris it requires on an
annual basis to create compost for landfill and
construction operation purposes. The corporation
shall report this amount to the general assembly
no later than September 1, 2008.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01861/SUB A
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