ASSEMBLY, No. 989
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION
By Assemblymen MORAN and CONNORS
An Act concerning the development of solid waste facilities, and supplementing P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The provisions of any other law, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, any county which has secured disposal capacity within the county sufficient for its anticipated solid waste disposal needs for the next five years following the effective date of this 1988 supplementary act pursuant to a district solid waste management plan required pursuant to the provisions of the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection prior to January 1, 1988, shall not be required to accept out-of-district solid waste for disposal at any solid waste facilities located within the county which have been identified in the approved plan.
2. The provisions of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) or P.L.1970, c.40 (C.48:13A-1 et seq.) or any rule or regulation adopted, or order issued, pursuant thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, the Department of Environmental Protection, in conjunction with the Board of Public Utilities, shall not redirect the flow of solid waste generated within a county which has failed to provide sufficient available, suitable disposal capacity within the county for its interim solid waste disposal needs, as determined by the department, to any solid waste facilities located within any county which has secured disposal capacity within the county sufficient for its anticipated solid waste disposal needs for the next five years following the effective date of this 1988 supplementary act pursuant to a district solid waste management plan approved by the department prior to January 1, 1988, unless the proposed receiving county approves the interdistrict waste flow order by duly adopted resolution of its governing body.
3. a. The provisions of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) or any rule or regulation adopted, or administrative order issued pursuant thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, any county which has secured disposal capacity within the county sufficient for its anticipated solid waste disposal needs for the next five years following the effective date of this 1988 supplementary act pursuant to a district solid waste management plan approved by the department prior to January 1, 1988, shall be exempt from and shall not be required to achieve the various milestones or otherwise adhere to the specific project schedule contained within an administrative order or consent agreement entered into between the county and the department for the development of a resource recovery facility ordered by the department for the long-term solid waste disposal requirements of the district. This exemption shall not exceed five years in duration.
b. To be eligible for an exemption pursuant to this section, a county shall have established and implemented a countywide mandatory source separation and recycling program pursuant to P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 et al.), and shall undertake a study to explore alternatives to mass-burn incineration and examine ash residue disposal techniques. In conducting this study, the county shall:
(1) Research the practicability and feasibility of technologies that may be available for the environmentally-sound disposal of solid waste which do not utilize incineration to process solid waste or recover reusable materials from solid waste; and
(2) Investigate methods for the environmentally-sound management and disposal of fly ash and bottom ash or other waste products resulting from the operation of a resource recovery facility.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would limit the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities to direct solid waste exported from counties which have thus far failed to provide for their own solid waste disposal needs to solid waste facilities with available disposal capacity located in counties with approved district solid waste management plans. The bill would also exempt counties which have secured sufficient landfill disposal capacity for the next five years from the orders of the DEP requiring the scheduled development of a resource recovery facility so that the county may investigate alternatives to mass-burn incineration and examine ash residue disposal techniques prior to deciding upon a long-term solid waste disposal strategy.
Interdistrict solid waste flow orders jointly issued by the DEP and the BPU requiring a county to accept out-of-district solid waste typically results in a premature depletion of the receiving county's remaining disposal capacity. These orders thus result in palpable planning dislocations and financial hardship, rather than mere inconvenience, to a receiving county. Moreover, the premature depletion of capacity at a sanitary landfill facility utilized by a county for its interim disposal requirements pending the development of a long-term disposal method often has the unintended consequence of constraining county solid waste planners to select, usually in a precipitous manner, mass-burn incineration as the county's long-term solid waste disposal strategy.
Specifically, the bill would: (1) permit a county with sufficient disposal capacity for its anticipated solid waste disposal needs for each of the next five years, as identified in an adopted district solid waste management plan approved by the department prior to January 1, 1988, to refuse to accept out-of-district solid waste for disposal at operational solid waste facilities located within the county; (2) prohibit the DEP and the BPU from redirecting the flow of solid waste to solid waste facilities located in a county with sufficient disposal capacity for each of the next five years in accordance with an adopted district solid waste management plan approved by the DEP prior to January 1, 1988 unless the county adopts a resolution approving the interdistrict waste flow order; and (3) exempt, for up to five years, a county with sufficient disposal capacity for the next five years from the DEP administrative order or consent agreement entered into with the department for the development of a resource recovery facility, provided that the county has implemented a countywide mandatory source separation and recycling program and that the county will conduct a study of alternative waste processing technologies and ash disposal techniques.
Prohibits the exportation of out-of-district solid waste to certain counties; exempts certain counties from DEP orders requiring the development of resource recovery facilities.