SENATE, No. 1999

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED APRIL 17, 1997

 

 

By Senator CIESLA

 

 

An Act concerning certain recycling centers, and amending and supplementing P.L.1987, c.102.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. Section 2 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.12) is amended to read as follows:

    2. As used in sections 1 through 24 and sections 40 and 41 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 through 13:1E-99.32 and 13:1E-99.33 and 13:1E-99.34):

    "Agricultural or horticultural land" means land deemed actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.);

    "Beverage" means milk, alcoholic beverages, including beer or other malt beverages, liquor, wine, vermouth and sparkling wine, and nonalcoholic beverages, including fruit juice, mineral water and soda water and similar nonalcoholic carbonated and noncarbonated drinks intended for human consumption;

    "Beverage container" means an individual, separate, hermetically sealed, or made airtight with a metal or plastic cap, bottle or can composed of glass, metal, plastic or any combination thereof, containing a beverage;

    "Class A recyclable material" means a source separated nonputrescible recyclable material which is specifically excluded from approval of the department prior to receipt, storage, processing or transfer at a recycling center pursuant to subsection b. of section 41 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.34), which material includes source separated nonputrescible metal, glass, paper, plastic containers, and corrugated and other cardboard;

    "Class B recyclable material" means a source separated recyclable material which is subject to approval of the department prior to receipt, storage, processing or transfer at a recycling center pursuant to subsection b. of section 41 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.34) and which includes, but need not be limited to, scrap tires, wood waste, tree stumps, and certain construction or demolition debris, including waste asphalt, bricks, cinder blocks and concrete;

    "Commingled" means a combining of nonputrescible source separated recyclable materials for the purpose of recycling;

    "County" means any county of this State of whatever class;

    "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;

    "Designated recyclable materials" means those recyclable materials, including metal, glass, paper, or plastic, polycoated paperboard packaging, including beverage containers and aseptic packaging, food waste, corrugated and other cardboard, newspaper, magazines, or high-grade office paper designated in a district recycling plan to be source separated in a municipality pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.13);

    "Disposition" or "disposition of designated recyclable materials" means the transportation, placement, reuse, sale, donation, transfer or temporary storage for a period not exceeding six months of designated recyclable materials for all possible uses except for disposal as solid waste;

    "District" means a solid waste management district as designated by section 10 of P.L.1975, c.326 (C.13:1E-19), except that, as used in the provisions of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 et seq.), "district" shall not include the Hackensack Meadowlands District;

    "District recycling plan" means the plan prepared and adopted by the governing body of a county and approved by the department to implement the State Recycling Plan goals pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.13);

    "Leaf composting facility" means a solid waste facility which is designed and operated solely for the purpose of composting leaves and shall also include leaf mulching operations on land deemed actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use as defined in section 5 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.5);

    "Market" or "markets" means the disposition of designated recyclable materials;

    "Municipality" means any city, borough, town, township or village situated within the boundaries of this State;

    "Municipal solid waste stream" means all residential, commercial and institutional solid waste generated within the boundaries of any municipality;

    "Paper" means all paper grades, including but not limited to, newspaper, corrugated and other cardboard, high-grade office paper, fine paper, bond paper, offset paper, xerographic paper, mimeo paper, duplicator paper, and related types of cellulosic material containing not more than 10% by weight or volume of non-cellulosic material such as laminates, binders, coatings, or saturants;


    "Paper product" means any paper items or commodities, including but not limited to, paper napkins, towels, construction material, toilet tissue, paper and related types of cellulosic products containing not more than 10% by weight or volume of non-cellulosic material such as laminates, binders, coatings, or saturants;

    "Plastic container" means any formed or molded and hermetically sealed, or made airtight with a metal or plastic cap, rigid container with a minimum wall thickness of not less than 0.010 inches, and composed primarily of thermoplastic synthetic polymeric material;

    "Post-consumer waste material" means any finished product generated by a business or consumer which has served its intended end use, and which has been separated from solid waste for the purposes of collection, recycling and disposition and which does not include secondary waste material;

    "Recognized academic institution" means any of the following educational or research institutions located in this State: a duly authorized institution of higher education licensed by the Board of Higher Education; a public school operated by a local school district; a private vocational school; or a nonpublic school satisfying the State's compulsory attendance requirements;

    "Recyclable material" means those materials which would otherwise become solid waste, and which may be collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products;

    "Recycled paper" means any paper having a total weight consisting of not less than 50% secondary waste paper material and with not less than 10% of its total weight consisting of post-consumer waste material;

    "Recycled paper product" means any paper product consisting of not less than 50% secondary waste paper material and with not less than 10% of its total weight consisting of post-consumer waste material;

    "Recycled product" or "product made from recycled material" means any nonpaper item or commodity which is manufactured or produced in whole or in part from post-consumer waste material;

    "Recycling" means any process by which materials which would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products;

    "Recycling center" means any facility designed and operated solely for receiving, storing, processing or transferring source separated recyclable materials; except that "recycling center" shall not include a scrap [processing] metal shredding facility;

    "Recycling services" means the services provided by persons engaging in the business of recycling, including the collection,


 transportation, processing, storage, purchase, sale or disposition, or any combination thereof, of recyclable materials;

    "Scrap [processing] metal shredding facility" means a commercial industrial facility designed and operated for receiving, storing, processing and transferring scrap automobiles, appliances or other source separated, nonputrescible ferrous and nonferrous metal, which materials are purchased by the owner or operator thereof, and which are altered or reduced in volume or physical characteristics onsite by mechanical methods, including but not limited to baling, cutting, torching, crushing, or shredding, for the purposes of resale for remelting, refining, smelting or remanufacturing into raw materials or products;

    "Secondary waste material" means waste material generated after the completion of a manufacturing process;

    "Secondary waste paper material" means paper waste generated after the completion of a paper making process, such as envelope cuttings, bindery trimmings, printing waste, cutting and other converting waste, butt rolls and mill wrappers; except that secondary waste paper material shall not include fibrous waste generated during the manufacturing process, such as fibers recovered from waste water or trimmings of paper machine rolls, fibrous byproducts of harvesting, extractive or woodcutting processes, or forest residue such as bark, or mill broke;

    "Source separated recyclable materials" means recyclable materials which are separated at the point of generation by the generator thereof from solid waste for the purposes of recycling;

    "Source separation" or "source separated" means the process by which recyclable materials are separated at the point of generation by the generator thereof from solid waste for the purposes of recycling;     "Vegetative waste composting facility" means a solid waste facility which is designed and operated for the purpose of composting leaves, either exclusively or in combination with other vegetative wastes authorized by the department.

(cf: P.L.1994, c.122, s.1)

 

    2. Section 41 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.34) is amended to read as follows:

    41. a. [Notwithstanding the provisions of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) or any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, no] No owner or operator of a recycling center as defined in section 2 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.12) shall be required by the department to obtain a registration statement, engineering design approval, or approval of an environmental and health impact statement prior to the commencement of operations.

    b. No recycling center shall receive, store, process or transfer any [waste] recyclable material other than Class A recyclable material, including source separated nonputrescible [or source separated commingled nonputrescible] metal, glass, paper, or plastic containers, and corrugated and other cardboard without the prior approval of the department.

    No recycling center shall receive, store, process or transfer any Class B recyclable material unless the owner or operator thereof has received prior approval of the department therefor.

(cf: P.L.1987, c.102, s.41)

 

    3. (New section) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the construction or operation of a proposed recycling center that is designed and operated solely for receiving, storing, processing or transferring Class B recyclable material and that is to be located within 2,000 yards of a proposed or operational public water supply reservoir shall not be approved by the department.

 

    4. (New section) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the governing body of a county within which is located a proposed or operational public water supply reservoir may not modify the district recycling plan required pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.13) to incorporate into its adopted district recycling plan as approved by the department the construction or operation of any proposed recycling center for Class B recyclable material that is to be located within 2,000 yards of the proposed or operational public water supply reservoir.

 

    5. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill would prohibit the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from approving the construction or operation of a proposed recycling center for Class B recyclable material, which is to be located within 2,000 yards of a proposed or operational public water supply reservoir. The bill would also prohibit the governing body of the county from incorporating the recycling center into the district recycling plan.

    A recycling center for Class B recyclable material is a facility requiring prior approval of the DEP before the owner or operator may commence recycling operations. Class B recyclable material includes scrap tires, wood waste, tree stumps, and certain construction or demolition debris, including waste asphalt, bricks, cinder blocks and concrete.


                             

Prohibits the construction or operation of a recycling center for Class B recyclable material within 2,000 yards of a proposed or operational public water supply reservoir.