In Legal Terms
- Volume 52, Number 3 - 2008
Managing solid waste to the benefit of the county.
While the 2008 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature will not go down in history as the most productive, there were a few pieces of significant legislation passed into law during the session. One of those was the “Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act,” Act No. 2008-151, sponsored by Rep. Frank McDaniel (D-DeKalb and Marshall Counties).
This new law has an immediate and direct impact on all counties because it levies a solid waste disposal fee on all persons or entities disposing of waste at permitted solid waste management facilities. However, the new law also has the potential to benefit county
government by providing an opportunity for counties to obtain grants for recycling programs administered by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and creating a fund for remediation of illegal dumps.
The “basics” of the law are:
Payment and Collection of the Fee
Beginning Oct. 1, 2008, solid waste disposal fees are levied on disposal of waste at permitted solid waste management facilities. The basic fee is $1 per ton for all waste disposed of in a municipal solid waste landfill.
Fees for public industrial landfills, “C and D” landfills, non-municipal solid waste incinerators, or composting facilities receiving waste not generated by the permittee is $1 per ton or 25¢ per cubic yard. The fee for waste disposed of in a private solid waste management facility is 25¢ per cubic yard and is capped at $1,000 per year.
The disposal fees will be collected by the landfill operators as the waste is delivered to solid waste facilities. Naturally, these fees will be “passed on” to the actual generator of the waste through increases in solid waste collection fees. The law includes procedures for paying increased costs to waste haulers and increasing collection fees for contracts already in effect on the effective date of the act.1 However, new contracts and contract renewals will need to be negotiated with these increased fees in mind.
The fees collected shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue by the landfill operator on a quarterly basis. The Department of Revenue may retain a 1 percent administrative fee and the landfill owner/operator may retain 4 percent of fees collected.
Use of Proceeds
The proceeds from the solid waste disposal fee will be paid to ADEM for administration of programs as set out in the law. In short, the funds must be expended in the following manner:
• 25 percent to the Alabama Recycling Fund to be used for grants for developing, implementing, and enhancing local recycling, reuse and waste minimization projects and programs;
• 25 percent to the Solid Waste Fund to be used for remediation, abatement, and removal of unauthorized dumps and landfills; and
• 45 percent to ADEM to pay administrative costs of the department and to fund educational programs on solid waste management, waste minimization, and recycling.
Recycling Programs
One of the main objectives of the Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act is to make significant improvements in the recycling efforts and programs in the state.
The law requires ADEM to set statewide goals for the reduction in the amount of household and commercial solid waste generated. One key to this is the development of additional and more effective recycling programs.
To accomplish this goal, the law provides for “grants to local governments, authorities, and nonprofit organizations for use in developing, implementing, and enhancing local recycling, reuse, and waste minimization projects and programs.”
These grants – paid out of the 25 percent of fees credited to the Alabama Recycling Fund – will be awarded by ADEM pursuant to rules established by that agency. ADEM is currently in the process of promulgating rules for application and administration of these grants, and ACCA staff is carefully monitoring the rule-making process to try to make sure that the grant application process and administrative requirements will not be so burdensome as to discourage county participation in these available programs.
If the recycling grant program is properly established and administered, it will be a wonderful opportunity for many counties to participate in the important effort to develop effective recycling programs and reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills around the state.
Remediation Programs
The law also provides better funding for illegal dump clean ups around the state. As noted above, 25 percent of the solid waste disposal fees collected under the new statute will be credited to the Solid Waste Fund for this purpose.
Again, ADEM is charged with promulgating rules for distribution of available funds and for administration of this program — and again, ACCA staff is carefully monitoring the rule-making process. Persons or entities desiring remediation funds for clean-up will be required to submit a remediation plan to ADEM, and it appears there will be a “ranking” of illegal dumps in the state as one of the criteria for setting priorities for these “clean up” projects.
As with the recycling program, the availability of these remediation funds could provide significant help to counties with serious illegal dump problems. We will provide more detailed information on this program once the final regulations are adopted and the specific rules for participation are established.
As is always the case, there is an initial negative reaction to any increase in any kind of fee mandated by the legislature, or any level of government. However, in this instance, it appears that the solid waste disposal fee may provide for significant and meaningful opportunities for ADEM and county government to reduce solid wastes, improve recycling efforts in the state, and clean up unsightly and dangerous illegal dumps and landfills.
It will be important that counties monitor carefully how these programs are implemented and administrated once established, but if properly handled the payment of these solid waste disposal fees may be a positive step forward in Alabama.
1 For more details on these procedures, please contact the ACCA office at (334) 263-7594.
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