2019 -- H 5448

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LC001468

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - REFUSE DISPOSAL - EXEMPTING POST-USE

POLYMERS, GASIFICATION PROCESSES AND RECOVERABLE FEED STOCKS

     Introduced By: Representatives Ucci, Costantino, Quattrocchi, and Fellela

     Date Introduced: February 14, 2019

     Referred To: House Environment and Natural Resources

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 23-18.9-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-18.9 entitled "Refuse

Disposal" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-18.9-7. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter, the following terms shall, where the context permits, be

construed as follows:

     (1) "Beneficial reuse material" means a processed, nonhazardous, solid waste not already

defined as recyclable material by this chapter and by regulations of the Rhode Island department

of environmental management that the director has determined can be reused in an

environmentally beneficial manner without creating potential threats to public health, safety,

welfare, or the environment or creating potential nuisance conditions.

     (2) "Beneficial use determination" (BUD) means the case-by-case process by which the

director evaluates a proposal to use a specific solid waste as a beneficial reuse material for a

specific purpose at a specific location within the host municipality.

     (3) "Cocktailing" means the adding, combining, or mixing of hazardous waste as defined

in § 23-19.1-4 with construction debris and demolition debris.

     (4) "Construction and demolition (C&D) debris" means non-hazardous solid waste

resulting from the construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition of utilities and structures and

uncontaminated solid waste resulting from land clearing. This waste includes, but is not limited

to, wood (including painted, treated, and coated wood, and wood products); land-clearing debris;

wall coverings; plaster; drywall; plumbing fixtures; non-asbestos insulation; roofing shingles and

other roof coverings; glass; plastics that are not sealed in a manner that conceals other wastes,

empty buckets ten (10) gallons or less in size and having no more than one inch of residue

remaining on the bottom; electrical wiring and components containing no hazardous liquids; and

pipe and metals that are incidental to any of the previously described waste. Solid waste that is

not C&D debris (even if resulting from the construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition of

utilities, structures and roads; land clearing) includes, but is not limited to, asbestos; waste;

garbage; corrugated container board; electrical fixtures containing hazardous liquids, such as

fluorescent light ballasts or transformers; fluorescent lights; carpeting; furniture; appliances; tires;

drums; containers greater than ten (10) gallons in size; any containers having more than one inch

of residue remaining on the bottom; and fuel tanks. Specifically excluded from the definition of

construction and demolition debris is solid waste (including what otherwise would be

construction and demolition debris) resulting from any processing technique, other than that

employed at a department-approved C&D debris processing facility, that renders individual waste

components unrecognizable, such as pulverizing or shredding.

     (5) "Construction and demolition debris processing facility" means a solid waste

management facility that receives and processes construction and demolition debris. These

facilities must demonstrate, through records maintained at the facility and provided to the

department, that seventy-five percent (75%) of all material received by the facility is processed

and removed from the site within six (6) weeks of receipt on a continuous basis, and that in no

case stores material on site for over three (3) months; provided, however, these facilities do not

include municipal compost facilities.

     (6) "Construction and demolition debris separation facility" means a facility that receives,

separates, and/or screens construction and demolition debris into its components for subsequent

resale or processing that includes, but is not limited to, grinding, shredding, crushing, or

landfilling at another location separate and apart from the location on which the separation

occurs.

     (7) "Director" means the director of the department of environmental management or any

subordinate or subordinates to whom the director has delegated the powers and duties vested in

him or her by this chapter.

     (8) "Expansion" means any increase in volume, size, or scope, either vertically,

horizontally, or otherwise; provided, however, that this section does not apply to the vertical

expansion of the Charlestown municipal landfill until the closure date of July 1, 2000.

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     (9) "Person" includes an individual, firm, partnership, association, and private or

municipal corporation.

     (10) "Recyclable materials" means those materials separated from solid waste for reuse.

The director of the department of environmental management, through regulations, shall specify

those materials that are to be included within the definition of recyclables. The materials to be

included may change from time to time depending upon new technologies, economic conditions,

waste stream characteristics, environmental effects, or other factors. Recyclable materials do not

include post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

     (ii) Held at a pyrolysis or gasification facility prior to processing to ensure production is

not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at a pyrolysis or

gasification facility, but before delivery to the facility.

     (11) "Segregated solid waste" means material separated from other solid waste for reuse.,

but does not include post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

     (ii) Held at a pyrolysis or gasification facility prior to processing to ensure production is

not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at a pyrolysis or

gasification facility, but before delivery to the facility.

     (12) "Solid waste" means garbage, refuse, tree waste as defined by subsection 14 of this

section, and other discarded solid materials generated by residential, institutional, commercial,

industrial, and agricultural sources, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic

sewage or sewage sludge or dredge material as defined in chapter 6.1 of title 46, nor does it

include hazardous waste as defined in chapter 19.1 of this title, nor does it include used asphalt,

concrete, or Portland concrete cement. Solid waste does not include post-use polymers or

recoverable feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

     (ii) Held at a pyrolysis or gasification facility prior to processing to ensure production is

not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at a pyrolysis or

gasification facility, but before delivery to the facility.

     (13) "Solid waste management facility" means any plant, structure, equipment, real and

personal property, except mobile equipment or incinerators with a capacity of less than one

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thousand pounds (1,000 lbs.) per hour, operated for the purpose of processing, treating, or

disposing of solid waste but not segregated solid waste. Any solid waste management facility that

stores waste materials containing gypsum on site over three (3) months must install and maintain

an active gas collection system approved by the department of environment management. Solid

waste management facilities do not include pyrolysis or gasification facilities.

     (14)(a) "Tree waste" means all parts of a tree, including stumps, branches, and logs that

shall be considered solid waste for purposes of this chapter unless the tree waste meets the

following criteria:

     (1) The tree waste remains on the property where it was generated; or

     (2) The tree waste remains in the possession of the person who generated it and is stored

above the ground surface, on property that the same person controls, for purposes of recycling

and reuse; or

     (3) The tree waste, whether generated on or off-site, is being actively managed as a

usable wood product such as landscape mulch, wood chips, firewood, or mulch.

     (b) The application of the criteria set forth in this section shall not be deemed to abrogate,

diminish, or impair the enforcement of the requirements established pursuant to chapter 28.1 of

this title or the authority of the state and/or a city or town to protect the public health, safety, or

welfare from a public nuisance resulting from the storage and handling of tree waste.

     (15) "Organic waste material" means the organic material portion of the solid waste

stream, including, but not limited to, food scraps, food processing residue, and soiled or

unrecyclable paper that has been separated from nonorganic material.

     (16) "Composting facility" means land, appurtenances, structures, or equipment where

organic materials originating from another process or location that have been separated at the

point or source of generation from nonorganic material are recovered using a process of

accelerated biological decomposition of organic material under controlled aerobic conditions.

     (17) "Anaerobic digestion facility" means a facility employing a closed vessel to perform

a closed process of accelerated biodegradation of organic materials and/or organic solid wastes

into biogas and digestate, using microorganisms under controlled conditions in the absence of

oxygen.

     (18) "Other authorized recycling method" means:

     (i) Recycling organic waste material on site or treating organic waste material via on-site

organic treatment equipment permitted pursuant to the general laws or federal law; or

     (ii) Diverting organic waste material for agricultural use, including consumption by

animals.

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     (19) "Covered entity" means each commercial food wholesaler or distributor, industrial

food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, resort or conference center, banquet hall,

restaurant, religious institution, military installation, prison, corporation, hospital or other medical

care institution, and casino.

     (20) "Covered educational institution" means a higher educational or research institution.

     (21) "Covered educational facility" means a building or group of two (2) or more

interconnected buildings owned or used by a covered educational institution at which organic

waste materials are generated.

     (22) "Gasification" means a process through which recoverable feedstocks are heated and

converted into a fuel-gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and the mixture is converted

to crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels, chemicals, waxes, lubricants,

chemical feedstocks, diesel and gasoline blendstocks, or other raw materials or intermediate or

final products that are returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials,

products, or fuels. Gasification shall not be deemed resource recovery, treatment, utilization,

conversion, waste processing, reconstituting, recycling, waste management, incineration, or

disposal.

     (23) "Gasification facility" means a facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts

post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks using gasification. A gasification facility shall not

be deemed a solid waste management facility, a waste processing facility, or an incinerator.

     (24) "Post-use polymer" means a plastic polymer to which all of the following apply:

      (i) It is derived from any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities;

      (ii) Its use or intended use is to manufacture crude oil, fuels, feedstocks, blendstocks,

raw materials, or other intermediate products or final products using pyrolysis or gasification; and

     (iii) It may contain incidental contaminants or impurities, such as paper labels or metal

rings.

     (25) "Pyrolysis" means a process through which post-use polymers are heated in the

absence of oxygen until melted and thermally decomposed, and are then cooled, condensed, and

converted to crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels, chemicals, waxes,

lubricants, chemical feedstocks, diesel and gasoline blendstocks, or other raw materials or

intermediate or final products that are returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw

materials, products, or fuels. Pyrolysis shall not be deemed resource recovery, treatment,

utilization, conversion, waste processing, reconstituting, recycling, waste management,

incineration, or disposal.

     (26) "Pyrolysis facility" means a facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts

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post-use polymers using pyrolysis. A pyrolysis facility shall not be deemed a solid waste

management facility, a waste processing facility, or an incinerator.

     (27) "Recoverable feedstock" means one or more of the following materials, derived from

recoverable waste, that has been processed in order that it may be used as feedstock in a

gasification facility:

      (i) Post-use polymers; or

      (ii) Materials for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a

nonwaste determination under 40 C.F.R. 241.3(c) or has otherwise determined are not solid

waste. Provided, however, recoverable feedstock does not include unprocessed municipal solid

waste.

     SECTION 2. Section 23-19-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-19 entitled "Rhode

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

     23-19-5. Definitions.

     The following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed to them in this section

unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

     (1) "Bonds and notes" means bonds, including without limitation refunding bonds, notes,

including without limitation renewal notes and bond anticipation notes, and other obligations or

evidences of indebtedness of the corporation issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and

the resolutions of the corporation.

     (2) "Central landfill" means the central landfill located in Johnston.

     (3) "Corporation" means the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation created and

established pursuant to this chapter.

     (4) "Landfill revenues" means the surplus, if any, of all tipping fees and other revenues

received at the central landfill over the annual costs of the landfill, and a pro-rata share of the

corporation's administrative expenses.

     (5) "Municipal solid waste" means that solid waste generated by the residents of a

municipality in the course of their daily living, the disposal of which the governing body of that

municipality has undertaken in the discharge of its duties to protect the health of the municipality.

Municipal solid waste does not include solid waste generated by residents of a municipality in the

course of their employment or that generated by any manufacturing or commercial enterprise.

     (6) "Municipal solid waste disposal arrangements" means those arrangements entered

into by a municipality which provide for the final disposal of wastes in a manner approved by the

department of health, the department of environmental management, and the corporation;

provided, however, that the disposal of wastes in transfer stations or facilities for interim storage

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shall not constitute final disposal of the wastes.

     (7) "Municipality" means any town or city within the state.

     (8) "Person" means any individual, firm, institution, partnership, association or

corporation, public, or private, organized or existing under the laws of the state or other states

including federal corporations, but excluding municipalities.

     (9) "Project" means the design, acquisition, ownership, operation, construction,

rehabilitation, improvement, development, sale, lease, or other disposition of, or the provision of

financing for, any solid waste management facility or the industrial and/or business parks in the

town of Johnston authorized by § 23-19-9(a)(7) and the highway access authorized by § 23-19-

10.3.

     (10) "Recyclable materials" means those materials separated from solid waste for reuse.

The director of the department of environmental management through regulations shall specify

those materials that are to be included within the definition of recyclables. The materials to be

included may change from time to time depending upon new technologies, economic conditions,

characteristics of the waste stream, environmental effects, or other factors. Provided, however,

recyclable materials do not include post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

     (ii) Held at such a facility prior to processing to ensure production is not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at a pyrolysis or

gasification facility, but before delivery to such a facility.

     (11) "Recycling" means the reuse of recovered resources in manufacturing, agriculture,

power production, or other processes.

     (12) "Resource recovery" means the processing of solid wastes in such a way as to

produce materials or energy that may be used in manufacturing, agriculture, and other processes.

     (13) "Resource recovery system" means the corporation's integrated system of resource

recovery consisting of a series of waste processing facilities designed to process a minimum of

seventy percent (70%) of the municipal and commercial solid waste streams by employing an on-

site waste separation technology for the purpose of recycling and/or reusing a minimum of

seventy percent (70%) of the solid waste stream, and minimal use of landfills for the purpose of

providing temporary backup or bypass landfill capacity and residue disposal from waste

processing facilities and any other related facilities and services.

     (14) "Resource recovery system costs" means all operating costs of the system; debt

service and other financing costs related to the resource recovery system; the costs of recycling

grants-in-aid and similar obligations of the corporation; allocations for extraordinary and

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unexpected costs; and a pro-rata share of the corporation's administrative expenses.

     (15) "Resource recovery system revenues" means all amounts received by the corporation

as municipal tipping fees, non-municipal tipping fees, energy revenues, revenues from the sale of

recyclable materials, and all other revenues received with respect to the resource recovery system,

but shall not include any landfill revenues and any amounts received as a state subsidy.

     (16) "Revenues" means monies or income received by the corporation in whatever form,

including but not limited to fees, charges, lease payments, interest payments on investments,

payments due and owing on account of an instrument, contract, or agreement between the

corporation, any municipality, or person, gifts, grants, or any other monies or payments to which

the corporation is entitled under the provisions of this chapter or any other law, or of any

agreement, contract, or indenture.

     (17) "Segregated solid waste" means material which has been separated from the waste

stream at the generation source for the purpose of recovering and recycling the materials.; but

does not include post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

     (ii) Held at a pyrolysis or gasification facility prior to processing to ensure production is

not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at a pyrolysis or

gasification facility, but before delivery to the facility.

     (18) "Solid waste" means garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water

supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials, including

solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material generated by residential, institutional,

commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources but does not include solids or dissolved materials

in domestic sewage. Solid waste does not include post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks

that are:

     (i) Processed at a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

     (ii) Held at a pyrolysis or gasification facility prior to processing to ensure production is

not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at a pyrolysis or

gasification facility, but before delivery to the facility.

     (19) "Solid waste management facility" means any plant, structure, equipment, and other

property, real, personal, or mixed, or the modification or replacement of any of the foregoing, for

the receipt, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, transporting, or final disposition of or

recovery of resources from solid waste other than segregated solid waste, or any facility which

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disposes of solid waste by reconstituting, converting, or otherwise recycling it into material which

is not waste; or any property or system to be used in whole or in part for any of the previously

mentioned purposes, whether or not another purpose is also served by it; or any other property or

system incidental to, or which has to do with, or the end purpose of which, is any of the

foregoing; or any combination of two (2) or more of the foregoing. Solid waste management

facilities do not include pyrolysis or gasification facilities.

     (20) "Statewide resource recovery system development plan" means that plan which will

specify the location, size, and type of solid waste management facilities that may be required to

develop an integrated statewide resource recovery system for the effective management of solid

waste in Rhode Island. It will also specify a proposed schedule by which the component facilities

will be phased into the statewide system, and it will provide for the administrative and financial

requirements for implementing the plan.

     (21) "Waste management" means actions taken to effectuate the receipt, storage,

transportation, and processing for resource recovery and recycling, or for the ultimate disposal, of

solid waste.

     (22) "Waste processing facility" means a solid waste facility employing recycling based

technology employing an on-site waste separation technology designed to process both nonsource

separated and source separated solid waste for the purpose of recycling, and/or composting,

and/or reusing a minimum of seventy percent (70%) of the municipal and commercial solid waste

streams.

     (23) "Gasification" means a process through which recoverable feedstocks are heated and

converted into a fuel-gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and the mixture is converted

to crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels, chemicals, waxes, lubricants,

chemical feedstocks, diesel and gasoline blendstocks, or other raw materials or intermediate or

final products that are returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials,

products, or fuels. Gasification shall not be deemed resource recovery, treatment, utilization,

conversion, solid waste processing, reconstituting, recycling, solid waste management,

incineration, or disposal.

     (24) "Gasification facility" means a facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts

post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks using gasification. A gasification facility shall not

be deemed a solid waste management facility, a waste processing facility, or an incinerator.

     (25) "Post-use polymer" means a plastic polymer to which all of the following apply:

      (i) It is derived from any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities;

      (ii) Its use or intended use is to manufacture crude oil, fuels, feedstocks, blendstocks,

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raw materials, or other intermediate products or final products using pyrolysis or gasification; and

     (iii) It may contain incidental contaminants or impurities, such as paper labels or metal

rings.

     (26) "Pyrolysis" means a process through which post-use polymers are heated in the

absence of oxygen until melted and thermally decomposed, and are then cooled, condensed, and

converted to crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels, chemicals, waxes,

lubricants, chemical feedstocks, diesel and gasoline blendstocks, or other raw materials or

intermediate or final products that are returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw

materials, products, or fuels. Pyrolysis shall not be deemed resource recovery, treatment,

utilization, conversion, waste processing, reconstituting, recycling, waste management,

incineration, or disposal.

     (27) "Pyrolysis facility" means a facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts

post-use polymers using pyrolysis. A pyrolysis facility shall not be deemed a solid waste

management facility, a waste processing facility, or an incinerator.

     (28) "Recoverable feedstock" means one or more of the following materials, derived from

recoverable waste, that has been processed in order that it may be used as feedstock in a

gasification facility:

      (i) Post-use polymers; or

      (ii) Materials for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a

nonwaste determination under 40 C.F.R. 241.3(c) or has otherwise determined are not solid

waste. Provided, however, recoverable feedstock does not include unprocessed municipal solid

waste.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC001468

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - REFUSE DISPOSAL - EXEMPTING POST-USE

POLYMERS, GASIFICATION PROCESSES AND RECOVERABLE FEED STOCKS

***

     This act would exempt recoverable plastics from the materials classified as solid waste

and provide for the converting of recoverable plastics to plastic and chemical feedstocks, crude

oil, lower carbon transportation fuels or other valuable raw materials.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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