Chapter
283
2005 -- S 0063
Enacted 07/15/05
A N A C T
RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- RHODE ISLAND RESOURCE RECOVERY CORPORATION
Introduced By: Senator Joseph M. Polisena
Date Introduced: January 13, 2005
It is enacted
by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Section 23-19-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-19 entitled "Rhode
Island
Resource Recovery Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:
23-19-13.
Municipal participation in state program. -- (a) (1) Any person or
municipality
which intends to transfer, treat, or dispose of solid waste originating or
collected
within
the state, or which intends to make arrangements to do so, shall utilize,
exclusively, a
system
or facility designated by the corporation as provided under this chapter. All
transfer
stations
in existence as of December 1, 1986 are empowered so long as they maintain the
appropriate
license to continue their operations, and the corporation shall not exercise
its powers
under
this chapter to compete with their operation and activity. No municipality
shall have power
to
engage in, grant any license, or permit for or enter into any contract for the
collection,
treatment,
transportation, storage, or disposal of solid waste, and no municipality or any
person
shall
engage in any activities within the state, including disposal of solid waste,
which would
impair
the ability of the corporation to meet its contractual obligations to its
bondholders and
others, or
which would be in competition with the purposes of the corporation as provided
in this
chapter.
The corporation shall not be empowered to engage in the transportation,
transfer, or
storage
of solid waste, except in temporary situations where a municipality has
defaulted in its
obligation
under this section, or in conjunction with its activities at its disposal
sites. Provided,
however,
that municipal contracts which were in existence on March 1, 1985, are excepted
from
this
requirement until expiration of the original term of the contract or the
expiration of any
extension
approved by the corporation, or sooner termination of the contracts, and
provided,
further,
that municipalities operating their own landfills on December 1, 1986 shall be
free to
continue
to use the landfills until closure of the landfills. Without limiting the
generality of the
preceding,
municipalities and persons are expressly empowered to contract with the
corporation
and/or,
subject to the approval of the corporation, with a duly licensed private
disposal facility for
the
disposal of solid wastes. The approval shall be conditioned upon a finding by
the board of
commissioners
of the corporation that any proposed contract with a Rhode Island municipality
or
person
is in conformity with the statewide resource recovery system development plan
and this
chapter,
and that the proposed contract will not impair the ability of the corporation
to meet its
contractual
obligations to its bondholders and others. The contracts may have a maximum
total
term,
including all renewals, of up to fifty (50) years.
(2) The corporation shall charge fees for its solid waste management services
that,
together
with other revenues available to the corporation, will, at a minimum, be
sufficient to
provide
for the support of the corporation and its operations on a self-sustaining
basis, including
debt
service on its bonds and other obligations.
(b) Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the
provisions of any
other
laws of this state, general, special, or local, restricting the power of any
municipality to
enter
into long term contracts with the corporation, the provisions of this chapter
shall be
controlling.
The corporation shall provide suitable and appropriate assistance to
communities
under
these circumstances. Notwithstanding the preceding, if the corporation deems it
desirable,
it may
from time to time permit municipalities to contract among themselves for the
disposal of
their
wastes.
(c) Municipalities, along with private producers of waste which contract with
the
corporation
for disposal of their wastes, shall continue to be free to make their own
arrangements
for
collection of wastes at the source and/or the hauling of wastes to the
designated processing
and/or
transfer stations, so long as those arrangements are in compliance with the
provisions of
chapter
18.9 of this title and with this chapter, and any municipal license relating
thereto.
(d) All municipalities and state agencies which are participants in the state
waste
disposal
program shall initiate a separation and recycling program within one year after
the date
on which
the resource recovery facility utilized by that municipality or agency is
operational and
accepting
waste for incineration.
(e) (1) The corporation and any municipality may enter into a contract or
contracts
providing
for or relating to the disposal of solid waste originating in the municipality
and the cost
and
expense of the disposal.
(2) The contract may be made with or without consideration and for a specified
or
unspecified
time not to exceed fifty (50) years, and on any terms and conditions which may
be
approved
by the municipality and which may be agreed to by the corporation in conformity
with
its
contracts with the holders of any bonds or other obligations. Subject to the
contracts with the
holders
of bonds, the municipality is authorized and directed to do and perform any and
all acts or
things
necessary, convenient, or desirable to carry out and perform the contract and
to provide for
the
payment or discharge of any obligation under the contract in the same manner as
other
obligations
of the municipality.
(f) The municipalities and the state have shared responsibility for the payment
of the cost
of
municipal solid waste disposal. The state will pay its share of the cost of the
solid waste
disposal
services to be provided by the corporation to the municipalities at its solid
waste
management
facilities and its central landfill in the town of Johnston, and at any back-up
facility
which
the corporation is required to provide, by providing solid waste disposal
operating
subsidies
as provided in subsections (i) and (j).
(g) (1) The corporation shall charge each municipality with which it has a
long-term
contract
for solid waste disposal services a tipping fee per ton of source separated
solid waste
excluding
separated recyclable materials, sludge, and demolition debris delivered to any
corporation
facility computed in accordance with this subsection. For purposes of this
chapter,
"fiscal
year" shall mean the twelve-month period, July 1 to June 30. The municipal
tipping fee
shall be
equal to one hundred seven and one-half percent (107.5%) of the prior fiscal
year's
municipal
tipping fee through the end of the 2009 fiscal year. One dollar and ten cents
($1.10) per
ton on
all garbage, including recycled garbage, collected by the corporation as
tipping fee shall be
paid to
the town of Johnston. In addition to any other fees the corporation shall
also charge a
three
dollar ($3.00) tipping fee per vehicle. Any vehicle carrying municipal solid
waste shall be
exempt
from this three dollar ($3.00) tipping fee. All fees collected shall be paid to
the town of
Johnston
on a biannual basis. No tipping fee
shall be charged for recyclable materials delivered to
a
recycling facility provided by or through the corporation.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (g)(1), the municipal tipping
fee may
be
increased, if, due to the commencement of operation of a new resource recovery
facility during
the
previous fiscal year, the state subsidy as calculated pursuant to subsection
(i), not considering
landfill
revenues and losses, is projected to be greater than the state subsidy
projected by the
corporation
and the department of administration when the projections were officially
accepted
by the
corporation on the basis of contracts entered into for the initial resource
recovery facility.
The amount
by which the projected state subsidy exceeds the original projections will be
apportioned
between the state and the municipalities in the same ratio as the state subsidy
for the
previous
year divided by the number of tons of municipal solid waste processed by the
corporation
bears to the municipal tipping fee for that year. The increased municipal
tipping fee
herein
provided shall be subject to the same escalation factor as the municipal
tipping fee set forth
above.
(3) The corporation shall establish in the contract, the maximum amount of
municipal
solid
waste that each municipality will be entitled to deliver to the corporation at
the municipal
tipping
fee. Solid waste in excess of the contract amount will be charged to the
municipality at the
non-municipal
rate. In determining the maximum amount of municipal solid waste which will
qualify
for the municipal tipping fee, the corporation shall consider the
municipality's solid waste
per
capita average, the statewide solid waste per capita average, and any other
factors that it shall
deem
appropriate.
(h) The corporation, after the initial resource recovery facility becomes
operational, shall
charge
each non-municipal user of its facilities a fee per ton equal to the projected annual
resource
recovery system cost less energy revenues and interest earnings on bond reserve
funds,
if any,
divided by the projected tons to be processed by the corporation at its
resource facilities
for the
year. Landfill costs shall not be considered in the calculation unless landfill
costs exceed
revenues
generated at the landfills; in those cases, excess landfill costs will be added
to the
system
costs.
(i) The annual state subsidy for the cost of disposal of municipal solid waste
shall be
calculated
for each fiscal year or portion of each fiscal year according to the following
formula:
The
annual state subsidy shall equal the total projected annual resource recovery
system costs
(minus
costs associated with the central landfill) for the next fiscal year less the
sum of the
following:
(1) projected resource recovery system revenues for the year; and (2) projected
landfill
revenues;
provided, however, that in the event that the landfill is projected to operate
at a loss, the
amount
of the loss shall be added to the subsidy.
(j) (1) On or before October 1 of each year, the corporation shall submit a
budget to the
director
of administration for the succeeding fiscal year using actual resource recovery
system
revenues
and costs, and the audit of the preceding fiscal year prepared by the
corporation's
independent
auditors and accepted by the auditor general. On or before December 1 of each
year,
the
director of administration, in consultation with the corporation, shall review
the budget of the
corporation
and shall determine and certify the annual state subsidy for the succeeding
fiscal year
to the
governor who shall submit to the general assembly printed copies of a budget
which shall
include
the state subsidy as previously determined in this subsection. The state
subsidy
appropriation
shall be on a system basis but shall contain specific appropriations for each
resource
recovery facility. If the amount appropriated exceeds the amount needed for a
specific
facility,
the corporation, with the approval of the director of administration, may
reallocate the
appropriated
but unadvanced funds to other corporation facilities or costs. If the audit
prepared by
the
corporation's independent auditors indicates that the amounts appropriated and
disbursed to
the
corporation as a subsidy were in excess of the amounts which would have been
required for
the year
if actual resource recovery system revenues and costs had been used in the
calculation of
the subsidy,
the excess shall be credited against the current fiscal year's subsidy.
(2) At any time, if the corporation determines that the state subsidy will be
insufficient to
discharge
the corporation's obligations for the current fiscal year, it shall request, in
writing, to
the
director of administration for a supplemental appropriation. After review, the
director of
administration
will recommend to the governor additional funding for the corporation, and the
governor
after further review, shall submit a supplemental appropriation bill request
for the funds
to the
general assembly.
(3) From the appropriations made by the general assembly, the state controller
is
authorized
and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer every month
for the
payment
of those sums that may be required upon receipt by him or her of properly
authenticated
vouchers.
(k) If, in any fiscal year, the appropriation for the state subsidy is not made
and if the
corporation
has insufficient other funds to discharge its obligations to holders of its
bonds and
notes as
certified by the state auditor general, the corporation shall be empowered to
charge both
municipal
and non-municipal users whatever fees are necessary to discharge its obligations
to
holders
of its bonds and notes, and the municipal tipping fee set forth in subsection
(g) shall not
be
applicable for the fiscal year.
(l) On or after the date established for separation of recyclable solid waste
in the
statewide
plan for separation of recyclables by the department of environmental
management,
only
segregated solid waste shall be accepted at the corporation's facilities.
(m) Costs associated with participation in the state program shall not
constitute state
mandated
costs under section 45-13-7.
SECTION 2. This act shall
take effect upon passage.
=======
LC00510
=======