Chapter 330
2009 -- H 6241 AS AMENDED
Enacted 11/13/09
A N A C T
RELATING TO
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Introduced By: Representatives Malik, and McNamara
Date Introduced: June 04, 2009
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 23-19-3 of the General Laws in Chapter
23-19 entitled "Rhode
Island Resource Recovery
Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:
23-19-3.
Declaration of policy. -- The following are
declared to be policies of the state:
(1) That the ultimate
solid waste management objective of the state is to maximize
recycling and reuse of solid waste;
(2) That solid waste
management facilities and projects are to be implemented either by
the state or under state auspices, in furtherance of
these goals;
(3) That appropriate
governmental structure, processes, and support must be provided so
that an effective and integrated statewide network of
solid waste management facilities may be
planned, financed, developed and operated for the benefit of
the people and municipalities of the
state;
(4) That solid waste
management activities be conducted in an environmentally sound
manner;
(5) That private
industry be encouraged to continue playing a key role
in the state's solid
waste management programs;
(6) That solid waste
management facilities and services be provided for municipalities,
institutions, and persons in the state at reasonable costs, by
state solid waste management systems
and facilities, where the services and facilities are
considered necessary and desirable; the
facilities and services shall be used by all persons and
municipalities within the state under terms
and conditions that the
establish; provided, however, that municipalities operating
their own landfills on December 1,
1986 shall be free to continue to use the landfills
until the closure of the landfills; and provided,
further, that this subdivision shall not be construed to
affect or impair any valid contract for
disposal of municipal waste which was in effect on March 1,
1985 until the expiration of the
original term of the contract, or the expiration of any
extension approved by the corporation, or
sooner termination of the contract; after the closure of the
landfill or expiration or earlier
termination of the contracts, the municipalities shall be
required to use the facilities and services
as the corporation shall direct;
(7) That provision
shall be made for planning, research, and development, and
appropriate innovation in the design, management, and operation
of the state's system for solid
waste management, in order to permit continuing improvement
and provide adequate incentives
and processes for lowering operating and other costs;
(8) That the
chapter shall plan and implement solid waste management
facilities where necessary and
desirable throughout the state, in accordance with the general
laws and with applicable state
regulations, including, without limitation, regulations of the
department of health and the
department of environmental management;
(9) The creation, licensing,
and operation of landfill solid waste disposal facilities should
be limited to what is reasonably required to service the
needs of the inhabitants and businesses of
this state, having regard for alternative technologies for
waste disposal;
(10) That the
with a private concern or directly by the corporation, a
recycling facility as defined by the
department of environmental management at, or within a
convenient distance of, all solid waste
disposal facilities under its jurisdiction. These recycling
facilities will provide cities and towns
with a place to deposit their recyclable materials at no
tipping cost to the municipalities; provided,
however, that tipping fees may be charged in accordance with
this chapter when the solid waste
processing facility is designed to process nonsource
separated or partially source separated solid
waste for recycling at least seventy percent (70%) of the
municipal solid waste stream.
(11) An integrated
approach shall be adopted with respect to solid waste management
planning and implementation activities that shall be based on
the following priorities to the extent
economically feasible:
(i)
Reduction of the amount of source waste generated;
(ii) Source separation
and recycling;
(iii) Waste processing
such as recycling based technology to reduce the volume of waste
necessary for land disposal;
(iv)
Land disposal;
(12) That the central
landfill should be reserved for the disposal of solid waste generated
within the state; and
(13) That the resource
recovery corporation will operate the central landfill in a manner
designed to afford to the environment and to the citizens of
the state who reside near the landfill
the maximum protection which is available for the land
disposal of rubbish and minimize or
eliminate land disposal of solid waste.
(14) That due to the
myriad of over four hundred (400) toxic pollutants including lead,
mercury, dioxins, and acid gasses known to be emitted by
solid waste incinerators, the known and
unknown threats posed by solid waste incinerators to the
health and safety of Rhode Islanders,
particularly children, along with the known and unknown threats to
the environment are
unacceptable.
(15) That despite the
use of state of the art landfill liner systems and leachate
collection
systems, landfills, and particularly incinerator ash
landfills, release toxic leachate into ground and
surface waters which poses an unacceptable threat to public
health, the environment, and the
state's limited ground and surface water resources.
(16) That incineration
of solid waste is the most costly method of waste disposal with
known and unknown escalating costs that would place
substantial and unreasonable burdens on
both state and municipal budgets to the point of seriously
jeopardizing the public's interest.
(17) That the highest
and best use of leaf and yard debris is for use in the composting
process and the resulting compost material is a valuable soil
amendment for agricultural and
landscaping operations. The corporation shall accept segregated
leaf and yard debris collected
from municipalities as part of a municipal leaf and yard
waste diversion program. Municipalities
shall have a .025 ton per person cap on the amount of leaf
and yard debris they deliver to the
corporation's facility annually beginning on July 1, 2009. The
corporation shall establish a
municipal leaf and yard debris borrowing program that allows
municipalities to share portions of
their choosing of their unutilized cap tonnage with
municipalities that are in excess of their cap
tonnage. This program shall not allow an individual
municipality to borrow more than one-half
(1/2) of its established tonnage
cap. This material shall be accepted at no charge to
municipalities,
provided that the corporation may charge twenty-five dollars
($25.00) per ton for every ton that
exceeds the per person cap not including any tonnage that
a municipality utilized from the leaf
and yard debris borrowing program established for the municipality. This material shall
be
composted at the corporation's facility. The resulting compost
shall be used by the corporation for
operational and construction needs, may be marketed by the
corporation to help offset processing
costs and may be periodically available to municipalities
and state agencies at no charge. The
corporation shall quantify the amount of leaf and yard debris it
requires on an annual basis to
create compost for landfill and construction operation
purposes. The corporation shall report this
amount to the general assembly no later than September 1,
2008.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02503
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