An Act To Promote and Monitor Competition in the Solid Waste Industry
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1515
Committee: Natural Resources
Sponsors: MARTIN, KOFFMAN
Amends: 38 MRSA §2101, 38 MRSA §2112, 38 MRSA §2124-A, 38 MRSA §2231, 38 MRSA §2232

Legislative Document 
No. 1515 
S.P.507 
In Senate, April 2, 2003 
An Act To Promote and Monitor Competition in the Solid Waste 
Industry 
Submitted by the Department of the Attorney General pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Natural Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator MARTIN of Aroostook. 
Cosponsored by Representative KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor. 
Printed on recycled paper 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §2101, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 585, Pt. A, 
§7, is amended to read: 
§2101. 
Solid waste management hierarchy; competition 
1. 
Priorities. 
It is the policy of the State to plan for 
and implement an integrated approach to solid waste management, 
which shall be based on the following order of priority: 
A. 
Reduction of waste generated at the source, 
including 
both amount and toxicity of the waste; 
B. Reuse of waste; 
C. Recycling of waste; 
D. Composting of biodegradable waste; 
E. 
Waste 
processing 
which 
reduces 
the 
volume 
of 
waste 
needing land disposal, including incineration; and 
F. Land disposal of waste. 
2. 
Competition. 
It is the policy of the State to ensure 
that municipalities and businesses enjoy reasonable, 
competitiv_~ 
options for the management and disposal of solid waste. 
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §2112 is enacted to read: 
§2112. 
Small container contract restrictions 
1. 
Definitions. 
As 
used 
in this 
section, 
unless 
the 
context 
otherwise 
indicates, 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following meanings. 
A. 
"Small containerized solid waste hauling service" means 
providing 
solid 
waste 
hauling 
service 
to 
customers 
by 
providing the customer with a small container or dumpster 
that 
is 
picked 
up 
and 
emptied 
mechanically 
using 
a 
front-loading or rear-loading truck. 
"Small containerized 
solid waste hauling service" does not include hand pickup 
service or service using a compactor that is attached to or 
part of a small container. 
B. 
"Small container" means a 2- to 10-cubic-yard container 
or dumpster. 
Page I-LRI822(1) 
C. 
"Solid waste hauling seryice" means 
the collection, 
removal and transportation to a solid waste transfer station 
or disposal site of trash and garbage. 
As 
used in this 
paragraph, trash and garbage do not include construction and 
demoli tion debris, medical waste, hazardous waste, organic 
waste, special waste such as contaminated soil or sludge or 
recyclable materials. 
2. 
Contracts. 
All contracts for the provision of small 
containerized solid waste hauling service to customers located in 
this State must: 
A. 
Permit 
customers 
to 
terminate 
such 
contracts 
by 
providing no more than 30 days' notice prior to termination 
by any reasonable method, including, at a 
m~n~mum, mail, 
electronically transmitted facsimile and e-mail: and 
B. 
Limit the financial charge for early termination of the 
contract to: 
$75, 2 times the current monthly charge or 2 
times the average monthly charge during the most recent 
6-month period, whichever is least. 
3. 
Exception. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 
I 
a contract for the 
prov~S1on of small containerized solid 
waste hauling service to a customer located in this State may 
contain contract terms that do not conform to the reguirements of 
subsection 2 if those alternative terms are specified in a bona 
fide reguest for proposals or reguest for bids initiated by the 
customer. 
4. 
Information regarding prices and terms. 
A contract for 
the provision of small containerized solid waste hauling service 
to a customer located in this State may not reguire the customer 
to inform a contractor concerning prices or other terms offered 
by competitors or reguire the customer to afford the contractor 
an opportunity to match or respond to a competitor's offer. 
5. 
Effect on existing contracts. 
Provisions in contracts 
in force on the effective date of this section that do not 
conform to the reguirements of this section are unenforceable. 
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §2124-A, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 588, §4, 
is amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read: 
The 
report must 
include 
an analysis of 
how 
changes 
in 
available disposal capacity have affected or are likely to affect 
disposal prices. 
When the office determines that a decline in 
available landfill capacity has generated or has the potential to 
generate supracompetitiye prices, it shall include this finding 
in its report and shall include recommendations for legislative 
or regulatory changes as necessary. 
Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §2231, sub-§l-A is enacted to read: 
I-A. 
Landfill 
facility. 
"Landfill 
facility" 
means 
a 
facility that accepts solid waste and disposes of the waste 
through landfilling or processes the waste for reuse. 
Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §2232, as amended by PL 1999, c. 657, §27, is 
further amended to read: 
§2232. 
Reporting 
An incineration facility and landfill facility shall submit 
an annual report to the office no later than 90 days after the 
end of the iReiRel'atieR facility's fiscal year. 
For reasonable 
cause 
shown 
and upon written application by 
an incineration 
facility or landfill facility, the office may grant an extension 
of 
the 
90-day period. 
The 
report must 
be certified by 
an 
appropriate executive officer of the iReiRel'atieR facility as 
being complete and accurate. 
The office may prescribe the form 
of the annual report and the number of copies that must be 
submitted. 
The report must include the following information: 
1. 
Waste. 
The total weight in tons of all solid waste 
received by the incineration facility or landfill facility in the 
last completed fiscal year and each month of that year and a 
breakdown of these totals according to the waste S91:ll'eeS ~ 
and 
waste 
source 
categories, 
including 
both 
in-state 
and 
out-of-state as specified by the office; 
2. 
Tippinq fee. 
A schedule of various tipping fees imposed 
by 
the 
incineration 
facility 
or 
landfill 
facility 
on 
the 
iReiRel'atieR facility's municipal and commercial customers over 
the last completed fiscal year including an identification of all 
changes in those fees 
and a 
similar schedule of fees to be 
imposed on municipal and commercial customers for the next fiscal 
year. 
The tipping fees for commercial customers must be set out 
separately by each rate charged to each category of commercial 
customer; 
3. 
Revenue. 
The total revenue of the incineration facility 
or landfill facility from all sources for the last completed 
fiscal year and each month of that year. 
Revenue figures must 
identify revenues from each revenue source, including, but not 
limited to, revenues from disposal fees, disaggregated by waste 
type 
and waste source category as specified by the office, 
tipping fees 
and 
any 
revenue 
from 
sales 
of electricity to 
transmission and distribution utilities; 
4. 
Expenditures. 
The 
total 
expenditures 
of 
the 
incineration facility 
or 
landfill 
facility 
during 
the 
last 
completed fiscal year including details of those expenditures as 
required by the office; and 
5. 
Other information. 
Any other information required by 
the office to comply with its obligations under this chapter. 
SUMMARY 
This bill imposes restrictions on the 
use of so-called 
"evergreen" contract clauses in small container commercial trash 
hauling contracts. 
The bill declares that it is the policy of 
the State to ensure that municipalities and businesses enjoy 
reasonable, competitive options for the management and disposal 
of solid waste and broadens the data collection and reporting 
responsibilities of 
the 
Executive 
Department, 
State Planning 
Office.