An Act To Ensure Certain Protections to Communities Hosting Waste-to-energy Facilities
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1578
Committee: Natural Resources
Sponsors: HOBBINS, TWOMEY, SULLIVAN, BEAUDETTE, HOGAN, PILON, VALENTINO
Amends: 38 MRSA §1303-C, 38 MRSA §1304, 38 MRSA §1304-D, 38 MRSA §1310-N

Legislative Document 
No. 1578 
S.P.560 
In Senate, April 26, 2005 
An Act To Ensure Certain Protections to Communities Hosting 
Waste-to-energy Facilities 
Reference to the Committee on Natural Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator HOBBINS of York. 
Cosponsored by Representative TWOMEY of Biddeford and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senator: SULLIVAN of York, Representatives: BEAUDETTE of Biddeford, HOGAN of Old 
Orchard Beach, PILON of Saco, VALENTINO of Saco. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§15-B is enacted to read: 
15-8. 
Host community. 
"Host community" means 
any town, 
township 
or 
city 
that 
is 
the 
geographical 
site 
of 
a 
waste-to-energy facility or any town, township or city that is 
party to a host community waste handling agreement for disposal 
of municipal solid waste, 
dated prior to December 
31, 
2004, 
including 
specifically 
that 
agreement 
between 
the 
City 
of 
Biddeford and the City of Saco and the Maine Energy Recovery 
Company, L.P., dated June 7, 1991. 
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §1304-n, sub-§4-B is enacted to read: 
4-8. 
Contract with host 
community. 
Any 
contract 
for 
disposal of solid waste or municipal solid waste entered into by 
or with a host community must meet the conditions set forth in 
section 1310-N, subsection 9. 
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §1304-D is enacted to read: 
§1304-D. 
Host community may adopt rules 
Notwithstanding section 1304, subsections 1, I-A, 1-8 and 
1-C, a host community may adopt its own reasonable rules on the 
transportation of solid waste, 
municipal solid waste, 
special 
waste 
and 
refuse-derived 
fuel 
through 
that 
host 
community, 
including posting certain roads with weight limitations, setting 
route limitations or restrictions to minimize the disruption of 
predominantly residential areas or areas of special environmental 
concern or sensitivity, limiting hours for the delivery of such 
wastes and setting penalties for transporters who leak, spill or 
discharge wastes onto public ways. 
Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §1310-N, sub-§9, ,B, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
465, Pt. A, §16 and affected by Pt. C, §2, is amended to read: 
B. 
RaseQ-QpeR-~Be-~~~-~~~~r~}&Gt~-~~~&-e~-~ae 
p~epeseQ--~ae~*~~YT An 
agreement 
between 
an 
incineration 
facility or its owner or operator and 
a 
host community 
a~~eemeBts or other community mustT-waeB-applieaaleT include 
provisions regarding: 
(1) 
Improvement, maintenance and repair of local roads 
directly affected by traffic to and from the facility 
and of other infrastructural elements directly affected 
by the facility, 
including sewerage, 
storm water or 
drainage pipes and other aboveground and underground 
utilities; 
• 
• 
• 
(2) 
Development 
and 
maintenance 
of 
adequate 
local 
emergency 
response 
capacity 
to 
accommodate 
the 
facility I 
including the purchase of any reasonable and 
necessary life-safety supplies or equipment for local 
fire and emergency response personneL including, but 
not 
limited 
to, 
respj....La~, 
protective 
clothing L 
sensors, 
monitoring 
equipment, 
special 
tools 
or 
ladders, 
chemical fire suppressants and vehicles, if 
the vehicles are purchased specifically because of the 
presence of an incineration facility; 
(3) 
Financial support for personnel or other means to 
provide technical assistance to the municipality in 
interpreting data and to advise the municipality on 
other technical issues concerning the facility. 
This 
provision must include a payment of up to $100,000 per 
year for the hiring, training, certification and work 
of an environmental engineer or comparable professional 
to 
oversee 
licensing1 
compliance 
and monitoring 
on 
behalf of a host community; aBa 
(4) 
Other issues determined on a case-specific basis 
by the applicant and municipality to be appropriate 
given the nature of the proposed facilityrL 
15) 
Reasonable 
reductions 
in 
disposal 
costs 
and 
tipping fee rates to offset the burden borne by such 
communities; 
il 
)_~uaranteru1~sposal of all municipal solid waste 
from the host community regardless of tonnage; 
(7) 
Reasonable hours of operation of the facility and 
delivery of waste to a host community consistent with 
the 
location of 
the facility and proximity of 
the 
operation 
of 
the 
facility 
to 
residential 
zones, 
including the following provisions. 
(a) 
Deliveries may not be made later than 9 p.m. 
if the facility is located within 500 feet of any 
residence. 
11;,) 
Deliverie..L_may not be made 
eQ.!:.l.-i~~han 6 
a.m. if the facility is located within 500 feet of 
any residence; 
(8) 
Reasonable 
re~rictions on 
the 
type 
of 
solid 
wastes that may be ItQ.l)dled, processed or disposed of in 
such 
facilities, 
inclJJrupg 
an 
option 
for 
community 
to 
limit 
disposal 
of 
biomedical, 
hazardous and special wastes: and 
(9) 
Reasonable odor and noise controls. 
a 
host 
toxic, 
The department shall adopt rules concerning the expenditure 
of 
funds 
made 
available 
to 
a 
municipality 
under 
the 
provisions of subparagraph (3) to ensure that funds are used 
to provide direct technical support to the municipality 
necessary for the conduct of municipal planning and decision 
making. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
provides 
that 
a 
community 
that 
hosts 
a 
waste-to-energy facility may adopt its own reasonable rules on 
the transportation of solid waste, municipal solid waste, special 
waste and refuse-derived fuel through that community. 
It also 
provides that an agreement between an incineration facility and a 
community 
must 
include 
certain 
provisions 
to 
protect 
that 
community. 
•