An Act To Continue To Ensure the Long-term Capacity of Municipal Landfills
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0935
Committee: Natural Resources
Sponsors: MAKAS, BARTLETT, CRA YEN, DUCHESNE, EBERLE, HINCK, KOFFMAN, MIRAMANT, SAMSON, WAGNER
Amends: 38 MRSA §1303-C

Legislative Document 
No. 935 
H.P.71O 
House of Representatives, March 1,2007 
An Act To Continue To Ensure the Long-term Capacity of 
Municipal Landfills 
Reference to the Committee on Natural Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative MAKAS of Lewiston. 
Cosponsored by Senator BARTLETT of Cumberland and 
17/~ 
1J7·711~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CRA YEN of Lewiston, DUCHESNE of Hudson, EBERLE of South Portland, 
HINCK of Portland, KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor, MIRAMANT of Camden, SAMSON of 
Auburn, WAGNER of Lewiston. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§l-C is enacted to read: 
I-C. 
Bypass. 
"Bypass" means any solid waste that is destined for disposal, 
processing or beneficial use at a solid waste facility but that cannot be disposed of, 
processed or beneficially used at that facility because of the facility's malfunction, 
insufficient capacity, inability to process or bum, downtime or any other comparable 
reason. 
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2005, c. 612, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
6. Commercial solid waste disposal facility. "Commercial solid waste disposal 
II 
facility" means a solid waste disposal facility except as follows: 
A. 
Beginning JanMary I, 2007, a solid 'Naste facility owned by a pMblic 'tvaste 
disposal corporation Mnder section 1304 B, sMbsection 5 as long as the pMblic waste 
disposal corporation controls the decisions regarding the type and SOMrce of waste 
that is accepted, handled, treated and disposed of at the facility; 
A-2. A solid waste facility that is owned by a public waste disposal corporation 
under section 1304-B, subsection 5 as long as the public waste disposal corporation 
controls the decisions regarding the type and source of waste that is accepted, 
handled, treated and disposed of at the facility and, if the facility is a solid waste 
landfill, that accepts only waste that is generated within the State; 
B. 
Beginning JanMaF)' I, 2007 a solid waste facility o'+'med by a municipality under 
section 1305 as long as the municipality controls the decisions regarding the type and 
source of waste that is accepted, handled, treated and disposed of at the facility; 
B-2. A solid waste facility that is owned by a municipality under section 1305 as 
long as the municipality controls the decisions regarding the type and source of waste 
that is accepted, handled, treated and disposed of at the facility and, if the facility is a 
solid waste landfill, that accepts only waste that is generated within the State; 
c. 
Beginning JanuaF)' I, 2007, a solid waste facility owned by a refl:lse disposal 
district Mnder chapter 17 as long as the refl:lse disposal district controls the decisions 
regarding the type and source of waste that is accepted, handled, treated and disposed 
1 
of at the facility; 
C-2. A solid waste facility that is owned by a refuse disposal district under chapter 
as long as the refuse disposal district controls the decisions regarding the type and 
source of waste that is accepted, handled, treated and disposed of at the facility and, if 
the facility is a solid waste landfill, that accepts only waste that is generated within 
the State; 
D. 
Beginning JanMary I, 2007, a solid waste facility owned and controlled by the 
office under chapter 24; 
D-2. A solid waste facility that is owned and controlled by the office under chapter 
and, if the facility is a solid waste landfill, that accepts only waste that is generated 
within the State; 
E. 
A solid waste facility owned and controlled by a single entity that generates at 
least 85% of the solid waste disposed of at the facility, except that the facility may 
accept from other sources, on a nonprofit basis, an amount of solid waste that is no 
more than 15% of all solid waste accepted on an annual basis. For purposes of this 
paragraph, "single entity" means an individual, partnership, corporation or limited 
liability company that is not engaged primarily in the business of treating or 
disposing of solid waste or special waste. This paragraph does not apply if an 
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individual partner, shareholder, member or other ownership interest in the single 
entity disposes of waste in the solid waste facility. A waste facility receiving ash 
resulting from the combustion of municipal solid waste or refuse-derived fuel is not 
exempt from this subsection solely by operation of this paragraph; or 
F. 
A private corporation that accepts material-separated, refuse-derived fuel as a 
supplemental fuel and does not bum waste other than its own. 
UAtil JaAuary 1, 
2007, for For purposes of this subsection, "waste that is generated 
within the State" includes residue and bypass generated by incineration, processing and 
recycling facilities within the State. 
Sec. 3. 
Legislative findings. 
Maine's municipalities have the obligation to 
provide for the disposal of the solid waste generated by their citizens and businesses. 
Public waste disposal corporations and refuse disposal districts are formed by 
municipalities to provide for the disposal of the solid waste generated within the 
geographical boundaries of the participating municipalities. 
Municipal and public 
regional landfills, however, are becoming increasingly limited in capacity and expensive 
to Maine's people. The creation of new municipal and public regional landfills is often 
prohibitively expensive. The Legislature, in exercising its powers over municipalities, 
public waste disposal corporations and refuse disposal districts as instrumentalities and 
creations of the State, seeks to maximize the use of these landfills for the benefit of the 
people of the State and to prevent their potential diversion to uses by others. This law 
will ensure that municipal and public regional landfills are used for these public purposes. 
Sec. 4. Retroactivity. This Act applies retroactively to January 1, 2007. 
SUMMARY 
Public Law 2005, chapter 612 amended the Maine Hazardous Waste, Septage and 
Solid Waste Management Act to exempt, until January 1, 2007, publicly owned solid 
waste landfills from the definition of "commercial solid waste disposal facility" as long as 
that facility accepted only waste that is generated within the State. This bill continues the 
exemption retroactive to January 1, 2007.