Resolve, to Investigate and Address Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Services Issues
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 2135
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: DILL, BRIDGEO, CAMPBELL, CYRWAY, MILLIKEN, MORIARTY, OSHER

Legislative Document
No. 2135
H.P. 1359
House of Representatives, January 3, 2024
Resolve, to Investigate and Address Municipal Solid Waste Disposal 
Services Issues
(EMERGENCY)
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative DILL of Old Town.
Cosponsored by Representatives: BRIDGEO of Augusta, CAMPBELL of Orrington, 
CYRWAY of Albion, MILLIKEN of Blue Hill, MORIARTY of Cumberland, OSHER of 
Orono.
Emergency preamble.  Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 1305, subsection 1 mandates 
that "Each municipality shall provide solid waste disposal services for domestic and 
commercial solid waste generated within the municipality and may provide these services 
for industrial wastes and sewage treatment plant sludge"; and
Whereas, in the State, 115 municipalities have entered into contracts with the 
Municipal Review Committee to satisfy this mandate through provision of municipal solid 
waste handling, processing and disposal services at the Municipal Review Committee's 
recycling and anaerobic digestion facility in the Town of Hampden now known as Coastal 
Resources of Maine and approximately 44 municipalities have entered into contracts with 
Penobscot Energy Recovery Company to satisfy this mandate through provision of 
municipal solid waste processing and disposal services at Penobscot Energy Recovery 
Company's waste-to-energy facility in the Town of Orrington; and
Whereas, the Municipal Review Committee has been unable to provide municipal 
solid waste handling, processing and disposal services at the Coastal Resources of Maine 
recycling and anaerobic digestion facility since its closure on May 28, 2020; and
Whereas, Penobscot Energy Recovery Company ceased to provide municipal solid 
waste handling, processing and disposal services at its waste-to-energy facility as of May 
2, 2023, and the auction of Penobscot Energy Recovery Company's waste-to-energy 
facility, which could lead to it being sold for scrap, is imminent; and
Whereas, as required by their solid waste disposal facility licenses issued by the 
Department of Environmental Protection, municipal solid waste from these 159 
municipalities has been and is being disposed of primarily at the state-owned Juniper Ridge 
Landfill located almost entirely in the City of Old Town with a portion of the landfill right-
of-way access located in the Town of Alton; and
Whereas, the state-mandated curtailment of spreading wastewater treatment plant 
sludge on land because of the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination 
has resulted in the disposal of some of this sludge at the Juniper Ridge Landfill; and
Whereas, land disposal of waste at a landfill is the least desirable solid waste disposal 
option under the State's solid waste management hierarchy under Title 38, section 2101; 
and
Whereas, the Department of Environmental Protection approved only a partial 
expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill in 2017, granting a license for 9.3 million cubic 
yards of capacity of the 22 million cubic yards that was available; and
Whereas, as a result of this temporary increase in disposal of municipal solid waste 
and wastewater treatment plant sludge at the Juniper Ridge Landfill, the partial expansion, 
which was expected to last through 2033, is now expected to use that capacity by 2028, 
thus necessitating another permitting process to complete the expansion; and
Whereas, the loss of municipal solid waste handling, processing and disposal services 
at the Coastal Resources of Maine facility and at the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company 
waste-to-energy facility and the increased rate of municipal solid waste and wastewater 
treatment plant sludge disposal at the Juniper Ridge Landfill is creating a hardship for the 
City of Old Town and its residents, is placing stress on the 159 municipalities that have 
statutory obligations to provide municipal solid waste disposal services and is straining the 
resources of sewer and utility districts and departments, as well as consuming valuable and 
finite state-owned solid waste landfill resources that are supposed to be the last resort for 
solid waste disposal; and
Whereas, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
General Services is responsible for oversight and management of state-owned property, 
including the Juniper Ridge Landfill; and
Whereas, under Title 38, section 2122, the Department of Environmental Protection 
is required to "prepare an analysis of, and a plan for, the management, reduction and 
recycling of solid waste for the State. The plan must be based on the priorities and recycling 
goals established in sections 2101 and 2132. The plan must provide guidance and direction 
to municipalities in planning and implementing waste management and recycling programs 
at the state, regional and local levels" and to provide periodic updates of that plan; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, be it
Sec. 1.  Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
General Services and Department of Environmental Protection to report to 
Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.  Resolved:  
That the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of General Services 
and the Department of Environmental Protection shall meet with public and private solid 
waste management facility owners and operators and municipal and quasi-municipal 
officials to investigate and make recommendations in a written report to the Legislature on 
the existence and development of feasible potential short-term and long-term municipal 
solid waste disposal options, whether public, private or a mixture of both, for the 
approximately 159 municipalities with municipal solid waste disposal contracts with the 
Municipal Review Committee and with Penobscot Energy Recovery Company and 
wastewater treatment plant sludge disposal options for sewer and utility districts and 
departments, in order to address the issues facing municipalities and to ensure that the use 
of the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill is consistent with the Legislature's policy on 
solid waste management and the solid waste management hierarchy as set out in the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 2101.  The Bureau of General Services and the 
Department of Environmental Protection shall conduct their investigation promptly to 
permit potential action by the 131st Legislature and shall submit a written report, with their 
recommendations, to the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources 
on or by April 1, 2024. 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation 
takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This resolve directs the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau 
of General Services and the Department of Environmental Protection to investigate and 
make recommendations by April 1, 2024 to the Joint Standing Committee on Environment 
and Natural Resources to address several critical issues and developments in the State's 
solid waste management system that affect approximately 159 municipalities in the central 
and northern areas of the State and sewer and utility districts and departments all across the 
State.