Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart D - Environmental Health and Safety › Article VIII - Municipal Waste › Chapter 271 - MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT-GENERAL PROVISIONS › Subchapter D - FINANCIAL ASSURANCES REQUIREMENTS › BOND AND TRUST REQUIREMENTS-TYPES › Section 271.328 - Trust fund for municipally operated landfills

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) A trust fund established under this
						  subchapter shall meet the following requirements:
(1) The trust fund shall be established for
						  the sole purpose of providing funding for completion of final closure of the
						  municipal waste landfill and for the taking of measures that may be necessary
						  for the abatement and prevention of adverse effects on the environment, as
						  required by the Department, in accordance with the act, the environmental
						  protection acts, this title, the terms and conditions of the permit and orders
						  issued by the Department and the closure plan.
(2) The trustee shall be a state-chartered or
						  National bank or a financial institution with trust powers or trust company
						  with offices in this Commonwealth and whose trust activities are examined or
						  regulated by a state or Federal agency. The trustee shall have an office
						  located in the county in which the municipality or municipal authority is
						  operating the municipal waste landfill for which the trust fund is established.
(i) The trustee may resign by sending written
						  notice to the Department and the municipality or municipal authority, by
						  certified mail, return receipt requested, of its intention to resign. The
						  resignation will not take effect until the following conditions are met:
(A) The expiration of a 120-day period after
						  the trustee has provided written notice of its intention to resign.
(B) The municipality or municipal authority
						  has appointed a successor trustee and the successor trustee accepts the
						  appointment.
(ii) If the
						  municipality or municipal authority fails to appoint a successor trustee or a
						  successor trustee fails to accept the appointment at the expiration of the
						  120-day period, the trustee may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for
						  instructions.
(3) The
						  trust fund shall be established by the municipality or municipal authority. The
						  trust shall provide that the municipality or municipal authority and the
						  Department are co-beneficiaries under the trust.
(4) The trust shall be irrevocable and shall
						  continue until terminated at the written agreement of the municipality or the
						  municipal authority and the Department. A settlor municipality seeking trust
						  termination shall comply with §
														271.343 (relating to withdrawals
						  from municipal trust). If the municipality or municipal authority fails or
						  refuses to enter into the written agreement for the termination of the trust,
						  the Department will have the sole power to terminate the trust as provided in
						  § 271.343.
(5) The corpus of
						  the trust fund shall be an amount equal to the cost of completing final closure
						  and shall be calculated according to §§
														271.331 and
						  271.332 (relating to bond and
						  trust amount determination; and bond and trust amount adjustments). The trust
						  shall be funded by moneys paid quarterly by the municipality or municipal
						  authority in an amount, determined by the Department, computed on the basis of
						  the cost of completing final closure and levied on each ton or cubic yard of
						  solid waste received at the landfill for the quarter for which the payment is
						  being made.
(i) It is not the duty of the
						  trustee to collect from the municipality or municipal authority a quarterly
						  payment required under this section, nor is the trustee responsible for the
						  amount or adequacy of a quarterly payment made by the municipality or municipal
						  authority. The trustee shall send the Department, in writing on a quarterly
						  basis, a statement of the trust account transactions including the amounts
						  received from the municipality or municipal authority and paid into the trust
						  corpus. If the trustee does not receive a quarterly payment within 15 days
						  after the payment is due, the trustee shall promptly notify the Department that
						  it has not received the payment.
(ii) Payments made by the municipality or the
						  municipal authority shall consist of cash, bank checks, bank wire transfers or
						  other means of payment acceptable to the trustee.