Opinion ID: 3009773
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: pennsylvania's municipal waste act

Text: In responding to its own solid waste crisis, the Pennsylvania legislature enacted the Municipal Waste Act (the Act) to protect the public health, safety and welfare from the short- and long-term dangers of the transportation, processing, treatment, storage and disposal of municipal waste. See 53 P.S. §4000.102(b)(3). The Act establishes a system requiring each county to plan for the long-term processing and ultimate disposal of its waste. In authorizing each county to adopt flow control ordinances, the Act explicitly set forth the policy goal of such flow control legislation: Authorizing counties to control the flow of municipal waste is necessary, among other reasons, to guarantee the long-term economic viability of resource recovery facilities and municipal waste landfills, to ensure that such facilities and landfills can be financed, to moderate the cost of such facilities and landfills over the long term, to protect existing capacity and to assist in the development of markets for recyclable materials by guaranteeing a steady flow of such materials. §102(a)(10). Under the Act, counties may designate for a ten-year period the facilities at which waste generated within the county will be processed or disposed. See 53 P.S. § 4000.303(e). Such facilities do not have to be located within the county, although one provision of the Act states that [p]roper and adequate processing and disposal of municipal waste generated within a county requires the generating county to give first choice to new bans had only an incidental burden on commerce, and therefore did not discriminate against interstate commerce. ID. at  [n.100]. 9 processing and disposal sites located within that county. 53 P.S. §4000.102(6). Each county must consider alternative facilities and programs, and provide reasonable assurances that the county utilized a fair, open and competitive process for selecting such facilities or programs from among the alternatives which were suggested to the county. 53 P.S. §4000.502(f)(2). In addition, if a county proposes to own or operate a municipal waste processing or disposal facility, it must explain the basis for such a proposal, giving consideration to the comprehensive costs and benefits of private ownership and operation of such facilities. 53 P.S. §4000.502(m). The facilities designated by a county, and the process by which they are chosen, must be set out in a municipal waste management plan. 53 P.S. §4000.502(f). During its preparation, the plan is reviewed by a county advisory committee made up of representatives from the county's municipalities, civic groups, and industry. The committee makes suggestions and proposes any changes it believes are appropriate. 53 P.S. §4000.503(a). At least thirty days before submitting any proposed plan revisions to the Department of Environmental Resources (DER), the county must submit a copy of the proposed revision to the County Advisory Committee. 53 P.S. § 4000.503(d). The county must also make the plan available for a ninety-day public review and comment period, and hold at least one public hearing on the proposed plan during this period. 53 P.S. §4000.503(c). After adoption by the county, a plan must undergo a municipal ratification process requiring approval by fifty 10 percent of the municipalities in the county, representing at least fifty percent of the population. 53 P.S. §§4000.503(d); 504(c). The plan must then be submitted to the DER for approval, after which any party objecting to the plan may appeal to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. If a county chooses to require that municipal waste be processed or disposed of at designated facilities by means other than contract (e.g., by ordinance), the plan must explain the basis for such a proposal and include a copy of the proposed flow control ordinance or other legal instrument. 53 P.S. § 4000.502(1). The plan, and the list of facilities designated by the county for processing and disposal, may be revised by the county at any time but must be revised at least three years prior to the time that the remaining capacity for a county is exhausted. 25 Pa. Code § 272.251(b); 25 Pa. Code § 272.251(a)(1).