Opinion ID: 1422383
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The West Virginia Solid Waste Management Act

Text: In an effort to establish a comprehensive program of controlling all phases of solid waste management[,] W. Va.Code, 22-15-1(a) [1994], the legislature enacted the West Virginia Solid Waste Management Act, W. Va.Code, 22-15-1 et seq. In particular, the Solid Waste Management Act was enacted because (b) [t]he Legislature finds that uncontrolled, inadequately controlled and improper collection, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste (1) is a public nuisance and a clear and present danger to people; (2) provides harborages and breeding places for disease-carrying, injurious insects, rodents and other pests harmful to the public health, safety and welfare; (3) constitutes a danger to livestock and domestic animals; (4) decreases the value of private and public property, causes pollution, blight and deterioration of the natural beauty and resources of the state and has adverse economic and social effects on the state and its citizens; (5) results in the squandering of valuable nonrenewable and nonreplenishable resources contained in solid waste; (6) that resource recovery and recycling reduces the need for landfills and extends their life; and that (7) proper disposal, resource recovery or recycling of solid waste is for the general welfare of the citizens of this state. (c) The Legislature further finds that disposal in West Virginia of solid waste from unknown origins threatens the environment and the public health, safety and welfare, and therefore, it is in the interest of the public to identify the type, amount and origin of solid waste accepted for disposal at West Virginia solid waste facilities. .... (f) The Legislature further finds that incineration technologies present potentially significant health and environmental problems. Id., in relevant part. As indicated earlier, a solid waste facility is defined as any system, facility, land, contiguous land, improvements on the land, structures, or other appurtenances or methods used for processing, recycling, or disposing of solid waste including ... incinerators[.] 47 C.S.R. 38-2.120 [1996]. Solid waste includes noninfectious medical waste. W. Va.Code, 20-5J-3(8) [1991]. The incinerator at issue, including the area around it where solid waste is stored and handled prior to incineration, is considered a solid waste facility and is, therefore, governed by the Solid Waste Management Act.
Petitioners contend that CAMC was required to obtain a permit to construct the solid waste facility at issue, pursuant to the West Virginia Solid Waste Management Act, and, in particular, W. Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994]. W. Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994] provides: It is unlawful for any person, unless the person holds a valid permit from the [DEP] to install, establish, construct, modify, operate or abandon any solid waste facility. All approved solid waste facilities shall be installed, established, constructed, modified, operated or abandoned in accordance with this article, plans, specifications, orders, instructions and rules in effect. (emphasis added). Similarly, W. Va.Code, 22-15-5(b) [1994], provides, in relevant part: [t]he director [of the DEP], after public notice and opportunity for public hearing near the affected community, may issue a permit with reasonable terms and conditions for installation, establishment, modification, operation or closure of a solid waste facility: Provided, That the director may deny the issuance of a permit on the basis of information in the application or from other sources including public comment, if the solid waste facility is likely to cause adverse impacts on the environment. See 47 C.S.R. 38-3.5.1 [1996] ([a] permit must be obtained from the director [of the DEP] prior to the installation, establishment, construction, modification, operation, or closure of any solid waste facility.) CAMC and the DEP argue, however, that W. Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994] simply requires that a single permit be issued by the director of the DEP for the construction of a solid waste facility. CAMC and the DEP maintain that this directive was followed when, in March of 1995, the DEP, after public notice was given, issued a construction permit pursuant to the Air Pollution Control Act, W. Va.Code, 22-5-1 et seq. Though petitioners do not presently challenge the validity of the construction permit issued by the DEP-OAQ pursuant to W. Va.Code, 22-5-11 [1994], they contend that the issuance of that construction permit does not satisfy the construction permit requirement of the Solid Waste Management Act. As petitioners point out, when the DEP-OAQ considered CAMC's permit application under the Air Pollution Control Act, W. Va.Code, 22-5-1, et seq., it did not then consider the application in terms of the requirements of the Solid Waste Management Act and its corresponding regulations. Petitioners' argument that CAMC was required to obtain a solid waste construction permit under W. Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994], in addition to the permit it had already acquired under W. Va.Code, 22-5-11 [1994] of the Air Pollution Control Act, is not unreasonable. However, as indicated above, the DEP, which administers both the Solid Waste Management Act and the Air Pollution Control Act, interprets W. Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994] as requiring that a single permit be issued by that agency for construction of a solid waste facility. According to the DEP, the construction permit required and, in fact, obtained by CAMC was the permit issued by the DEP-OAQ, pursuant to the Air Pollution Control Act. We defer to the DEP's interpretation of W.Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994]. As we held in syllabus point 7 of Lincoln County Board of Education v. Adkins, 188 W.Va. 430, 424 S.E.2d 775 (1992): `Interpretations of statutes by bodies charged with their administration are given great weight unless clearly erroneous.' Syl. pt. 4, Security National Bank & Trust Company v. First W. Va. Bancorp, Inc., 166 W.Va. 775, 277 S.E.2d 613 (1981). Syllabus point 3, Smith v. Board of Education of County of Logan, 176 W.Va. 65, 341 S.E.2d 685 (1985). [21] We hold, therefore, that under W.Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994], it is unlawful for any person, unless the person holds a valid permit from the division of environmental protection to install, establish, construct, modify, operate or abandon any solid waste facility. All approved solid waste facilities shall be installed, established, constructed, modified, operated or abandoned in accordance with this article, plans, specifications, orders, instructions and rules in effect. A person who obtains a construction permit from the DEP under W. Va.Code, 22-5-11 [1994] of the West Virginia Air Pollution Control Act to construct a medical waste incinerator is not required to also obtain a construction permit for that purpose under W. Va.Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994]. As indicated above, under W. Va. Code, 22-15-10(b) [1994], it is unlawful for any person, unless the person holds a valid operation permit, to operate any solid waste facility. Accordingly, CAMC may not operate its solid waste facility, [22] including its new incinerator, until it receives a solid waste permit. To the extent this opinion conflicts with the consent order previously entered into between CAMC and the DEP allowing CAMC to operate the new incinerator pending consideration of its solid waste permit, such consent order is set aside.