WEST virginia legislature
2022 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 4084
By Delegates Zatezalo, Anderson, J. Kelly, Reynolds, Howell, Miller, Forsht, Keaton, Mandt, Evans and Young
[Originating in the Committee on Energy and Manufacturing, February 1, 2022.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-15-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to advanced recycling of solid waste under the Solid Waste Management Act; adding definitions of advanced recycling, advanced recycling facility, catalytic cracking, depolymerization, gasification, hydrogenation, post-use polymer, pyrolysis, recovered feedstock, and solvolysis; amending the definition of solid waste to except out post-use polymers and recovered feedstocks which are converted or held for conversion at an advanced recycling facility; amending the definition of solid waste facility to except out advanced recycling facilities; and facilitating the conversion and use of plastics and other recovered materials through advanced recycling processes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 15. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT.
§22-15-2. Definitions.
Unless the context clearly requires a different meaning, as used in this article the terms:
(1) “Advanced recycling” means a manufacturing process for the conversion of post-use polymers and recovered feedstocks into basic hydrocarbon raw materials, feedstocks, chemicals, and other products like waxes and lubricants through processes that include pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, hydrogenation, solvolysis, and other similar technologies. The recycled products produced at advanced recycling facilities include, but are not limited to, monomers, oligomers, plastics, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and unfinished chemicals, waxes, lubricants, coatings, and other basic hydrocarbons. Advanced recycling shall not be considered solid waste management or solid waste disposal.
(2) “Advanced recycling facility” means a facility that receives, stores and converts post-use polymers and recovered feedstocks it receives using advanced recycling. An advanced recycling facility is a manufacturing facility subject to applicable department manufacturing regulations for air, water, and land use. Advanced recycling facilities shall not be considered solid waste facilities.
(1) (3) “Agronomic rate” means the whole
sewage sludge application rate, by dry weight, designed:
(A) To provide the amount of nitrogen needed by the food crop, feed crop, fiber crop, cover crop or vegetation on the land; and
(B) To minimize the amount of nitrogen in the sewage sludge that passes below the root zone of the crop or vegetation grown on the land to the groundwater.
(2) (4) “Applicant” means the person
applying for a commercial solid waste facility permit or similar renewal permit
and any person related to such person by virtue of common ownership, common
management or family relationships as the director may specify, including the
following: Spouses, parents and children and siblings.
(3) (5) “Approved solid waste facility”
means a solid waste facility or practice which has a valid permit under this
article.
(4) (6) “Back hauling” means the practice of
using the same container to transport solid waste and to transport any
substance or material used as food by humans, animals raised for human
consumption or reusable item which may be refilled with any substance or
material used as food by humans.
(5) (7) “Bulking agent” means any material
mixed and composted with sewage sludge.
(8) “Catalytic cracking” is a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are heated and melted in the absence of oxygen and then processed in the presence of a catalyst to produce valuable raw materials and intermediate and final products, including, but not limited to, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, plastic and chemical feedstocks, and other basic hydrocarbons.
(6) (9) “Class A facility” means a
commercial solid waste facility which handles an aggregate of between ten
thousand and thirty thousand tons of solid waste per month. Class A facility
includes two or more Class B solid waste landfills owned or operated by the
same person in the same county, if the aggregate tons of solid waste handled
per month by such landfills exceeds nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine tons
of solid waste per month.
(7) (10) “Commercial recycler” means any
person, corporation or business entity whose operation involves the mechanical
separation of materials for the purpose of reselling or recycling at least
seventy percent by weight of the materials coming into the commercial recycling
facility.
(8) (11) “Commercial solid waste facility”
means any solid waste facility which accepts solid waste generated by sources
other than the owner or operator of the facility and does not include an
approved solid waste facility owned and operated by a person for the sole
purpose of the disposal, processing or composting of solid wastes created by
that person or such person and other persons on a cost-sharing or nonprofit
basis and does not include land upon which reused or recycled materials are
legitimately applied for structural fill, road base, mine reclamation and
similar applications.
(9) (12) “Compost” means a humus-like
material resulting from aerobic, microbial, thermophilic decomposition of
organic materials.
(10) (13) “Composting” means the aerobic,
microbial, thermophilic decomposition of natural constituents of solid waste to
produce a stable, humus-like material.
(11) (14) “Commercial composting facility”
means any solid waste facility processing solid waste by composting, including
sludge composting, organic waste or yard waste composting, but does not include
a composting facility owned and operated by a person for the sole purpose of
composting waste created by that person or such person and other persons on a
cost-sharing or nonprofit basis and shall not include land upon which finished
or matured compost is applied for use as a soil amendment or conditioner.
(12) (15) “Cured compost” or “finished
compost” means compost which has a very low microbial or decomposition rate
which will not reheat or cause odors when put into storage and that has been
put through a separate aerated curing cycle stage of thirty to sixty days after
an initial composting cycle or compost which meets all regulatory requirements
after the initial composting cycle.
(13) (16) “Department” means the Department
of Environmental Protection.
(17) “Depolymerization” means a manufacturing process where post-use polymers are broken into smaller molecules such as monomers and oligomers or raw, intermediate, or final products, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and unfinished chemicals, waxes, lubricants, coatings, and other basic hydrocarbons.
(14) (18) “Energy recovery incinerator”
means any solid waste facility at which solid wastes are incinerated with the
intention of using the resulting energy for the generation of steam,
electricity or any other use not specified herein.
(19) “Gasification” means a manufacturing process through which recovered feedstocks are heated and converted into a fuel and gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the mixture is converted into valuable raw materials and intermediate and final products, including, but not limited to, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, plastic and chemical feedstocks, and other basic hydrocarbons that are returned to economic utility in the form of raw materials and products.
(20) “Hydrogenation” is a manufacturing process through which hydrogen is used to remove impurities from post-use polymers or recovered feedstock to enable further processing into valuable raw materials and intermediate and final products, including, but not limited to, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, plastic and chemical feedstocks, and other basic hydrocarbons.
(15) (21) “Incineration technologies” means
any technology that uses controlled flame combustion to thermally break down
solid waste, including refuse-derived fuel, to an ash residue that contains
little or no combustible materials, regardless of whether the purpose is
processing, disposal, electric or steam generation or any other method by which
solid waste is incinerated.
(16) (22) “Incinerator” means an enclosed
device using controlled flame combustion to thermally break down solid waste,
including refuse-derived fuel, to an ash residue that contains little or no
combustible materials.
(17) (23) “Landfill” means any solid waste
facility for the disposal of solid waste on or in the land for the purpose of
permanent disposal. Such facility is situated, for purposes of this article, in
the county where the majority of the spatial area of such facility is located.
(18) (24) “Materials recovery facility”
means any solid waste facility at which source-separated materials or materials
recovered through a mixed waste processing facility are manually or
mechanically shredded or separated for purposes of reuse and recycling, but
does not include a composting facility.
(19) (25) “Mature compost” means compost
which has been produced in an aerobic, microbial, thermophilic manner and does
not exhibit phytotoxic effects.
(20) (26) “Mixed solid waste” means solid
waste from which materials sought to be reused or recycled have not been
source-separated from general solid waste.
(21) (27) “Mixed waste processing facility”
means any solid waste facility at which materials are recovered from mixed
solid waste through manual or mechanical means for purposes of reuse, recycling
or composting.
(22) (28) “Municipal solid waste
incineration” means the burning of any solid waste collected by any municipal
or residential solid waste disposal company.
(23) (29) “Open dump” means any solid waste
disposal which does not have a permit under this article, or is in violation of
state law, or where solid waste is disposed in a manner that does not protect
the environment.
(24) (30) “Person” or “persons” means any
industrial user, public or private corporation, institution, association, firm
or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or
country; State of West Virginia; governmental agency, including federal
facilities; political subdivision; county commission; municipal corporation;
industry; sanitary district; public service district; drainage district; soil
conservation district; watershed improvement district; partnership; trust;
estate; person or individual; group of persons or individuals acting
individually or as a group; or any legal entity whatever.
(31) “Post-use polymer” means a plastic to which all of the following apply:
(A) The plastic is derived from any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities;
(B) It is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during processing at the advanced recycling facility;
(C) The plastic’s use or intended use is as a feedstock for the manufacturing of plastic and chemical feedstocks, other basic hydrocarbons, raw materials, or other intermediate products or final products using advanced recycling;
(D) The plastic has been sorted from solid waste and other regulated waste but may contain residual amounts of solid waste such as organic material and incidental contaminants or impurities (e.g., paper labels and metal rings); and,
(E) The plastic is processed at an advanced recycling facility or held at such facility prior to processing.
(25) (32) “Publicly owned treatment works”
means any treatment works owned by the state or any political subdivision
thereof, any municipality or any other public entity which processes raw
domestic, industrial or municipal sewage by any artificial or natural processes
in order to remove or so alter constituents as to render the waste less
offensive or dangerous to the public health, comfort or property of any of the
inhabitants of this state before the discharge of the plant effluent into any
of the waters of this state, and which produces sewage sludge.
(33) “Pyrolysis” means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are heated in the absence of oxygen until melted and thermally decomposed and are then cooled, condensed, and converted into valuable raw materials and intermediate and final products, including, but not limited to, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, plastic and chemical feedstocks, and other basic hydrocarbons, that are returned to economic utility in the form of raw materials or products.
(34) “Recovered feedstock” means one or more of the following materials that has been processed so that it may be used as feedstock in an advanced recycling facility:
(A) Post-use polymers;
(B) Materials for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a nonwaste determination pursuant to 40 C.F.R. 241.3(c), or has otherwise determined are feedstocks and not solid waste;
(C) Recovered feedstock does not include unprocessed municipal solid waste;
(D) Recovered feedstock is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during processing at an advanced recycling facility.
(26) (35) “Recycling facility” means any
solid waste facility for the purpose of recycling at which neither land
disposal nor biological, chemical or thermal transformation of solid waste
occurs: Provided, That mixed waste recovery facilities, sludge processing
facilities and composting facilities are not considered recycling facilities
nor considered to be reusing or recycling solid waste within the meaning of
this article, article fifteen-a of this chapter and article four, chapter
twenty-two-c of this code.
(27) (36) “Sewage sludge” means solid,
semisolid or liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage
in a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to, domestic
septage, scum or solids removed in primary, secondary or advanced wastewater
treatment processes and a material derived from sewage sludge. “Sewage sludge”
does not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage
sludge incinerator.
(28) (37) “Secretary” means the Secretary of
the Department of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the
Secretary has delegated authority or duties pursuant to article one of this
chapter.
(29) (38) “Sewage sludge processing facility”
is a solid waste facility that processes sewage sludge for: (A) Land
application; (B) incineration; or (C) disposal at an approved landfill. Such
processes include, but are not limited to, composting, lime stabilization,
thermophilic, microbial and anaerobic digestion.
(30) (39) “Sludge” means any solid, semisolid,
residue or precipitate, separated from or created by a municipal, commercial or
industrial waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution
control facility or any other such waste having similar origin.
(31) (40) “Solid waste” means any garbage,
paper, litter, refuse, cans, bottles, waste processed for the express purpose
of incineration; sludge from a waste treatment plant; water supply treatment
plant or air pollution control facility; and other discarded materials,
including offensive or unsightly matter, solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
liquid or gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining or
community activities but does not include solid or dissolved material in sewage
or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial
discharges which are point sources and have permits under article five-a of
this chapter, or source, special nuclear or byproduct material as defined by
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, including any nuclear or byproduct
material considered by federal standards to be below regulatory concern, or a
hazardous waste either identified or listed under article five-e of this
chapter or refuse, slurry, overburden or other wastes or material resulting
from coal-fired electric power or steam generation, the exploration,
development, production, storage and recovery of coal, oil and gas and other
mineral resources placed or disposed of at a facility which is regulated under
chapter twenty-two, twenty-two-a or twenty-two-b of this code, so long as
placement or disposal is in conformance with a permit issued pursuant to such
chapters, or post-use polymers and recovered feedstocks converted at an
advanced recycling facility or held at such facility prior to conversion.
(32) (41) “Solid waste disposal” means the
practice of disposing of solid waste including placing, depositing, dumping or
throwing or causing any solid waste to be placed, deposited, dumped or thrown.
(33) (42) “Solid waste disposal shed” means
the geographical area which the solid waste management board designates and
files in the state register pursuant to section eight, article twenty-six,
chapter sixteen of this code.
(34) (43) “Solid waste facility” means 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 landfills, transfer stations, materials recovery
facilities, mixed waste processing facilities, sewage sludge processing facilities,
commercial composting facilities and other such facilities not herein
specified, but not including land upon which sewage sludge is applied in
accordance with section twenty of this article. Such facility shall be deemed
to be situated, for purposes of this article, in the county where the majority
of the spatial area of such facility is located: Provided, That a
salvage yard, licensed and regulated pursuant to the terms of article
twenty-three, chapter seventeen of this code, is not a solid waste facility and
an advanced recycling facility is not a solid waste facility.
(35) (44) “Solid waste facility operator”
means any person or persons possessing or exercising operational, managerial or
financial control over a commercial solid waste facility, whether or not such
person holds a certificate of convenience and necessity or a permit for such
facility.
(45) “Solvolysis” means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are purified with the aid of solvents, while heated at low temperatures and/or pressurized to make useful products, allowing additives and contaminants to be separated. The products of solvolysis include monomers, intermediates, and valuable chemicals and raw materials. The process includes, but is not limited to, hydrolysis, aminolysis, ammonoloysis, methanolysis and glycolysis.
(36) (46) “Source-separated materials” means
materials separated from general solid waste at the point
of origin for the purpose of reuse and recycling but does not mean sewage
sludge.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow advanced recycling facilities in the state and to facilitate the conversion of plastics and other recovered materials through advanced recycling processes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.