ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 629
(By Senators Chafin and Fanning)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 21, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §22-15-9a, relating
generally to solid waste facilities; providing procedure to
allow certain facilities to handle up to one hundred thousand
tons of solid waste per month; providing special solid waste
assessment fee; specifying when special solid waste assessment
fee applies in lieu of regular fees; specifying
administration, collection and disbursement of the special
solid waste assessment fee; authorizing enforcement and
penalties for nonpayment of the fee; creating the county solid
waste assessment fee account and providing for its management;
creating a county solid waste advisory board; establishing
terms and specifying duties of the solid waste advisory board;
and dedicating use of special assessment fee proceeds for
certain purposes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §22-15-9a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 15. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT.
§22-15-9a. Exemption for solid waste facilities handling up to
fifty thousand tons per month.
(a) When a referendum held in accordance with subsection (b),
section nine of this article resulted in a majority of the legal
votes cast being in favor of a commercial solid waste facility
handling in excess of thirty thousand tons of solid waste per month
and the facility has obtained a solid waste permit issued pursuant
to this article to handle up to fifty thousand tons of solid waste
per month, then, notwithstanding any other provision of this code
to the contrary, the facility may increase the monthly tonnage
amount not to exceed one hundred thousand tons per month upon
obtaining the approval of the county commission and county solid
waste authority of the county in which the facility is located:
Provided, That if the county solid waste authority is the owner of
the commercial solid waste facility, then only the approval of the
county commission is required.
(b) In order for a commercial solid waste facility described
in subsection (a) of this section to receive an increase in the
amount of solid waste tonnage it may handle each month, the owner
or operator shall petition the county commission and the county
solid waste authority of the county in which the facility is located for their approval to accept up to one hundred thousand
tons of solid waste per month at the facility:
Provided, That when
the commercial solid waste facility is owned by the county solid
waste authority, then the petition shall be filed only with the
county commission. After public notice and a public hearing, the
commission, and, if necessary, the county solid waste authority,
shall either approve or deny the petition within ninety days of the
filing of the petition with the county commission and, if
necessary, the county solid waste authority, as the case may be.
In determining whether to approve the request to allow the
solid waste facility to accept up to one hundred thousand tons of
solid waste per month, the following factors shall, at a minimum,
be considered: (1) Whether the facility has substantially complied
with applicable state and federal environmental laws; (2) whether
the acceptance of the additional tonnage will benefit the county;
and (3) whether the acceptance of the additional tonnage will
create undue burdens for the infrastructure of the county.
(c) Upon receipt of the approval of the county commission,
and, if necessary, the county solid waste authority, no further
approval from any other state or local agency, office or political
subdivision is required before the solid waste facility can begin
to handle up to one hundred thousand tons of solid waste per month.
Any modification to the permit issued pursuant to this article as
a result of this increase in tonnage including, but not limited to,
those necessary to reflect the approved increase in tonnage that
may be handled at the facility shall be treated as minor modifications.
(d) No certificate of need from the Public Service Commission
pursuant to the provision of section one-c, article two, chapter
twenty-four of this code is required by the commercial solid waste
facility for the increase in tonnage that may be handled at the
facility. The solid waste facility shall continue to operate under
the terms and conditions of its existing tariff issued to it by the
Public Service Commission, including the closure fees which are
applicable to the additional tonnage, unless the owner of the
commercial solid waste facility elects, at its sole discretion, to
seek an increase or decrease its rates:
Provided, That any such
change in rates may not take effect without the approval of the
Public Service Commission. When the tariffs approved by the Public
Service Commission for the solid waste facility expressly include
the assessment fees imposed by section eleven of this article;
section nineteen, article fifteen-a of this chapter; section four,
article sixteen of this chapter; section thirty, article four,
chapter twenty-two-c of this code; and section twenty-two, article
five, chapter seven of this code, the amount of the authorized
tariffs shall automatically adjust, downwards or upwards depending
upon whether the assessment fee being collected is the amount
imposed by this section or aggregate amount imposed by section
eleven of this article; section nineteen, article fifteen-a of this
chapter; section four, article sixteen of this chapter; section
thirty, article four, chapter twenty-two-c of this code; and
section twenty-two, article five, chapter seven of this code. Additionally, the increase in tonnage authorized and approved
pursuant to this section shall be reflected in the tariff by
operation of this section without approval or further action by the
Public Service Commission being required.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, the requirements contained in section eleven of this
article; section nineteen, article fifteen-a of this chapter;
section four, article sixteen of this chapter; section thirty,
article four, chapter twenty-two-c of this code; and section
twenty-two, article five, chapter seven of this code shall not
apply in any year after six hundred thousand tons of solid waste
have been handled by the facility during that calendar year. In
lieu of those fees, there is hereby imposed a special solid waste
assessment fee equal to four dollars per ton or part thereof of
solid waste on solid waste handled at the facility in excess of six
hundred thousand tons during a calendar year, which fee shall be
administered, assessed, collected, enforced, paid and remitted to
the Tax Commissioner in the same manner and at the same time as the
fee imposed by section fifteen of this article.
(f) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special
revenue account designated the County Solid Waste Assessment Fee
Account which is an interest-bearing account and shall be invested
in the manner described in section nine-c, article six, chapter
twelve of this code with the interest and other return earned a
proper credit to this account. A separate subaccount within this
account shall be established for each county commission that has approved increasing to one hundred thousand tons per month the
solid waste that may be handled by an approved solid waste disposal
facility located in that county.
(g) The Tax Commissioner shall deposit all the proceeds from
the solid waste assessment fee imposed by subsection (e) of this
section in the appropriate subaccount established for the county in
which the solid waste disposal facility is located that generated
the fee. All moneys collected and deposited in each subaccount
shall be remitted at least quarterly by the State Treasurer as
follows:
(1) Two dollars and eighty-five cents per ton shall be
distributed to the county commission of the county in which the
solid waste disposal facility that generates the distribution is
located;
(2) Twenty-five cents per ton shall be distributed to the
county commission of the county in which the solid waste disposal
facility that generates the distribution is located to be allocated
in equal amounts to those entities within the county that provide
the services related to libraries, animal cruelty prevention,
senior citizens, ambulance and health care;
(3) Forty cents per ton shall be distributed in equal amounts
to the economic development authority in the county in which the
solid waste facility is located and to the economic development
authorities in the counties which are contiguous to that county;
(4) Thirty cents per ton shall be distributed equally to
community and technical colleges located within the county in which the solid waste facility is located or in counties contiguous to
that county or a facilitating institution for the community and
technical college consortium planning district for the county in
which the solid waste facility is located; and
(5) Ten cents per ton shall be distributed in equal
proportions to the county commission or commissions which are
contiguous to the county in which the commercial solid waste
facility is located and which: (A) Do not have a solid waste
facility within the county; and (B) which transport out-of-state
for disposal a substantial portion of the solid waste generated
within the county.
(6) Ten cents per ton shall be distributed in equal
proportions to the college or colleges located in a contiguous
county to the county in which the landfill is located which
currently provides classes of study in the county in which the
facility is located.
(h) The county commission in the county where the solid waste
authority is located shall, by order entered of record no later
than the thirty-first day of December, two thousand seven,
establish a nonpartisan county commission solid waste advisory
board. The board shall consist of the mayor of the municipality in
which the county seat is located, two mayors from municipalities
within the county and two representatives from civic organizations
operating within the county. The mayor of the municipality in
which the county seat is located shall serve as chairman of the
board during his or her term of office. The county commission shall appoint one mayor and one representative of a civic
organization for a term ending on the thirty-first day of December,
two thousand nine, and one mayor and one representative of a civic
organization for a term ending on the thirty-first day of December,
two thousand ten. Thereafter, the terms for the four appointed
board members shall be for three years. The board shall meet as
necessary to review potential infrastructure projects within the
county that are suggested to the board representatives, which
projects are to be funded, in whole or in part, by funds generated
pursuant to subdivision (1), subsection (g) of this section and
make recommendations to the county commission on the merit and
funding for these projects. The board members shall not be
compensated nor expenses paid for their service as members of the
board. The board shall be advisory only.
(i) The funds generated by subdivision (5), subsection (g) of
this section shall be used exclusively for recycling, solid waste
cleanup and solid waste disposal within the affected county. To
the extent that no county meets these criteria, then the funds
shall be distributed in equal proportions to the county commission
or commissions of counties contiguous to the county in which the
solid waste facility is located which do not have commercial solid
waste facilities within the county to be used for the same
purposes.