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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 629
(By Senators Chafin and Fanning)
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[Introduced February 16, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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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 and how it is to be
administered, collected, enforced and paid; 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: (i)Whether the facility has substantially complied
with applicable state and federal environmental laws; (ii) whether
the acceptance of the additional tonnage will benefit the county;
and (iii) 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, and no additional certificate of need is required from
the Public Service Commission pursuant to the provisions of section
one-c, article two, chapter twenty-four of this code for any future
major modifications of the solid waste facility's permit issued
pursuant to this article, other than for the transfer of the permit
to another person or entity. 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, unless the
owner of the commercial solid waste facility elects, at its sole
discretion, to seek and increase or decrease its rates. 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, and section four, article sixteen, both 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, and section four, article sixteen, both 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, and section four,
article sixteen, all 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 sub account 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 sub account established for the county
in which the solid waste disposal facility is located that
generated the fee. All moneys collected and deposited in each sub
account shall be remitted at least quarterly by the State Treasurer
as follows: (i) 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; (ii) twenty-five cents per ton shall be distributed to the
county commission of the county in which the solid waste disposal
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, humane society, senior citizens,
ambulance, and health care; (iii) fifty 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 as determined by the Tax Commissioner;
(iv) thirty cents per ton shall be distributed equally to community
colleges located within the county in which the solid waste
facility is located or in counties contiguous to that county as
determined by the Joint Committee of Government and Finance; and
(v) 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, as
determined by the Joint Committee of Government and Finance based
upon information provided the state solid waste authority.
(h) (i) There is hereby created a county commission advisory
board to be appointed by the county commission in the county where
the solid waste authority is located. 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. Other than the mayor of the municipality of the county
seat, the representatives shall serve for three year terms. 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 (i)above of subsection (g) of
this section and make recommendations to the county commission on
the merit and funding for these projects. The representatives shall
not be compensated nor expenses paid for their service as members
of the board. The board shall be advisory only.
(ii) The funds generated by (v) above of 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a procedure that
may be used by a county solid waste disposal facility to obtain an
increase in the tonnage of solid waste it may handle each month.
Additionally, this bill imposes a special four dollar per ton solid
waste assessment fee which applies to received in excess of 600,000
tons per year in lieu of the regular aggregate fees of eight dollar
and seventy-five cents per ton. Two dollars and eighty-five cents
of the proceeds from this special fee is dedicated to the county
commission of the county in which the solid waste disposal facility
is located. The remainder is dedicated to economic development,
solid waste cleanup, and social services in the county in which the
solid waste facility is located and the region.
This section is new. Therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.