H. B. 2522
(By Delegates Staton (By Request), Douglas,
Ashley and Riggs)
(Introduced February 16, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.)
A BILL to amend and reenact sections ten and twelve, article,
sixteen, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating
to rendering any permitee which is a municipality, county,
county solid waste authority, or regional solid waste
authority ineligible for closure assistance funds if such
entity disposes of waste outside the state and does not
contribute to the landfill closure assistance fund, and
increasing the limit on the percentage of the closure
assistance fund which may be used for administrative
purposes from one percent to five percent.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections ten and twelve, article sixteen, chapter
twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 22. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES.
ARTICLE 16. SOLID WASTE LANDFILL CLOSURE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
§22-16-10. Limitation on assistance.
The director may provide closure assistance only to
permittees who meet the following requirements:
(1) The permittee of a landfill that does not have a liner
and ceases accepting solid waste on or before the thirtieth day
of November, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, except for
those landfills allowed to accept solid waste pursuant to the
provisions of section eight, article five-f of this chapter and
ceases accepting solid waste on or before the extension deadline
as determined by the director; or the permittee of a landfill
that has only a single liner and ceases accepting solid waste on
or before the thirtieth day of September, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three;
(2) The permittee of the landfill must demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the director that it does not have the financial
resources on hand or the ability to generate the amounts needed
to comply, in a timely manner, with the closure requirements
provided in article fifteen of this chapter and any rules promulgated pursuant thereto: Provided, That any permittee which
is a municipality, county, county solid waste authority or
regional solid waste authority and which has been required to
close a landfill, or any portion thereof, due to the lack of an
approved composite liner system, who collects solid waste within
this state which is disposed outside this state, shall not be
eligible for closure assistance. for any closure costs related to
such closure that exceed the amount that permittee has set aside
for closure expenses pursuant to subsection (a), section four of
this article. If any such permittee continues to accept solid
waste after receiving such closure assistance, the payment of the
"solid waste assessment fee" by that permittee as required in
section four of this article shall satisfy both the repayment of
any such closure assistance and the payment of said solid waste
assessment fee; and
(3) The permittee must maintain a permit for the landfill
pursuant to the provisions of section five, article five-f of
this chapter and maintain the full amount of the bond required to
be submitted pursuant to section five-b of said article.
§22-16-12. Solid waste facility closure cost assistance fund.
(a) The "closure cost assistance fund" is continued as a
special revenue account in the state treasury. The fund shall operate as a special fund whereby all deposits and payments
thereto do not expire to the general revenue fund, but shall
remain in such account and be available for expenditure in the
succeeding fiscal year. Separate sub-accounts may be established
within the special account for the purpose of identification of
various revenue resources and payment of specific obligations.
(b) Interest earned on any money in the fund shall be
deposited to the credit of the fund.
(c) The fund consists of the following:
(1) Moneys collected and deposited in the state treasury
which are specifically designated by acts of the Legislature for
inclusion in the fund, including moneys collected and deposited
into the fund pursuant to section four of this article;
(2) Contributions, grants and gifts from any source, both
public and private, which may be used by the director for any
project or projects;
(3) Amounts repaid by permittees pursuant to section nine,
article five-f of this chapter; and
(4) All interest earned on investments made by the state
from moneys deposited in this fund.
(d) The solid waste management board, upon written approval
of the director, has the authority to pledge all or such part of
the revenues paid into the closure cost assistance fund as may be needed to meet the requirements of any revenue bond issue or
issues of the solid waste management board authorized by this
article, including the payment of principal of, interest and
redemption premium, if any, on such revenue bonds and the
establishing and maintaining of a reserve fund or funds for the
payment of the principal of, interest and redemption premium, if
any, on such revenue bond issue or issues when other moneys
pledged may be insufficient therefor. Any pledge of moneys in
the closure cost assistance fund for revenue bonds shall be a
prior and superior charge on such fund over the use of any of the
moneys in such fund to pay for the cost of any project on a cash
basis. Expenditures from the fund, other than for the retirement
of revenue bonds, may only be made in accordance with the
provisions of this article.
(e) The amounts deposited in the fund may be expended only
on the cost of projects as provided for in sections three and ten
of this article, as provided in subsection (f) of this section
and for payment of bonds and notes issued pursuant to section
four-a of this article: Provided, That no more than one five
percent of the annual deposits to such fund may be used for
administrative purposes.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this article, upon
request of the solid waste management board, and with the approval of the projects by the director of the division of
environmental protection, the director may pledge and place into
escrow accounts up to an aggregate of two million dollars of the
fund to satisfy two years debt service requirement that
permittees of publicly owned landfills and transfer stations are
required to meet in order to obtain loans. Pledges shall be made
on a project-by-project basis, may not exceed five hundred
thousand dollars for a project and shall be made available after
loan commitments are received. The director may pledge funds for
a loan only when the following conditions are met:
(1) The proceeds of the loan are used only to perform
construction of a transfer station or a composite liner system
that is required to meet the provisions of title forty-seven,
series thirty-eight, solid waste management rules;
(2) The permittee dedicates all yearly debt service revenue,
as determined by the public service commission, to meet the
repayment schedule of the loan, before it uses available revenue
for any other purpose; and
(3) That any funds pledged may only be paid to the lender if
the permittee is in default on the loan.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to render any permittee
which is a municipality, county, county solid waste authority, or
regional solid waste authority ineligible for closure assistance
funds if such entity disposes of waste outside the state and does
not contribute to the landfill closure assistance fund, and to
provide for an increase in the percentage of expenditures for
administrative purposes from the lanfill closure assistance fund
from one percent to five percent.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.