Senate Bill No. 372
(By Senator Blatnik)
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[Introduced February 17, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article five-n, chapter
twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to natural
resources; solid waste landfill closure; solid waste
assessment fee, penalties; and increasing the solid waste
assessment fee.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article five-n, chapter twenty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5N. SOLID WASTE LANDFILL CLOSURE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
§20-5N-4. Solid waste assessment fee; penalties.
(a)
Imposition. -- A solid waste assessment fee is hereby
levied and imposed upon the disposal of solid waste at any solid
waste disposal facility in this state in the amount of
three
dollars and fifty cents four dollars per ton or like ratio on any
part thereof of solid waste, except as provided in subsection (e)of this section:
Provided,
That any solid waste disposal
facility may deduct from this assessment fee an amount, not to
exceed the fee, equal to the amount that such facility is
required by the public service commission to set aside for the
purpose of closure of that portion of the facility required to
close by article fifteen of this chapter. The fee imposed by
this section is in addition to all other fees and taxes levied by
law and shall be added to and constitute part of any other fee
charged by the operator or owner of the solid waste disposal
facility.
(b) Collection, return, payment and records. -- The person
disposing of solid waste at the solid waste disposal facility
shall pay the fee imposed by this section, whether or not such
person owns the solid waste, and the fee shall be collected by
the operator of the solid waste facility who shall remit it to
the tax commissioner.
(1) The fee imposed by this section accrues at the time the
solid waste is delivered to the solid waste disposal facility.
(2) The operator shall remit the fee imposed by this section
to the tax commissioner on or before the fifteenth day of the
month next succeeding the month in which the fee accrued. Upon
remittance of the fee, the operator shall file returns on forms
and in the manner prescribed by the tax commissioner.
(3) The operator shall account to the state for all fees
collected under this section and shall hold them in trust for the
state until they are remitted to the tax commissioner.
(4) If any operator fails to collect the fee imposed by this
section, he or she is personally liable for such amount as he or
she failed to collect, plus applicable additions to tax,
penalties and interest imposed by article ten, chapter eleven of
this code.
(5) Whenever any operator fails to collect, truthfully
account for, remit the fee or file returns with the fee as
required in this section, the tax commissioner may serve written
notice requiring such operator to collect the fees which become
collectible after service of such notice, to deposit such fees in
a bank approved by the tax commissioner, in a separate account,
in trust for and payable to the tax commissioner, and to keep the
amount of such fees in such account until remitted to the tax
commissioner. Such notice shall remain in effect until a notice
of cancellation is served on the operator or owner by the tax
commissioner.
(6) Whenever the owner of a solid waste disposal facility
leases the solid waste facility to an operator, the operator is
primarily liable for collection and remittance of the fee imposed
by this section and the owner is secondarily liable for
remittance of the fee imposed by this section. However, if the
operator fails, in whole or in part, to discharge his or her
obligations under this section, the owner and the operator of the
solid waste facility are jointly and severally responsible and
liable for compliance with the provisions of this section.
(7) If the operator or owner responsible for collecting thefee imposed by this section is an association or corporation, the
officers thereof are liable, jointly and severally, for any
default on the part of the association or corporation, and
payment of the fee and any additions to tax, penalties and
interest imposed by article ten, chapter eleven of this code may
be enforced against them as against the association or
corporation which they represent.
(8) Each person disposing of solid waste at a solid waste
disposal facility and each person required to collect the fee
imposed by this section shall keep complete and accurate records
in such form as the tax commissioner may require in accordance
with the rules of the tax commissioner.
(c) Regulated motor carriers. -- The fee imposed by this
section is a necessary and reasonable cost for motor carriers of
solid waste subject to the jurisdiction of the public service
commission under chapter twenty-four-a of this code.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon the
filing of a petition by an affected motor carrier, the public
service commission shall, within fourteen days, reflect the cost
of said fee in said motor carrier's rates for solid waste removal
service. In calculating the amount of said fee to said motor
carrier, the commission shall use the national average of pounds
of waste generated per person per day as determined by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency.
(d) Definitions. -- For purposes of this section, the term
"solid waste disposal facility" means any approved solid wastefacility or open dump in this state, and includes a transfer
station when the solid waste collected at the transfer station is
not finally disposed of at a solid waste facility within this
state that collects the fee imposed by this section. Nothing in
this section authorizes in any way the creation or operation of
or contribution to an open dump.
(e) Exemptions. -- The following transactions are exempt
from the fee imposed by this section:
(1) Disposal of solid waste at a solid waste disposal
facility by the person who owns, operates or leases the solid
waste disposal facility if the facility is used exclusively to
dispose of waste originally produced by such person in such
person's regular business or personal activities or by persons
utilizing the facility on a cost-sharing or nonprofit basis;
(2) Reuse or recycling of any solid waste;
(3) Disposal of residential solid waste by an individual not
in the business of hauling or disposing of solid waste on such
days and times as designated by the director as exempt from the
solid waste assessment fee; and
(4) Disposal of solid waste at a solid waste disposal
facility by a commercial recycler which disposes of thirty
percent or less of the total waste it processes for recycling.
In order to qualify for this exemption each commercial recycler
must keep accurate records of incoming and outgoing waste by
weight. Such records must be made available to the appropriate
inspectors from the division of environmental protection, uponrequest.
(f) Procedure and administration. -- Notwithstanding
section three, article ten, chapter eleven of this code, each and
every provision of the "West Virginia Tax Procedure and
Administration Act" set forth in article ten, chapter eleven of
this code applies to the fee imposed by this section with like
effect as if said act were applicable only to the fee imposed by
this section and were set forth in extenso herein.
(g) Criminal penalties. -- Notwithstanding section two,
article nine, chapter eleven of this code, sections three through
seventeen, article nine, chapter eleven of this code apply to the
fee imposed by this section with like effect as if said sections
were applicable only to the fee imposed by this section and were
set forth in extenso herein.
(h) Dedication of proceeds. -- Fifty percent of the
proceeds of the fee collected pursuant to this article in excess
of thirty thousand tons per month from any landfill which is
permitted to accept in excess of thirty thousand tons per month
pursuant to section nine, article fifteen of this chapter shall
be remitted, at least monthly, to the county commission in the
county in which the landfill is located. The remainder of the
proceeds of the fee collected pursuant to this section shall be
deposited in the closure cost assistance fund established
pursuant to section twelve of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the solidwaste assessment fee fifty cents a ton, from $3.50 to $4.00.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.