Senate Bill No. 539
(By Senator Deem)
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[Introduced February 20, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter
twenty-two-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to definitions
relating to solid waste; and excluding yard waste from the
definition of solid waste.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article three, chapter twenty-two-c of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD.
§22C-3-3. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless the context clearly requires
a different meaning:
(1) "Board" means the solid waste management board provided
for in section four of this article, the duties, powers,
responsibilities and functions of which are specified in this
article.
(2) "Bond" or "solid waste disposal revenue bond" means a
revenue bond or note issued by the solid waste management board,
previously known as the West Virginia resource recovery -- solid
waste disposal authority, to effect the intents and purposes of
this article.
(3) "Construction" includes reconstruction, enlargement,
improvement and providing furnishings or equipment for a solid
waste disposal project.
(4) "Cost" means, as applied to solid waste disposal
projects, the cost of their acquisition and construction; the
cost of acquisition of all land, rights-of-way, property, rights,
easements, franchise rights and interests required by the board
for such acquisition and construction; the cost of demolishing or
removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired,
including the cost of acquiring any land to which such buildings
or structures may be moved; the cost of diverting highways,
interchange of highways and access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements therefor; the cost of all
machinery, furnishings and equipment; all financing charges and
interest prior to and during construction and for no more than
eighteen months after completion of construction; the cost of all
engineering services and all expenses of research and development
with respect to solid waste facilities; the cost of all legal
services and expenses; the cost of all plans, specifications,
surveys and estimates of cost and revenues; all working capital
and other expenses necessary or incident to determining the
feasibility or practicability of acquiring or constructing any
such project; all administrative expenses and such other expenses
as may be necessary or incident to the acquisition or
construction of the project; the financing of such acquisition or
construction, including the amount authorized in the resolution
of the board providing for the issuance of solid waste disposal
revenue bonds to be paid into any special funds from the proceeds
of such bonds; and the financing of the placing of any such
project in operation. Any obligation or expenses incurred by any
governmental agency, with the approval of the board, for surveys,
borings, preparation of plans and specifications and other
engineering services in connection with the acquisition or construction of a project are a part of the cost of such project
and shall be reimbursed out of the proceeds of loans or solid
waste disposal revenue bonds as authorized by the provisions of
this article.
(5) "Governmental agency" means the state government or any
agency, department, division or unit thereof; counties;
municipalities; watershed improvement districts; soil
conservation districts; sanitary districts; public service
districts; drainage districts; regional governmental authorities
and any other governmental agency, entity, political subdivision,
public corporation or agency having the authority to acquire,
construct or operate solid waste facilities; the United States
government or any agency, department, division or unit thereof;
and any agency, commission or authority established pursuant to
an interstate compact or agreement.
(6) "Industrial waste" means any solid waste substance
resulting from or incidental to any process of industry,
manufacturing, trade or business, or from or incidental to the
development, processing or recovery of any natural resource.
(7) "Owner" includes all persons, partnerships or
governmental agencies having any title or interest in any property rights, easements and interests authorized to be
acquired by this article.
(8) "Person" means any public or private corporation,
institution, association, firm or company organized or existing
under the laws of this or any other state or country; the United
States or the state of West Virginia; governmental agency;
political subdivision; county commission; municipality; industry;
sanitary district; public service district; drainage district;
soil conservation district; solid waste disposal shed district;
partnership; trust; estate; individual; group of individuals
acting individually or as a group; or any other legal entity.
(9) "Pollution" means the discharge, release, escape or
deposit, directly or indirectly, of solid waste of whatever kind
or character, on lands or in waters in the state in an
uncontrolled, unregulated or unapproved manner.
(10) "Revenue" means any money or thing of value collected
by, or paid to, the solid waste management board as rent, use
fee, service charge or other charge for use of, or in connection
with, any solid waste disposal project, or as principal of or
interest, charges or other fees on loans, or any other
collections on loans made by the solid waste management board to governmental agencies to finance, in whole or in part, the
acquisition or construction of any solid waste development
project or projects, or other money or property which is received
and may be expended for or pledged as revenues pursuant to this
article.
(11) "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, other
discarded material, 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, chapter twenty of this code, 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, chapter twenty of this code, or refuse, slurry, overburden or other waste 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 such
placement or disposal is in conformance with a permit issued
pursuant to said chapters. "Solid waste" does not include
materials which are recycled by being used or reused in an
industrial process to make a product, as effective substitutes
for commercial products, or are returned to the original process
as a substitute for raw material feedstock.
"Solid waste" does
not include yard waste, including, but not limited to, grass
clippings, leaves and tree stumps when piled together on a
resident's own property.
(12) "Solid waste facility" means any system, facility,
land, contiguous land, improvements on land, structures or other
appurtenances or methods used for processing, recycling or
disposing of solid waste, including landfills, transfer stations,
materials recovery facilities and other such facilities not
herein specified. Such facility is situated, for purposes of this article, in the county where the majority of the spatial
area of such facility is located.
(13) "Solid waste disposal project" or "project" means any
solid waste facility, wastewater treatment plants, sewer
treatment plants, water and sewer systems and connecting
pipelines the acquisition or construction of which is authorized
by the solid waste management board or any acquisition or
construction which is financed, in whole or in part, from funds
made available by grant or loan by, or through, the board as
provided in this article, including all buildings and facilities
which the board deems necessary for the operation of the project,
together with all property, rights, easements and interests which
may be required for the operation of the project.
(14) "Solid waste disposal shed" or "shed" means a
geographical area which the solid waste management board
designates as provided in section eight of this article for solid
waste management.
(15) "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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow residents to
pile-up yard waste on their own property.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.