SB 629 Text

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.

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