H. B. 2445
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chambers, and Delegates P. White,

Douglas, Manuel, Huntwork and Compton)


[Introduced March 3, 1993; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact sections one and ten, article five-f, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the management and disposal of solid waste; adding legislative findings which provide that incineration presents significant health and environmental problems and costs that are becoming prohibitive; and prohibiting municipal and commercial solid waste facilities utilizing incineration technologies.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and ten, article five-f, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
CHAPTER 20. NATURAL RESOURCES.

ARTICLE 5F. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT.

§20-5F-1. Purpose and legislative findings.

(a) The purpose of this article is to transfer jurisdictionover the management of solid waste under section nine, article one, chapter sixteen of the code from the division of health to the division of natural resources and to establish a comprehensive program of controlling solid waste disposal.
(b) The Legislature finds that uncontrolled, inadequately controlled and improper collection, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste (1) is a public nuisance and a clear and present danger to people; (2) provides harborages and breeding places for disease-carrying, injurious insects, rodents and other pests harmful to the public health, safety and welfare; (3) constitutes a danger to livestock and domestic animals; (4) decreases the value of private and public property, causes pollution, blight and deterioration of the natural beauty and resources of the state and has adverse economic and social effects on the state and its citizens; (5) results in the squandering of valuable nonrenewable and nonreplenishable resources contained in solid waste; (6) that resource recovery and recycling reduces the need for landfills and extends their life; and that (7) proper disposal, resource recovery or recycling of solid waste is for the general welfare of the citizens of this state.
(c) The Legislature further finds that disposal in West Virginia of solid waste from unknown origins threatens the environment and the public health, safety and welfare, and therefore, it is in the interest of the public to identify the type, amount and origin of solid waste accepted for disposal at West Virginia solid waste facilities.
(d) The Legislature further finds that other states of theseUnited States of America have imposed stringent standards for the proper collection and disposal of solid waste and that the relative lack of such standards and enforcement for such activities in West Virginia has resulted in the importation and disposal in the state of increasingly large amounts of infectious, dangerous and undesirable solid wastes and hazardous waste from other states by persons and firms who wish to avoid the costs and requirements for proper, effective and safe disposal of such wastes in the states of origin.
(e) The Legislature further finds that Class A landfills often have capacities far exceeding the needs of the state or the areas of the state which they serve and that such landfills create special environmental problems that require statewide coordination of the management of such landfills.
(f) The Legislature further finds that incineration technologies present significant health and environmental problems.
(g) The Legislature further finds that the ever-increasing costs of incineration technologies are becoming prohibitive.
§20-5F-10. Municipal and commercial solid waste incineration and backhauling prohibited.; exceptions.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, it shall be unlawful to install, establish or construct a new municipal or commercial solid waste facility utilizing incineration technology for the purpose of municipal solid waste incineration prior to the first day of May, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three: Provided That such prohibition shall notinclude the development of small-scale demonstration or pilot projects designed to analyze the efficiency or environmental impacts of incineration technologies.
(b) It shall be unlawful to engage in the practice of backhauling as such term is defined in section two of this article.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit municipal and commercial solid waste facilities utilizing incineration technologies.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language to be added.