H. B. 3120
(By Delegates Browning, Burdiss, Ellis,
Frederick, Hrutkay, Kominar, Long,
Moore, Porter, Rodighiero and White)
[Introduced February 19, 2007; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
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 solid waste
assessment fee; specifying when special solid waste assessment
fee applies in lieu of regular fees and how it is to be
administered, collected, enforced, and paid; 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 such 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, such facility shall be eligible for an increase of
such 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 shall be 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
facility to accept up to one hundred thousand tons per month, the
following factors, at a minimum, shall be considered: (i) Whether
the facility has substantially complied with applicable state and
federal environmental laws; (ii) whether the acceptance of the
additional tonnage will benefit the county; and (iii) 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 shall be required before the facility can begin to
handle up to one hundred thousand tons of solid waste per month at
that solid waste facility. 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, shall be required by the commercial solid
waste facility for the increase in tonnage that may be handled at
the facility, and no additional certificate of need shall be
required from the Public Service Commission pursuant to the
provisions of section one-c, article two, chapter twenty-four of
this code for any future major modifications of the solid waste
facility's permit issued pursuant to this article, other than for
the transfer of the permit to another person. 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, unless the owner of the commercial solid waste facility
elects, at its sole discretion, to seek and increase or decrease
its rates. 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, and section four, article sixteen,
both 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, and section four,
article sixteen, both 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, and section four,
article sixteen, all 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. On solid waste handled at the
facility in excess of six hundred thousand tons during a calendar
year there is hereby imposed a special solid waste assessment fee
equal to four dollars per ton or part thereof of solid waste, 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 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: (i)
Two dollars and eighty 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; (ii)
twenty-five cents per ton shall be distributed to the county
commission of the county in which the solid waste disposal 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, humane society, senior citizens,
ambulance, and health care; (iii) thirty-five 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 such county as determined by the Tax
Commissioner; (iv) thirty cents per ton shall be distributed to the
economic development authority operating on a multicounty or
regional basis which includes the county in which the commercial
solid waste facility is located, as determined by the county
commission of the county in which the solid waste authority is
located; and (v) thirty cents per ton shall be distributed to an
economic development authority associated with a corridor that
generally serves the region in which the solid waste facility is
located, as determined by the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a procedure that
may be used by a county solid waste disposal facility to obtain an
increase in the tonnage of solid waste it may handle each month.
Additionally, this bill imposes a special $4 per ton solid waste
assessment fee which applies to tonnage received in excess of
600,000 tons per year in lieu of the regular aggregate fees of
$8.75 per ton. Seventy percent of the proceeds from this special
fee is dedicated to the county commission of the county in which
the solid waste disposal facility is located. The balance is
dedicated to economic development and social services in McDowell
County and the region.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.