Introduced Version
Senate Bill 449 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 449
(By Senators Carmichael and Blair)
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[Introduced March 5, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §22-15A-5 and §22-15A-22 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to repealing the
requirement that covered electronic devices may not be
disposed of in a solid waste landfill in West Virginia.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-15A-5 and §22-15A-22 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15A. THE A. JAMES MANCHIN REHABILITATION ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTION PLAN.
§22-15A-5. Litter pickup and removal; education; government
recycling responsibilities; monitoring and
evaluation; study commission; repeal; report to
Legislature.
(a) Litter pickup and removal. --
(1) Each county commission and the Regional Jail Authority may
establish a jail or prison inmate program including a regular
litter pickup work regimen under proper supervision pursuant to
section four, article fifteen, chapter seventeen of this code.
Funding for these programs shall be from the Litter Control Fund.
Funding requirements may include salaries for additional personnel
needed for the program. The program may include the cooperative
help of the Division of Highways or any other voluntary state,
local, private, civic or public agency for personnel, equipment or
materials in establishing a county or regionwide, continual program
of inmate litter pickup. Upon final approval of the projected cost
of the program for a given fiscal year, the secretary shall
disburse the approved amount to the county or Regional Jail
Authority. The funds will be used by the Authority to reimburse
the county commission or Regional Jail Authority for its expenses
related to the program and to pay other costs related to the use of
inmates for litter pickup. Nothing contained herein shall preclude
precludes a county or counties from expending whatever additional
funds its commission or commissions may deem consider appropriate
from any other revenue source in furtherance of said the program.
(2) All persons involved with litter pickup may separate
identifiable recyclable materials from other litter collected. The
funds resulting from the sale of those recyclable materials shall be returned to the Litter Control Fund.
(3) The county or regional solid waste authority may also
contract with local governments, civic organizations or chief
correctional officers in any county to implement litter pickup and
removal pursuant to this act when the state offender workforce is
not available. In such cases, the contract provisions shall
require that identifiable recyclable materials shall be separated
from other litter collected, with resulting funds returned to the
Litter Control Fund. Priority shall be given to those contracts
that maximize the use of community service hours by inmates and
youth employment programs.
(b) Education. --
(1) The Department of Education in cooperation with the
Department of Environmental Protection shall distribute educational
materials to the schools based on the goals of litter clean up and
proper solid waste disposal, the rationale for the goals and how
primary and secondary school students can contribute to the
achievement of the goals. The Department of Education shall
further incorporate this information into the curriculum of the
public school system as appropriate.
(2) The Division of Highways and local governments shall
conduct public awareness programs to notify the public of the
provisions of this law and how they can participate, to inform them
as to the rationale behind the provisions of this law, to advise them of other avenues for achievement of the noted goals and to
encourage their participation.
(3) The Department of Environmental Protection and the Solid
Waste Management Board shall provide technical assistance to local
governments in the implementation of this law.
(c) Government recycling responsibilities. --
(1) All state agencies and regional planning councils may
establish and implement aluminum container, glass and paper
recycling programs at their public facilities. To the extent
practicable, programs for other metals, plastics, covered
electronic devices, rubber and other recyclable materials may be
established and implemented. The moneys collected from the sale of
such materials shall be deposited and accounted for in the Litter
Control Fund pursuant to the authority of section four of this
article.
(2) To further promote recycling and reduction of the waste
stream, county and municipal governments shall consider the
establishment of recycling programs as provided in this section in
the operation of their facilities and shall evaluate the cost
effectiveness of:
(A) Procedures that separate identifiable recyclable materials
from solid waste collected; and
(B) Programs that provide for:
(i) The establishment of a collection place for recyclables at all landfills and other interim solid waste collection sites and
arrangements for the material collected to be recycled;
(ii) Public notification of such places and encouragement to
participate;
(iii) The use of rate differentials at landfills to facilitate
public participation in on-site recycling programs.
(3) In preparing the recycling plan as required under this
subsection, the county may address methods for the separate
collection and recycling of covered electronic devices, including
efforts by the county with manufacturers, recyclers, retailers or
other local governments for the collection and recycling of covered
electronic devices.
(d) Each affected agency and local government shall monitor
and evaluate the programs implemented pursuant to this law.
(e) The secretary shall submit a report to the Speaker of the
House and the President of the Senate not later than March 1, 2006,
and every five years thereafter regarding the effectiveness of the
programs authorized by this law.
§22-15A-22. Prohibition on the disposal of certain items; plans
for the proper handling of said items required.
(a) It is unlawful to dispose of lead-acid batteries in a
solid waste landfill in West Virginia.
(b) It is unlawful to dispose of tires in a solid waste
landfill in West Virginia except for waste tires collected as part of the department's waste tire remediation projects or other
collection efforts in accordance with the provisions of this
article or the pollution prevention program and open dump program
or other state-authorized remediation or clean up programs:
Provided, That waste tires may be disposed of in solid waste
landfills only when the state agency authorizing the remediation or
clean up program has determined there is no reasonable alternative
available.
(c) It is unlawful to dispose of yard waste in a solid waste
facility in West Virginia: Provided, That the prohibitions do not
apply to a facility designed specifically to compost yard waste or
otherwise recycle or reuse yard waste: Provided, however, That
reasonable and necessary exceptions to the prohibitions may be
included as part of the rules promulgated pursuant to subsection
(f) (e).
(d) Effective January 1, 2011, covered electronic devices, as
defined in section two of this article, may not be disposed of in
a solid waste landfill in West Virginia.
(e) (d) The Solid Waste Management Board shall design a
comprehensive program to provide for the proper handling of yard
waste, lead-acid batteries, tires and covered electronic devices.
(f) (e) The secretary shall promulgate rules, in accordance
with chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to implement and enforce
the program for yard waste, lead-acid batteries, tires and covered electronic devices designed pursuant to subsection (d) (e).
(g) (f) The secretary's rule shall provide for the disposal of
yard waste in a manner consistent with one or any combination of
the following:
(1) Disposal in a publicly or privately operated commercial or
noncommercial composting facility;
(2) Disposal by composting on the property from which domestic
yard waste is generated or on adjoining property or neighborhood
property if consent is obtained from the owner of the adjoining or
neighborhood property;
(3) Disposal by open burning, where not prohibited; or
(4) Disposal in a publicly or privately operated landfill,
only where none of the foregoing options are available. The manner
of disposal shall only involve small quantities of domestic yard
waste generated only from the property of the participating
resident or tenant.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to repeal the requirement
that covered electronic devices may not be disposed of in a solid
waste landfill in West Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.