Brief (1)
HB 2860 would amend various sections of law dealing with solid waste to allow the competitive grants awarded by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to be used for projects which would implement innovative waste processing technologies which demonstrate nontraditional methods to reduce waste volume by recovering material or by converting the waste into usable by-products or energy through chemical or physical processes.
The bill also would amend current law regarding grants to allow for the grant to pay for enhancement of temporary and permanent household hazardous waste programs; the first year of operation following initial start-up of temporary and permanent household hazardous waste programs; and for the education of the public regarding changes in household hazardous waste collection program operation or services.
The bill would amend current law to clarify that the failure of a public or private entity owning a municipal solid waste landfill to pay solid waste tonnage fees would bar them from receipt of any grant funds. In addition, failure of a county or regional authority to perform annual solid waste plan reviews and five-year public hearings would bar the receipt of any grant funds unless the grant would support a project expected to yield benefits to counties outside the jurisdiction of the county or regional authority. Further, the bill would prevent a city, county, regional authority, or private entity from receiving grants if KDHE determines that they are operating in substantial violation of any applicable solid and hazardous waste laws or rules and regulations. Under the bill, if the Secretary of KDHE determines that a grant recipient has utilized grant moneys for purposes not authorized, then repayment may be ordered and cancellation of commitments could occur. Civil action in the court could occur to recover any unapproved expenditure.
The bill also would amend provisions of current law which restrict expenditures from the Solid Waste Management Fund. Expenditures could be made for corrective action at an active or closed solid waste processing facility or a solid waste disposal area where solid waste management activity has resulted in an actual or potential threat to human health or the environment. Prior to the initiating of any corrective action activities, the Secretary, under the bill, would give written notice to the person or persons responsible for the waste to be cleaned up and to the property owner that KDHE will undertake the corrective action if the work is not performed in a specified time period. The bill would require KDHE to enter private property to perform corrective actions if the responsible party fails to perform required clean-up, but no entry would be made without the owner's consent, except upon notice and hearing in accordance with the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act and a finding that the solid waste creates a public nuisance or adversely affects the public health or the environment.
In addition the bill would permit moneys in the Solid Waste Management Fund to be used for:
The bill also would require the Secretary of KDHE to annually prepare a report to the Legislature summarizing all expenditures from the Solid Waste Management Fund, fund revenues, and recommendations regarding the adequacy of the fund to support solid waste programs.
With respect to the state solid waste tipping fee, the bill would make the fee optional for solid waste transferred out of state through a transfer station located in a county where the county commission by resolution has exempted solid waste from the fee. If a county commission exempts solid waste from the tipping fee because of its transfer out of state, then any entity within the jurisdiction of the county would be banned from receipt of any solid waste grant funds.
In addition, the bill would clarify that certain unpermitted disposal of solid waste by KDHE for emergencies would not be subject to the tipping fee. The bill would give the Secretary the authority to waive the statewide fee when there are large quantities of solid waste generated from a natural disaster unless the person paying the fee is able to recover the fee from the federal government. Finally, the bill would clarify that all government units would be exempt from the payment of the statewide tipping fee for construction and demolition waste.
Background
This bill was introduced at the request of a spokesperson for KDHE. At the hearing on the bill, the proponent was a representative of KDHE. The spokesperson stated that the bill was drafted to make several necessary changes in the solid waste law and that the changes relate to the payment of landfill tipping fees and to the uses for the collected fees. A spokesperson from Deffenbaugh Industries appeared in opposition to the bill. The conferee listed a number of reasons that the bill should not be passed.
The House Committee on Environment amended the bill to require a property owner's consent in order to enter into a property except upon notice and hearing in accordance with the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act and a finding that the solid waste creates a public nuisance or adversely affects the public health or the environment. The Committee also amended the bill to require local entities to match 25 percent of the cost for removal and disposal or on-site stabilization of solid waste which had been illegally dumped and to require reimbursement of moneys to the city or county if the responsible party pays. The Committee also amended the bill to restore the exemption of the solid waste tipping fee on waste tires. Finally, the Committee amended the section which would allow the Secretary to exempt waste from natural disasters from the statewide tipping fee by not permitting the waiver if the fees could be recovered from the federal government.
The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill with respect to how the moneys in the Solid Waste Management Fund may be expended by requiring that before the moneys are expended for the removal and disposal or on-site stabilization of solid waste which has been illegally dumped there must be the consent of the city or county.
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources amended the bill to allow county commissions to exempt solid waste from the statewide tipping fee if it is transferred out of state through a solid waste transfer station. If a county commission would take this action, then all entities in that jurisdiction would be banned from receipt of any solid waste grant funds.
No fiscal note had been prepared on the bill at the time of its adoption.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html