A.2. County Solid Waste Management Planning

A.2. County Solid Waste Management Planning

In 1970, the State of New Jersey adopted the Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA) which established a regulatory framework for the implementation of environmental standards for solid waste management. The SWMA was amended in 1975 to establish the current solid waste management planning process. The 1975 amendments assigned primary planning responsibilities, subject to detailed state level review and approval, to 22 solid waste management districts, which are comprised of the 21 New Jersey counties and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC). The SWMA required the districts to develop solid waste systems that maximize the use of resource recovery technologies, including recycling, composting and incineration, in recognition of the state's need to reduce the dependence on landfill disposal. By the early 1980's, the Department had approved solid waste management plans for each of the 22 solid waste management districts as was required by the SWMA.

Under this system, as a result of a non-discriminatory bidding process, which allows in-state and out-of-state companies to bid on a contract for disposal of a county’s waste, counties can institute solid waste flow control on the waste contracted. The waste that is subject of the contract is required to be disposed of at the contracted location under penalty of law.

An intrastate flow control system mandates that all non-recycled solid waste generated within a county which is not transported out-of-state for disposal shall be disposed of at the designated in-county disposal facility.

A market participant system allows a county-owned facility to compete with other in-state and out-of-state disposal facilities for the disposal of the solid waste.

A free market system allows solid waste generated within a county to be disposed at whatever disposal facility agrees to accept the waste, based on terms freely agreed to by the generator, the transporter and the disposal facility operator.

1. 
   Designation of the department, unit or committee of the county government (or district in the case of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission) to supervise the implementation of the district plan;
   
2. 
   An inventory of the quantity of solid waste generated within the district for the ten-year period commencing with the adoption of updated district solid waste management plan;
   
3. 
   An inventory of all solid waste and recycling facilities (lot and block and street address) including approved waste types and amounts, hours of operation and approved truck routes;
   
4. 
   An outline of the solid waste disposal strategy to be utilized by the district for a ten-year planning period;
   
5. 
   A procedure for the processing of applications for inclusion of solid waste and recycling facilities within the district solid waste management plans. The procedure shall state the applicant requirements for inclusion into the district plan and the specific county review process/procedures, including time frames for county approvals or rejections and subsequent submittals to the Department. Note- the criteria for inclusion shall not include a requirement that local zoning or planning board approval(s) be obtained as a condition for inclusion within the district solid waste management plan, nor shall such a requirement be made a condition for subsequent construction or operation of any facility;
   
6. 
   Utilizing the data supplied in Table B-1 that identifies the additional tonnage of recycled materials in the MSW stream (by material commodity types) required by each county to meet the mandated MSW recycling goal, a strategy for the attainment of the recycling goals as outlined above. The strategy shall include, as necessary:
   

1. 
   the designation of the currently mandated recyclable materials and additional materials, if any, to be source separated in the residential, commercial and institutional sectors;
   
2. 
   a listing of those entities providing recycling collection, processing and marketing services for each of the designated recyclable materials;
   
3. 
   the communication program to be utilized to inform generators of their source separation and recycling responsibilities;
   
4. 
   a comprehensive enforcement program that identifies the county and/or municipal entity(ies) responsible for enforcement of the recycling mandates, specifies the minimum number of recycling inspections that will be undertaken by these entities on an annual basis and details the penalties to be imposed for non-compliance with the municipal source-separation ordinance and county solid waste management plan. Additionally, the updated district plan shall include copies of each municipal source separation ordinance.
   

Regarding the municipal ordinance referenced above, it should be noted that, due to a number of factors including the experience of the Department relative to a coordinated recycling enforcement “sweep” in Hudson County in mid-2005, the Department has begun drafting a “model” municipal recycling ordinance. This model ordinance will include all those elements that are contained in statute as municipal responsibilities in this area, as well as recommended elements based on the past 20 years of state experience in recycling management. For example, though not specifically contained in the Recycling Act nor the Municipal Land Use Law, municipalities have the authority to require, as an element of permit issuance for construction or demolition activity, information related to the generation and disposition of materials generated as a result of these activities. The model ordinance being developed will provide guidance on incorporating this into the municipal demolition/construction permit process, as another way to increase responsible waste management, and increase recycling efforts in the construction industry. The Department intends to complete and distribute this model ordinance in the first quarter of 2006.