Section 4000.502 - Content of municipal waste management plans(a)General rule.--Except as provided in section 501(b), every plan submitted after the effective date of this act shall comply with the provisions of this section.(b)Description of waste.--The plan shall describe and explain the origin, content and weight or volume of municipal waste currently generated within the county's boundaries, and the origin, content and weight or volume of municipal waste that will be generated within the county's boundaries during the next ten years.(c)Description of facilities.--The plan shall identify and describe the facilities where municipal waste is currently being disposed or processed and the remaining available permitted capacity of such facilities and the capacity which could be made available through the reasonable expansion of such facilities. The plan shall contain an analysis of the effect of current and planned recycling on waste generated within the county. The plan shall also explain the extent to which existing facilities will be used during the life of the plan and shall not substantially impair the use of their remaining permitted capacity or of capacity which could be made available through the reasonable expansion of such facilities. For purposes of this subsection, existing facilities shall include: (1) Facilities holding permits for which a complete permit application under the Solid Waste Management Act is filed with the department within one year from the effective date of this act or within one year of the date written notice of the development of a plan is given to municipalities pursuant to section 503(b) or within six months of the date written notice for a substantial plan revision is given to municipalities pursuant to section 503(b), whichever is the later, unless such permit application is denied by the department.(2) Resource recovery facilities for which the owner or operator of the facility has deposited funds into escrow for financing of the facility or has secured permanent bond financing for the facility or has signed an electric power contract with a public utility and such contract has been approved by the commission.(3) Any facility which is a resource recovery facility or municipal waste landfill which, on or before the effective date of this act, to the department's satisfaction, meets all of the following criteria:(i) The applicant has acquired ownership of the site.(ii) The applicant has agreements for disposal of municipal waste.(iii) The applicant meets one of the following:(A) The applicant has a permit from the department on the effective date of this act.(B) The applicant has received a permit within one year from the date written notice of the plan or the plan revisions is given to the municipalities pursuant to section 503(b).(C) A permit application is submitted to the department within one year of the effective date of this act. In addition, the plan shall give consideration to the potential expansion of existing municipal waste processing or disposal facilities located in the county. For the purposes of this subsection, the department shall determine whether applications are complete within 90 days of their receipt and, if incomplete, specify to the applicant all deficiencies of the application. Any subsequent plan revisions shall identify and describe the facilities where municipal waste is currently being disposed or processed and the remaining available permitted capacity of such facilities, and the plan shall consider the capacity which could be made available through the reasonable expansion of such facilities.
(d)Estimated future capacity.--The plan shall estimate the processing or disposal capacity needed for the municipal waste that will be generated in the county during the next ten years. The assessment shall describe the primary variables affecting this estimate and the extent to which they can reasonably be expected to affect the estimate, including, but not limited to, the amount of residual waste disposed or processed at municipal waste disposal or processing facilities in the county and the extent to which residual waste may be disposed or processed at such facilities during the next ten years. If the plan indicates that additional processing or disposal capacity is needed by the county, the county shall give public notice of such a determination and solicit proposals and recommendations regarding facilities and programs to provide such capacity. The county shall provide a copy of such notice to the department, which shall cause a copy of such notice to be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.(e)Description of recyclable materials.--(1) The plan shall describe and evaluate:(i) The kind and weight or volume of materials that could be recycled, giving consideration, at a minimum, to the following materials: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans, high grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper, plastics and leaf waste.(ii) Potential benefits of recycling, including the potential solid waste reduction and the avoided cost of municipal waste processing or disposal.(iii) Existing materials recovery operations and the kind and weight or volume of materials recycled by the operations, whether public or private.(iv) The compatibility of recycling with other municipal waste processing or disposal methods, giving consideration to and describing anticipated and available markets for materials collected through municipal recycling programs.(v) Proposed or existing collection methods for recyclable materials.(vi) Options for ensuring the collection of recyclable materials.(vii) Options for the processing, storage and sale of recyclable materials, including market commitments. The plan shall consider the results of the market development study required by section 508, if the results are available.(viii) Options for municipal cooperation or agreement for the collection, processing and sale of recyclable materials.(ix) A schedule for implementation of the recycling program.(x) Estimated costs of operating and maintaining a recycling program, estimated revenue from the sale or use of materials and avoided costs of processing or disposal. This estimate shall be based on a comparison of public and private operation of some or all parts of the recycling program.(xi) What consideration for the collection, marketing and disposition of recyclable materials will be accorded to persons engaged in the business of recycling on the effective date of this act, whether or not the persons are operating for profit.(xii) A public information and education program that will provide comprehensive and sustained public notice of recycling program features and requirements.(2) Any county containing municipalities that are required by section 1501 to implement recycling programs shall take the provisions of that section into account in preparing the recycling portion of its plan.(3) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed or understood to prohibit preparation of a county municipal waste management plan prior to developing and implementing any recycling program required by Chapter 15.(f)Financial factors.--The plan shall describe the type, mix, size, expected cost and proposed methods of financing the facilities, recycling programs or waste reduction programs that are proposed for the processing and disposal of the municipal waste or source-separated recyclable materials that will be generated within the county's boundaries during the next ten years. For every proposed facility, recycling program or waste reduction program, the plan shall discuss all of the following:(1) Explain in detail the reason for selecting such facility or program.(2) Describe alternative facilities or programs, including, but not limited to, waste reduction, recycling, or resource recovery facilities or programs, that were considered and provide reasonable assurances that the county utilized a fair, open and competitive process for selecting such facilities or programs from among alternatives which were suggested to the county.(3) Evaluate the environmental, energy, life cycle cost, the costs of transportation to each facility considered and economic advantages and disadvantages of the proposed facility or program as well as the alternatives considered.(4) Show that adequate provision for existing and reasonably anticipated future recycling has been made in designing the size of any proposed facility.(5) Set forth a time schedule and program for planning, design, siting, construction and operation of each proposed facility or program.(g)Location.--The plan shall identify the general location within a county where each municipal waste processing or disposal facility and each recycling program identified in subsection (f) will be located, and either identify the site of each facility if the site has already been chosen or explain how the site will be chosen. For any facility that is proposed to be located outside the county, the plan shall explain in detail the reasons for selecting such a facility.(h)Implementing entity identification.--The plan shall identify the governmental entity that will be responsible for implementing the plan on behalf of the county and describe the legal basis for that entity's authority to do so.(i)Public function.--Where the county determines that it is in the public interest for municipal waste processing or disposal to be a public function, the plan shall provide for appropriate mechanisms, subject to the limitations set forth in section 902(a) on the use of grant moneys by municipalities for purchasing equipment for processing solid waste.(j)Copies of ordinances and resolutions.--The plan shall include any proposed ordinances, negotiated contracts or requirements that will be used to insure the operation of any facilities proposed in the plan. For each ordinance, contract or requirement, the plan shall identify the areas of the county to be affected, the expected effective date and the implementing mechanism.(k)Orderly extension.--The plan shall provide for the orderly extension of municipal waste management systems in a manner that is consistent with the needs of the area and is also consistent with any existing State, regional or local plans affecting the development, use and protection of air, water, land or other natural resources. The plan shall also take into consideration planning, zoning, population estimates, engineering and economics.(l)Methods of disposal other than by contract.--If the county proposes to require, by means other than contracts, that municipal wastes generated within its boundaries be processed or disposed at a designated facility under section 303(e), the plan shall so state. The plan shall explain the basis for such a proposal, giving consideration to alternative means of ensuring that waste generated within the county's boundaries is processed or disposed in an environmentally acceptable manner. A copy of the proposed ordinance or other legal instrument that would effectuate this proposal shall also be included.(m)County ownership.--If the county proposes to own or operate a municipal waste processing or disposal facility, the plan shall so state. The plan shall also explain the basis for such a proposal, giving consideration to the comparative costs and benefits of private ownership and operation of municipal waste processing or disposal facilities.(n)Other information.--The plan shall include any other information that the department may require.(o)Noninterference with certain resource recovery facilities and landfills.--(1) No county municipal waste management plan shall interfere with the design, construction, operation, financing or contractual obligations of any municipal processing or disposal facility, including any reasonable expansion of an existing facility which meets any of the following requirements:(i) A resource recovery facility or municipal waste landfill that is part of a complete municipal waste management plan submitted by a municipality or organization of municipalities under the Solid Waste Management Act prior to the effective date of this act, and for which a complete permit application under the Solid Waste Management Act is submitted to the department within one year of the effective date of this act.(ii) The projects, plans or operations of a municipality authority created under the act of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the Municipality Authorities Act of 1945, or of an organization of municipalities which (municipality authority or organization of municipalities) is created by two or more municipalities prior to the effective date of this act for the purposes of providing for collection, storage, transportation, processing or disposal of solid waste generated within the municipalities and which (municipality authority or organization of municipalities) submits to the department within one year of the effective date of this act, and is approved by the department, a solid waste management plan, consistent with the other provisions of this section, that includes each member municipality. This subparagraph applies to the projects, plans and operations of municipalities which are members of the municipality authority or organization of municipalities.(iii) The owner or operator of the facility has deposited funds into escrow for financing of the facility or has secured permanent bond financing for the facility or has signed an electric power contract with a public utility and such a contract has been approved by the commission.(iv) The implementation of a county municipal waste plan pursuant to section 501(b) which has designated an existing permitted solid waste management facility, on or before the effective date of this act, owned by a local public agency other than the county in which the facility is located.(v) The facility is a resource recovery facility or municipal waste landfill which, on or before the effective date of this act, to the department's satisfaction, meets all of the following criteria:(A) The applicant has acquired ownership of the site.(B) The applicant has agreements for disposal of municipal waste.(C) The applicant meets one of the following: (I) The applicant has a permit from the department on the effective date of this act.(II) The applicant has received a permit within one year from the date written notice of the plan or the plan revisions is given to the municipalities pursuant to section 503(b).(III) A permit application is submitted to the department within one year of the effective date of this act.(2) Within 120 days after receiving a complete plan, the department shall give it preliminary or technical approval under 25 Pa. Code §§ 75.11 through 75.13 or disapprove it.(p)Public participation.--The plan shall include provisions for public participation in the implementation of the plan, including, but not limited to, an advisory committee to provide oversight and advice on the implementation of the plan. 1988, July 28, P.L. 556, No. 101, § 502, effective in 60 days.