Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

I will shortly introduce legislation clarifying that all municipalities required by the state Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling Waste Reduction Act (Act 101) to operate recycling programs may impose fees to cover the costs of such operations.

Last Fall, Commonwealth Court struck down a recycling fee that the city of Reading has collected for more than two decades, finding that municipal authority to regulate waste and recycling is preempted by Act 101, and that the law restricts the source of municipal payments for mandated programs exclusively to state recycling grants and to proceeds from selling the collected recyclables. This appeared to overturn the understanding of the law that has existed since its enactment in 1988, and which municipalities across the state have relied on for similar fees to operate their programs. Because the Act 101 sources fall well short of actual costs, while the court noted that municipalities are excused from program requirements if funding is insufficient, recycling officials believe loss of fee authority likely will end or severely cripple municipal recycling across the state.

Although the order subsequently appears to have been null and void (the challenger filed for bankruptcy protection before it was issued, removing the court's authority to issue it), its impact has still been to confuse and to raise doubts about the legitimacy of such fees, and officials expect that it is likely to map out challenges by others. In Reading, for example, the local water authority that collects the fee reportedly has indicated it likely will refuse to do so in the future because of the possibility that it will be entangled in litigation.

The value of recycling waste materials has been well proved over the last 25 years. My legislation will amend Act 101 simply to protect the status quo prior to the court's ruling. I hope you will join this effort to maintain the successes the Commonwealth has achieved over the last quarter century through waste recycling.