PRINTER'S NO. 103
No. 95 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY HOLL, JANUARY 29, 2001
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, JANUARY 29, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 7, 1980 (P.L.380, No.97), entitled "An
2 act providing for the planning and regulation of solid waste
3 storage, collection, transportation, processing, treatment,
4 and disposal; requiring municipalities to submit plans for
5 municipal waste management systems in their jurisdictions;
6 authorizing grants to municipalities; providing regulation of
7 the management of municipal, residual and hazardous waste;
8 requiring permits for operating hazardous waste and solid
9 waste storage, processing, treatment, and disposal
10 facilities; and licenses for transportation of hazardous
11 waste; imposing duties on persons and municipalities;
12 granting powers to municipalities; authorizing the
13 Environmental Quality Board and the Department of
14 Environmental Resources to adopt rules, regulations,
15 standards and procedures; granting powers to and imposing
16 duties upon county health departments; providing remedies;
17 prescribing penalties; and establishing a fund," further
18 providing for licensing, permitting and other requirements
19 for the land disposal of sewage sludge.
20 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
21 hereby enacts as follows:
22 Section 1. Section 104(17) and (18) of the act of July 7,
23 1980 (P.L.380, No.97), known as the Solid Waste Management Act,
24 amended or added July 11, 1989 (P.L.331, No.55), are amended and
25 the section is amended by adding a paragraph to read:
26 Section 104. Powers and duties of the department.
1 The department in consultation with the Department of Health
2 regarding matters of public health significance shall have the
3 power and its duty shall be to:
4 * * *
5 (17) administer funds collected by the United States
6 Government and granted to Pennsylvania for the purpose of
7 closing, maintaining or monitoring abandoned or closed
8 hazardous waste storage, treatment or disposal sites and for
9 the purpose of action to abate or prevent pollution at such
10 sites. If Congress has not authorized the collection of such
11 funds within one year after the effective date of this act,
12 or if the department finds that the funding program
13 authorized is inadequate, the department shall transmit to
14 the General Assembly within 15 months after the effective
15 date of this act a proposal for the establishment of a fund
16 in Pennsylvania comprised of surcharges collected from users
17 of hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal facilities
18 excluding captive facilities in the Commonwealth. Such fund
19 shall be proposed for the purpose of closing, maintaining or
20 monitoring hazardous waste storage, treatment or disposal
21 sites excluding captive facilities which have been abandoned
22 or which have been closed for at least 20 years, and for the
23 purpose of taking action to abate or prevent pollution at
24 such closed or abandoned sites; [and]
25 (18) encourage the beneficial use or processing of
26 municipal waste or residual waste when the department
27 determines that such use does not harm or present a threat of
28 harm to the health, safety or welfare of the people or
29 environment of this Commonwealth. The department shall
30 establish waste regulations to effectuate the beneficial use
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1 of municipal and residual waste, including regulations for
2 the issuance of general permits for any category of
3 beneficial use or processing of municipal waste or residual
4 waste on a regional or Statewide basis in accordance with the
5 regulations adopted by the Environmental Quality Board. The
6 department may or may not require insurance under section
7 502(e) or bonds under section 505(a) for any general permit
8 or class of general permits promulgated under this paragraph.
9 Except with the written approval of the department, no waste
10 may be stored for longer than one year. Residual wastes being
11 stored shall be monitored for changes in physical and
12 chemical properties, including leachability, pursuant to
13 applicable regulations, by the person or municipality
14 beneficially using or processing such waste. The department
15 may require the submission of periodic analyses or other
16 information to insure that the quality of residual waste to
17 be beneficially used or processed does not change. A
18 municipality or person beneficially using or processing the
19 residual waste shall immediately notify the department, upon
20 forms provided by department, of any change in the physical
21 or chemical properties of the residual waste, including
22 leachability; and the department shall conduct an
23 investigation and order necessary corrective action. Upon
24 receipt of a signed, written complaint of any person whose
25 health, safety or welfare may be adversely affected by a
26 physical or chemical change in the properties of residual
27 waste to be beneficially used or processed, including
28 leachability, the department shall determine the validity of
29 the complaint and take appropriate action[.]; and
30 (19) enter into agreements with any interested county,
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1 or any board, commission or committee established by the
2 county, including, in all instances, representatives from any
3 host municipality, to assist the department in monitoring the
4 land application of sewage sludge within the county.
5 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
6 Section 204. Land application of sewage sludge.
7 (a) The department may enter into cooperative agreements
8 with any interested county, or any board, commission or
9 committee established by the county, that desires to assist the
10 department in monitoring the land application of sewage sludge
11 within its jurisdiction. Monitoring activity under the
12 agreements would include site inspection or the taking of
13 samples of sludge, soil, water and vegetation for testing, or
14 both. The county shall demonstrate to the department's
15 satisfaction that the county has the technical competence
16 necessary to meet the monitoring responsibilities under the
17 agreement. The department shall provide such assistance and
18 require compliance with such procedures as it deems appropriate
19 to assure that all sampling and testing is standardized and
20 uniform. No authority to enforce the provisions of this act or
21 any rules or regulations promulgated under this act shall be
22 delegated by the department under any agreement.
23 (b) The department shall maintain a Statewide inventory of
24 lands upon which sewage sludge had been applied pursuant to
25 permits issued under section 501. For each land application
26 site, the inventory shall include all data submitted with the
27 permit application and any subsequent data obtained by or
28 submitted to the department relating to the permit.
29 (c) Any person who intends to apply sewage sludge to any
30 land pursuant to a permit issued under section 501 shall first
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1 file with the county conservation district, or in a county where
2 there is no conservation district, with the county health
3 department in the county in which the land is located, a
4 certification signed and acknowledged by the landowner, and
5 indexed in the name of the owner, indicating that the soil on
6 the land is to be amended with sewage sludge, the permit number
7 under which the activity will occur and any other information
8 deemed appropriate by the department, sufficient to provide
9 adequate notice of the application of sludge to a subsequent
10 owner or interested person.
11 Section 3. Section 501 of the act is amended by adding a
12 subsection to read:
13 Section 501. Permits and licenses required; transition scheme;
14 reporting requirements.
15 * * *
16 (d) It shall be unlawful for any person or municipality to
17 apply sewage sludge to land if this activity would require a
18 permit pursuant to this act, or to commercially transport sludge
19 for treatment or disposal without having first obtained a permit
20 or license from the department to conduct the activities.
21 Section 4. Section 503(a) of the act is amended to read:
22 Section 503. Granting, denying, renewing, modifying, revoking
23 and suspending permits and licenses.
24 (a) Upon approval of the application, the department shall
25 issue a permit for the operation of a solid waste storage,
26 treatment, processing or disposal facility or area or a license
27 for the transportation of hazardous wastes or a sewage sludge
28 license, as set forth in the application and further conditioned
29 by the department.
30 * * *
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1 Section 5. Section 505(f) of the act, added July 11, 1990
2 (P.L.450, No.109), is amended and the section is amended by
3 adding a subsection to read:
4 Section 505. Bonds.
5 * * *
6 (f) [Notwithstanding any other provisions of this act, when
7 an application for the land application of sewage sludge is made
8 by a municipality or a municipal authority, the filing of a bond
9 with the department shall not be required as a condition for
10 issuance of a permit to the municipality or municipal authority
11 for the application of the sewage sludge for land reclamation or
12 agricultural utilization purposes.] Except as provided in
13 subsection (g), prior to the issuance of any sewage sludge
14 license, the applicant for a license shall file with the
15 department a bond on a form to be prescribed and furnished by
16 the department, payable to the Commonwealth and conditioned upon
17 compliance by the licensee with every requirement of this act,
18 rule and regulation of the department, order of the department
19 and term and condition of the license. The amount of the bond
20 required shall be in an amount determined by the secretary. The
21 licensee may elect to deposit cash or automatically renewable
22 irrevocable letters of credit which are terminable only upon 90
23 days' written notice to the operator and the department, or
24 negotiable bonds of the Federal Government or of the
25 Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the General
26 State Authority, the State Public School Building Authority or
27 any municipality within this Commonwealth. The cash amount of
28 the deposit, irrevocable letters of credit or market value of
29 the securities shall be equal at least to the sum of the bond.
30 The secretary shall, upon receipt of a deposit of cash or
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1 negotiable bonds, immediately place the cash or bonds with the
2 State Treasurer, whose duty it shall be to receive and hold the
3 cash or bonds in the name of the Commonwealth, in trust, for the
4 purposes for which the deposit is made. The State Treasurer
5 shall at all times be responsible for the custody and
6 safekeeping of the deposits. The licensee making the deposit
7 shall be entitled, from time to time, to demand and receive from
8 the State Treasurer, on the written order of the secretary, the
9 whole or any portion of any collateral so deposited, upon
10 depositing with the State Treasurer, in lieu of the collateral,
11 other collateral of the classes provided in this section having
12 a market value at least equal to the sum of the bond, and to
13 demand, receive and recover the interest and income from the
14 negotiable bonds as the interest and income become due and
15 payable. When negotiable bonds are deposited and mature or are
16 called, the State Treasurer, at the request of the licensee,
17 shall convert the negotiable bonds into other negotiable bonds
18 of the approved classes as may be designated by the licensee.
19 Where notice of intent to terminate a letter of credit is given,
20 the department shall, after 30 days' written notice to the
21 licensee and in the absence of a replacement of the letter of
22 credit within the 30-day period by the licensee with other
23 acceptable bond guarantees, draw upon and convert the letter of
24 credit into cash and hold it as a collateral bond guarantee.
25 Liability under the bond shall be for the duration of the
26 license and for a period of one year after the expiration of the
27 license.
28 (g) (1) If the applicant for a sewage sludge license is a
29 municipality or municipal authority, then that municipality
30 or municipal authority may, in lieu of the bond required in
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1 subsection (f), present to the department satisfactory
2 evidence of financial assurances for satisfying claims of
3 bodily injury and property damage resulting from pollution
4 occurrences arising from the application of sewage sludge.
5 (2) The form and amount of the financial assurances
6 shall be specified by the department. The required financial
7 assurances may include, but are not limited to, the
8 following:
9 (i) Commercial pollution liability insurance.
10 (ii) A trust fund financed by the municipality and
11 administered by an independent trustee approved by the
12 department.
13 (iii) An insurance pool or self-insurance program
14 authorized by 42 Pa.C.S. § 8564 (relating to liability
15 insurance and self-insurance).
16 (3) In no case shall the department establish minimum
17 financial assurance amounts for a municipality that are
18 greater than the damage limitations established in 42 Pa.C.S.
19 Ch. 85 Subch. C (relating to actions against local parties).
20 Section 6. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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