Agenda - Council - 04/23/1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'1 I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I I I SOLID WASTE MANAG[MENI D[VELOPM[NI GUIDE/POLICY PLAN FINAL SIA)EMENI OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS This report is a final statement of findings and conclusions regarding the Solid Waste Management Development Guide/Policy Plan adopted by the Metropol- iran Council Mar.-14, 1985. %he report describes the major issues raised at a Jan. ~8, 1985, public hearing on the policy plan and in written comments (received through Feb. 1~, 1985}. It also includes findings about the need and authority for the plan, and conclusions about revising the plan based on the public hearing comments. Available as separate documents are: 1) the hearing report, which responds to the issues raised and makes recommendations for changes to the plan, and 2) the hearing record, containing a summary of the hearing oral testimony and the written comments received. They can be obtained by contacting the Council's Cor~nunications Department at 291-6464. AUTHORITY Minn. Stat. 473.149, as amended, requires the Council to prepare and adopt as part of its Metropolitan Development Guide, a long-range policy plan for solid waste manageme6t in the Metropolitan A'rea. The Waste Management Act of 1980, as amended, requires that the Council amend its plan, by Jan. 1, 1985, to include an abatement plan and a landfill development schedule. The abatement plan must include specific and quantifiable objectives for abating to the great- est feasible and prudent extent the need for and practice of land disposal of mixed municipal waste through the year 2000. The abatement plan must include standards and procedures to determine whether counties or cities have imple- mented the plan. The landfill development schedule must specify the number and capacity of landfill sites from a metropolitan inventory to be acquired by the metropolitan counties. The schedule must be based on the reduced estimate of capacity as determined by the abatement plan. MAJOR ISSUES AND RESPONSES The hearing report recon~nends clarification and expansion of the text of the guide in response to many of the hearing con~nents. Two changes in policy word- ing are recon~aended, but overall there are no substantive changes to the guide. It is recommended that the guide's basic policy structure, abatement objec- tives, most time schedules and planning requirements remain unchanged. Although the hearing raised a number of issues, considerable public support has been expressed for the guide's new direction and aggressive approach. The pub- lic, on the whole, wants a change in the waste management system and is suppor- tive of alternatives to landfills. Moreover, the public appears to want govern- ment to continue to take an aggressive role in waste management. One important policy area recon~ended for change is the proposal to implement region-wide mandatory source separation after 1987. Considerable response was received regarding the proposal. Cities and counties, in particular, felt the proposal is premature and that a voluntary approach should be tried first. Con- cern focused primarily on financing, enforcement and market issues. In response, the hearing report recon~ends that as an intermediate step perfor- mance be assessed on a voluntary participation basis. Mandatory participation could be triggered as a second step if voluntary efforts are not working.