Agenda - Council - 01/24/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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General Government 2-M Regulation of Harmful Substances and Products In metropolitan regions where most cities share boundary lines with other cities, local bans of harmful drugs and substances such as synthetic drugs, which have been found to dangerous,_do not eliminate access to these products unless all cities take the same regulatory action. Metro Cities supports the statewide regulation and prohibition of products or substances in circumstances where there is evidence that the products present a danger to anyone who uses them, for which there is broad local support for a ban and for which corresponding regulatory issues have regional or statewide significance. In addition, the Legislature should provide for the regulation of products that are known to damage water quality, sewer collection, and storm and wastewater treatment systems, not just at the treatment and infrastructure maintenance levels, but at the consumer and manufacturing levels, through accurate labeling of products, public education, and recycling and re-use programs. 2-N Private Well Drilling Restriction Authority Cities are authorized to enact ordinances that disallow the placement of private wells within city limits to ensure both water safety and availability for residents and businesses. Municipal water systems are financially dependent upon users to operate and maintain the system. A loss of significant rate payers as a result of unregulated private well drilling would economically destabilize water systems and could lead to contamination of the water supply. Metro Cities supports current law authorizing cities to regulate and prohibit the placement of private wells within municipal utility service boundaries and opposes any attempt to remove or alter that authority. Metro Cities supports funding that can be used to cap private wells. 2-0 Organized Waste Collection Cities over 1,000 in population are required by law to ensure all residents have solid waste collection available to them. A city can meet the statutory requirement by licensing haulers to operate in an open collection system, authorize city employees to collect waste, or implement organized collection through one or multiple haulers to increase efficiency, reduce truck traffic and control costs to residents. Metro Cities supports current laws that allow cities to work with existing haulers to achieve the benefits of organized collection or investigate the merits of organized collection without the pressure of a rigid timeline and requirement to pass `an intent to organize' at the beginning of the discussion process. Metro Cities opposes any legislation that would further increase the cost or further complicate the process 2017 Legislative Policies 16