Agenda - Council - 08/26/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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II. GENERAL BACKGROUND The history of solid waste disposal in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area has been characterized by such practices as open dumping and open burning, and more recently, the more closely regulated practices of incineration and landfilling. However, as the volumes of solid wastes increase, as new environmental restrictions go into effect and the availability of satisfactory sites for land disposal diminishes, these waste management practices are becoming less attractive, less acceptable and less convenient. The need for new approaches, accelerated by recent shortages of energy and material resources, have led many communities to consider alternative and new solid waste management practices, including waste reduction, source separation and resource recovery. Nevertheless, consideration of such practices is presenting community decision- makers with a new set of complex technical, economic and social issues that must be resolved. Reasonable solid waste management decisions require a mechanism that responds to the complex, potentially conflicting, multi-jurisdic- tional issues involved. Recognizing this, the Minnesota Legislature passed the State Waste Management Act in April 1980, with the goal of improving solid waste management practices in the state. One respon- sibility delegated to the Metropolitan Council is to prepare and submit a land disposal abatement report by January 1, 1981, to the seven metropolitan counties on the potential for abating the need for and practice of land disposal of mixed municipal solid waste in the Metropolitan Area. The report is to recommend priorities and objectives for abating the land disposal of solid waste. The land disposal abatement report is to be used by the counties in developing land disposal abatement plans, due by April 1, 1982. The Council, in turn, reviews the proposals and amends its regional solid waste policy plan to include specific and quantifiable objectives for abating land disposal. The counties must implement the Council's abatement plan by June 1, 1983, in part, through amendment of their solid waste master plans. Pursuant to the Waste Management Act', the report must contain an analysis of abatement achievable through waste reduction, waste separation, waste processing and resource recovery. The analysis must include specific and quantifiable abatement objectives and degrees of abatement; and must identify the solid waste managemept methods and technologies, private and governmental actions, faci- lities and services, development schedules, revenue-raising methods, and the levels of public and private expenditure and effort necessary to achieve the objectives and degrees of abatement. The Council is also required to encourage public debate on the issues relating to land disposal abatement and to hold at least one public meeting on the issues in each of the seven counties. This require- ment will be fulfilled by the Council in several ways. First, this issues document is to be presented to the public to encourage public debate of the alternative land abatement disposal strategies and to solicit comments on specific issues and the Council's scope of work