Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 02/10/2025

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RELEVANT LINKS: Analysis of Waste Collection Service Arrangements, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, June 2009. Minn. Stat. § 115A.94. 2013 Minn. Laws ch. 45. See Appendix A, Organized Collection Flowchart. Minn. Stat. § 115A.03, subd. 4. Minn. Stat. § 115A.94. Jennissen v. City of Bloomington, 913 N.W.2d 456 (Minn. 2018). Clark ve City of Saint Paul, 934 N.W.2d 234 (Minn. 2019). Jennissen v. City of Bloomington, 938 N.W.2d 808 (Minn. 2020). Minn. Stat. § 115A.94, subd. 4d. Minn. Stat. § 331A.03. In contrast, there are several frequently cited disadvantages of organized collection: • Households and businesses do not get to choose their collector. • Cities have greater administrative involvement and costs. • Small collectors have higher entry costs to get into the market and competitive opportunities are limited to contract openings. • The statutory requirements for switching from open collection to organized collection are time consuming and can be difficult politically. D. Procedural requirements for adopting organized collection There are several procedural steps a city must take before it is authorized to adopt organized collection of solid waste. The Minnesota Legislature adopted significant changes to the organized collection statute in 2013 that were designed to simplify the process for adopting organized collection. Any city that has adopted organized collection as of May 1, 2013, is exempt from the new requirements. The Waste Management Act defines cities as "statutory and home rule charter cities authorized to plan under sections 462.351 to 462.364." Therefore, both statutory and home rule charter cities may adopt organized collection using the procedures outlined in the organized collection statute. The Minnesota Supreme Court has held that the Waste Management Act does not preempt home rule charter cities from regulating the process for organizing the collection of solid waste. Instead, the Supreme Court concluded that the Act establishes the minimum procedural requirements that cities must follow before adopting organized collection, and that home rule charter cities may be subject to additional procedural requirements, including those adopted through a citizen petition for a referendum or for a proposed charter amendment. 1. Notice to public and to licensed collectors A city with more than one licensed collector must first give notice to the public and to all licensed collectors that it is considering adopting organized collection. State law does not specify how notice should be provided. The League recommends providing both published notice and individual mailed notice to each licensed collector. League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 5/6/2024 City Solid Waste Management Page 15