AN ACT CONCERNING PRIVATE, MUNICIPAL AND STATE RECYCLING, BENEFICIAL USE PERMITS AND ZONING ORDINANCES.

AN ACT CONCERNING PRIVATE, MUNICIPAL AND STATE RECYCLING, BENEFICIAL USE PERMITS AND ZONING ORDINANCES.

1. expands the types of items that everyone must recycle;

2. requires most municipalities by July 1, 2010 to offer curbside or backyard recycling, if they offer it for waste removal, and requires each solid waste collector that offers curbside or backyard residential garbage collection in a municipality to offer curbside or backyard collection of designated recyclable items to its customers;

3. requires recycling receptacles at common gathering venues that already have solid waste collection and generate (sell or give away) designated recyclable items (e. g. , sports arenas and other buildings that sell soda bottles);

4. prohibits municipal zoning regulations from (a) barring the use of recycling receptacles for storing items that state law requires be recycled, (b) requiring the receptacles to comply with regulations concerning bulk or lot area, except for those for side, rear, and front yards (see BACKGROUND); and (c) unreasonably restricting the size of or access to the receptacles given the nature of the business and volume of recyclables the business produces in its normal course of business provided that regulations may require screening or buffering of receptacles for aesthetic reasons;

5. requires solid waste contractors and their customers to address how the customers' recycling will be handled; and

6. requires each local and regional board of education to develop and implement a recycling plan at each school under its jurisdiction.

The bill also adds to what municipalities must include in their annual reports to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

*House Amendment “A” makes changes to (1) recycling reporting requirements and prohibitions concerning bulk area and municipal zoning, (2) public places recycling requirements, and (3) contract requirements concerning recycling. It also adds requirements for planned recycling at schools and eliminates a (1) requirement that certain state agencies create a “sustainability” list, (2) prohibition on contracts between a municipality and a resource recovery facility from containing penalty provisions if the municipality expands recycling and reduces its solid waste, and (3) requirement that commercial entities show how they will provide for recycling.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2009, except for (1) the expanded municipal recycling reporting, which is effective on passage; (2) planned school recycling, which is effective July 1, 2009; (3) common gathering venue recycling requirements, effective October 1, 2010; and (4) solid waste contracts providing for recycling, which is effective July 1, 2011

By law, everyone must recycle certain items (see BACKGROUND). The bill requires the DEP commissioner to expand these through regulation, by October 1, 2010, to include (1) containers of three gallons or less made of polyethylene terephthalate plastic (also known as “PET” – clear plastic bottles) and high-density polyethylene plastic (e. g. , milk jugs), (2) boxboard (e. g. , cereal box material), and (3) additional types of paper, including magazines and residential high-grade white paper and colored ledger paper.

Under the bill, (1) “boxboard” means a lightweight paperboard made from a variety of recovered fibers having sufficient folding properties and thickness to be used to manufacture folding or set-up boxes and (2) “designated recyclable item” means an item the DEP commissioner has designated for recycling.

The law requires (1) each residence to separate specific items from their garbage (solid waste) for recycling and (2) everyone that generates solid waste to make provision for recycling. The bill specifies that everyone separate recyclable items from solid waste and what receptacles may be used for non-residential properties. For non-residential property, the bill specifies that recycling take place through the use of one or more collection containers for designated recyclable items separate from those for other solid waste. It allows collection containers that had been used for solid waste collection to be converted to containers for recyclable item collection by labeling or other means specifying recycling.

The bill prohibits anyone from combining previously segregated items designated for recycling with solid waste. It requires everyone to recycle the new items the bill designates beginning July 1, 2011.

The bill requires municipalities, by July 1, 2010, to offer curbside or backyard collection of designated recyclable items to all residents and businesses for which they provide municipal curbside or backyard collection of solid waste. The bill excepts any municipality that the DEP commissioner determines recycles its solid waste in a percentage that exceeds the state-wide average for the amount of municipal solid waste recycled.

The bill requires each solid waste collector that offers curbside or backyard residential solid waste collection in a municipality to offer curbside or backyard collection of designated recyclable items to its customers. The bill specifies that the curbside or backyard recyclable collection must be included in the collector's charge for solid waste collection. However, under the bill, this does not prohibit any collector from adjusting its fees for combined curbside collection services. “Collector” means any person who holds himself out for hire to collect solid waste from residential, business, commercial, or other establishments.

The bill defines “curbside or backyard collection” as the collection, by either municipal collection services or private collectors, of presorted designated recyclable items or solid waste that residents and businesses leave for collection in the front or rear of their property. It defines “designated recyclable items” as the items DEP designates for recycling.

The bill requires each property that (1) has at least one common gathering venue where designated recyclable items may be generated and (2) provides for solid waste collection to also provide recycling receptacles for designated recyclable items collection that are generated there. The bill defines “common gathering venue” to mean any area or building, or portion of it, that is open to the public during normal business hours, including, any (1) building that provides facilities or shelter for public assembly (e. g. , the Legislative Office Building); (2) inn, hotel, motel, sports arena, supermarket, transportation terminal, retail store, restaurant, or other commercial establishment that provides services or retails merchandise; or (3) museum, hospital, auditorium, movie theater, or university building.

The bill specifies that recycling receptacles must be as accessible to the public and at the same locations as trash receptacles. It allows any existing trash receptacle to be converted to a recycling receptacle by labeling or other means appropriate to identify that the receptacle is dedicated to the collection of designated recyclable items. If beverage containers that are 21 ounces or less are offered for sale or given away at a common gathering venue, the recycling receptacles at the venue must, at a minimum, allow for the collection of these containers.

The bill defines “generated” to mean sold or given away at a common gathering venue.

The bill requires each contract for solid waste collection between a collector and a customer to provide for designated recyclable item collection. This may be achieved either by having recyclable collection by the same collector who collects solid waste or by having a different collector do so. If the customer chooses a separate recyclable collector, the customer must provide the solid waste collector with (1) verification of the other contract and (2) notification when terminating the other contract.

The bill specifies that (1) it should not be construed to require a customer to contract exclusively with one collector for the collection of both designated recyclable items and other solid waste and (2) each collector must provide each customer with clear written or pictorial instructions on how to separate designated recyclable items.

By law, all non-residential properties that generate solid waste must separate items for recycling and recycle them (CGS § 22a-241b). The bill requires each local and regional board of education to develop and implement a recycling plan at each school under its jurisdiction. The plan must include:

1. provision for a sufficient number of recycling receptacles and simple signage with instructions on proper recycling (presumably the board determines what is sufficient);

2. a specific requirement for appropriate disposal of recyclable materials by students and all school personnel; and

3. training of custodial staff for the appropriate segregation of recyclable materials from municipal solid waste at the point of collection to container storage pending removal by a licensed hauler.

The bill allows local and regional boards of education to utilize the services of local recycling coordinators or regional recycling educators that are experienced in teaching the principles of recycling. Local and regional school districts may join together in issuing requests for proposals for the transportation of recyclable items to ensure best pricing. A request for proposals may require compensation to the district or districts from the sale of recyclable items to support the cost of student activities. Items required to be recycled are those designated as items that are generated and discarded at the school and required to be recycled by the DEP commissioner. These items must be recycled at the facility the town designated for recycling, if the town has done so.

Under current law, towns must report annually on their recycling efforts by August 31 to the DEP. The DEP commissioner had to provide a form for these reports by June 1, 1991. The bill requires reports beginning September 30, 2009 and requires the commissioner to provide a new form for the reports by July 1, 2009.

By law, the report must include certain information, including a description of municipalities' (1) efforts to promote recycling and ensure compliance with separation requirements; (2) amounts of each recyclable item contained in its solid waste stream that has been delivered to a recycling facility, as reported to the municipality or its designated regional agent by recycling facility owner or operator or a scrap metal processor; and (3) amounts of solid waste generated within its boundaries which has been delivered to a resources recovery facility or solid waste facility for disposal, as reported to the municipality or its designated regional agent by the owner or operator of the resources recovery facility or solid waste facility.

The bill specifies that the recyclable items and municipal solid waste reporting requirement is based on municipal contracts. It also requires the amount of solid waste collected be the criteria for the report rather than the amount generated within its boundaries.

1. the first destination of each type of recyclable material collected for recycling and the first destination of collected municipal solid waste, provided if the first destination is a transfer station or volume reduction facility, the first destination must be considered the destination after the transfer station or volume reduction facility,

2. the actual or estimated amount of each type of recyclable material collected for recycling delivered directly to a destination other than a permitted solid waste facility, and

3. the actual or estimated amount of disposed municipal solid waste delivered directly to a destination other than a permitted solid waste facility.

The bill allows a reporting alternative if the amount of recyclable material or solid waste is unknown. In such a case, the municipality must provide the commissioner with the contact information of the collector who transported the recyclable material or municipal solid waste.

As under existing law, “solid waste facility” means any solid waste disposal area, volume reduction plant, transfer station, wood-burning facility, or biomedical waste treatment facility.

1. glass and metal food and beverage containers,

2. corrugated cardboard,

3. newspaper,

4. white office paper,

5. scrap metal,

6. Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries (from electronics),

7. used crankcase oil,

8. lead acid batteries (from vehicles),

9. leaves, and

10. grass (clippings should be left on the lawn or, if necessary, composted, according to DEP) (Conn. Agencies Reg. § 22a-241b-2).

By law, a municipal zoning commission may create regulations concerning (1) the height, number of stories, and size of building and other structures; (2) the percentage of the area of a lot that may be occupied; (3) yard, court, and open space size; (4) population density and the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes, including water dependent uses; and (5) advertising signs' and billboards' height, size, and location. These types of regulation are sometimes referred to as “bulk” regulations (CGS § 8-2(a)).

On April 14, 2009, the House referred the bill to the Planning and Development Committee, which favorably reported the substitute on April 20 that (1) eliminated the DEP commissioner's authority to adopt solid waste beneficial use permits based on those in other states and (2) prohibits municipal ordinances from requiring bulk or lot areas, or similar provisions, except for front, back, and side yards.