N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 27-0103: State solid waste management plan

§ 27-0103. State solid waste management plan.

1. For the purposes of this article, the department is designated as

the official state agency with the responsibility for preparing and

updating the New York state solid waste management plan (hereinafter

referred to as the "plan") consistent with the state resource recovery

policies declared in the New York state resource recovery policy act,

with this title, with titles five and seven of this article, and with

the federal "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976" and

amendments thereto.

2. The commissioner shall biennially review the status of programs and

information contained within the plan and make recommendations for

legislation or other state action related to:

(a) comprehensive procurement policies applicable to state agencies

and public authorities which will give maximum feasible encouragement to

the procurement of products manufactured with stated levels of secondary

materials;

(b) incentives for developing and expanding markets for promoting the

return of secondary materials and other recovered resources to

productive use; and

(c) analysis of packaging and other various components of the waste

stream to propose changes which will conserve energy and reduce solid

waste generation.

In making such recommendations and reviewing said plans the

commissioner shall take into account sound principles of solid waste

management and relevant considerations of natural resources

conservation, energy production and employment creating opportunities

and shall further take into account any relevant changes in federal and

state laws, any local solid waste management plans developed pursuant to

section 27-0107 of this article, and the experience of agencies, local

governments, private industry, the public and the results of the public

participation contemplated by the United States Environmental Protection

Agency's Guidelines for Public Participation in Programs under the

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (40 CFR Part 25). On the basis of

that review, the commissioner shall modify the plan, as appropriate,

and, not later than March thirty-first of every other year, shall file

such modified plan with the governor and the legislature.

3. Amendments to the plan shall assure current attention to:

(a) an identification of the boundaries of those regions within the

state which, as a result of urban concentration, geographic conditions,

secondary materials markets, technological feasibility, and other

factors, are appropriate for carrying out regional solid waste

management;

(b) identification of which solid waste functions will be planned for

and carried out by which local authorities, regional authorities, state

authorities, agencies and public benefit corporations, giving due

consideration to the compatibility of the planning and implementing

functions which can be combined at the local level;

(c) identification of local, regional and state authorities and

agencies which shall have responsibility for the solid waste functions

identified in the plan which shall be managed and carried out by or on

behalf of such entities or any combination thereof, giving due

consideration to the compatibility of the planning and implementing

functions which can be combined at the local level;

(c-1) identification of strategies, programs and practices, in

consultation with the commissioner of the office of general services, to

be undertaken by the state in the management of solid waste generated by

state agencies, to ensure the attainment by the state of statewide solid

waste reduction and recycling goals established in the plan. Using

information obtained from individual state agencies, the plan shall set

forth dates by which the state of New York as a generator of solid waste

is to recover progressively increasing amounts of recyclable materials

from its waste stream and attain a reduction in its waste stream,

consistent with the statewide waste reduction and recycling goals

identified in the plan.

(d) identification of the environmental impacts including, but not

limited to, air or water pollution, or the generation of hazardous waste

resulting from the utilization of solid waste management technologies;

(e) identification and projections of changes in the waste stream that

are likely to occur during the useful life of a proposed facility, on a

statewide and regional basis, during the projected planning period;

(f) the status of solid waste management activities and capacity, and

projected special needs within the state;

(g) an assessment of future programs and resource needs to effectuate

the purposes of such plan;

(h) an assessment of alternative resource recovery practices including

but not limited to source separation, waste volume reduction, community

recycling centers and sanitary landfill or other environmentally sound

disposal manner or practice;

(i) any local solid waste management plan submitted to the

commissioner by or on behalf of any municipality;

(j) legislative recommendations appropriate to effectuate the purposes

of this title; and

(k) any other recommendations as may be appropriate.

4. In the case of any region which, pursuant to the federal "Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976", would be located in two or more

states, the commissioner shall include in the plan an identification of

such regions and the function to be performed thereby and shall submit

to the governor and the legislature recommendations for the development

and enactment of the interstate agreements necessary to carry out the

purposes of this article.

5. In connection with developing and updating the plan, the

commissioner may request and shall receive from any department,

division, board, bureau, commission or other agency of the state or any

political subdivision thereof or any public authority such assistance

and data as may be reasonably necessary to enable the commissioner to

carry out his responsibilities under this section. In making such

request, the commissioner shall consult and cooperate with such

municipality or other public body to ensure against unnecessary

duplication of effort or other administrative inefficiency.