Rhode Island General Laws 23-18.9-16. Beneficial reuse of solid waste
(a) The director may approve proposals for the environmentally beneficial reuse of solid waste in a municipality in order to save natural resources by providing alternative materials for projects that would otherwise use new materials and preserve landfill space by removing materials from the waste stream that would otherwise be landfilled. In determining whether a solid waste can be safely used as a beneficial reuse material, the director may consider factors such as the physical and chemical characteristics of the solid waste in question, the proposed use of the waste, and the location where the waste is proposed to be used according to criteria established by rule or policy as the director deems appropriate. All proposals to use a solid waste as a beneficial reuse material shall be made in writing to the director in the form of an application for a beneficial use determination or BUD. No person may process, store, transport, dispose or otherwise use any solid waste for beneficial reuse unless they have first obtained the written approval of the director in the form of a BUD, unless specifically provided for elsewhere in this chapter.
All beneficial reuse material proposals approved by the director shall include the following:
(1) Public notice in a newspaper of general circulation;
(2) A notice to the manager or mayor and council of the municipality in question;
(3) A hearing to be held in the municipality affected.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 23-18.9-16
- Beneficial reuse material: means a processed, nonhazardous, solid waste not already defined as recyclable material by this chapter and by regulations of the Rhode Island department of environmental management that the director has determined can be reused in an environmentally beneficial manner without creating potential threats to public health, safety, welfare, or the environment or creating potential nuisance conditions. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-18.9-7
- Director: means the director of the department of environmental management or any subordinate or subordinates to whom the director has delegated the powers and duties vested in him or her by this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-18.9-7
- in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
- Person: includes an individual, firm, partnership, association, and private or municipal corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-18.9-7
- Solid waste: means garbage, refuse, tree waste as defined by subsection (14) of this section, and other discarded solid materials generated by residential, institutional, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage or sewage sludge or dredge material as defined in Rhode Island General Laws 23-18.9-7
(b) All persons applying for a BUD that proposes the reuse of more than three (3) cubic yards of solid waste in one location shall forward a copy of their application to the municipality where the beneficial reuse material will be used.
(c) The director may require any person involved in the storage, handling, processing or use of solid waste for beneficial reuse to provide financial assurance that:
(1) The project approved in the BUD will be completed; and/or
(2) Any unused solid waste/beneficial reuse material will be properly removed and disposed of either upon completion of the project or if project operations cease for any reason.
History of Section.
P.L. 2005, ch. 258, § 2; P.L. 2005, ch. 263, § 2; P.L. 2006, ch. 229, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 233, § 1.