(1) the Ordot Landfill is a threat to the health and safety of the residents of Guam, and specifically for the residents of Ordot-Chalan Pago, Yona and the villages down river and downwind;

(2) solid waste collection and disposal on Guam does not adequately eliminate the threat that improperly disposed solid waste poses to the health, safety, and welfare of Guam residents;

(3) under the Government of Guam Property Act, the Ordot Landfill shall be converted to a public park after it is closed in accordance with applicable U.S. E.P.A. and government of Guam regulations. In order to protect the health and welfare of the residents of Chalan Pago-Ordot and the people of Guam, the Agency shall monitor the landfill on an on-going basis for compliance with this Section and take proper measures to mitigate environmental damage;

(4) the Ordot Landfill reached its capacity in the 1990’s, and the closure of the dump is necessary in order to eliminate this existing serious environmental hazard. The dump should be converted to a public park;

(5) even with closure of the Ordot Landfill and construction of a new landfill at the same or any other site, landfilling cannot continue as the sole method of waste disposal for Guam due to the shortage of land on Guam, and the general aversion of any community to the location of a landfill within their proximity;

(6) it is in the best interest of the government to privatize through free and fair competition, the solid waste

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management operations of the Island, from collection to disposal, without jeopardizing the job security for the employees of the Solid Waste Management Division of the Department of Public Works as well as the private businesses currently engaged in solid waste collection, recycling and other solid waste management operations;

(7) it is in the best interest of the government to establish a funding procedure or financial arrangement which will pay for operations and meet the requirements for a totally funded program for solid waste management;

(8) Guam contains approximately 215 square miles of landmass. Over half of that mass is located over the northern Guam Lens, a pure groundwater resource that requires protection. Thus, any landfill more likely should be located in southern Guam, south of a line running approximately from Cabras Island to Pago Bay. With the pristine south already imposed upon by this geological and environmental constraint, and in order to protect the cultural traditional nature of the villages in the south and the unique environments there, a source and waste disposal reduction policy shall be implemented to minimize the requirement for landfilling;

(9) source reduction shall include a conservation and recycling program. It shall also consider the disposal of green waste through mulching or composting, or the recovery of resources through recycling of the green waste. Construction or demolition waste and metallic debris shall be addressed alternately, and the alternate plan should include hardfilling or quarrying, recycling or disposal other than at the landfill. Rubber tires, rubber products, and batteries shall be addressed and recycled, recovered or disposed of at alternate sites;

(10) a solid waste management plan for Guam shall address typhoon and other disaster recovery; it is estimated that Super Typhoon Paka produced over 750,000 cubic yards of waste, which should be recycled or disposed of; Guam is in: the typhoon belt; in an active volcanic range; and, an

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active seismic zone so disasters will happen on a regular basis;

(11) the Guam Legislature further finds that while other communities with alternative sites for landfilling enjoy the option of not paying for source reduction and resource recovery, we must establish a Guam site-specific solid waste management policy, because we have very limited alternative acceptable sites for future disposal requirements;

(12) in 1983, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (‘GEPA’) adopted a Solid Waste Management Plan for Guam and also adopted regulations for solid waste collection and disposal;

(13) the government must now establish an updated Solid Waste Management Plan (‘SWMP’ or the ‘Plan’), which shall include the closure and beneficial use of the Ordot Landfill, the privatization of the complete solid waste program, including landfill operations and provisions for job protection for the employees of the Solid Waste Division, source reduction, recycling, composting, resource recovery, waste reduction and regulated landfill disposal in an integrated program for solid waste collection and disposal, and the funding for the Plan. The SWMP shall also address construction debris or demolition waste; metallic debris; tires; waste oil; household hazardous waste; abandoned vehicles and other bulky metallic waste; white goods, such as washers, dryers and refrigerators; and green waste, which may be useful in some form, but unnecessarily contribute to landfill volume;

(14) the Department of Public Works shall implement the updated Solid Waste Management Plan, as approved by the Guam Legislature, regulated by GEPA;

(15) any and all solid waste handling and disposal contemplated by and authorized under this Act shall obtain and operate under any and all permits required by laws, rules and regulations applicable to Guam; and

(16) The government of Guam shall not direct or regulate existing permitted private entities actively engaged

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in solid waste collection or recycling beyond the scope and extent of Federal statutory and regulatory requirements. The standings of such private businesses permitted to actively engage in solid waste collection shall be given maximum protection and support under this Act to promote their viability and longevity under a free enterprise system.

(b) The purposes of this Chapter are to:

(1) plan for and regulate the storage, collection, transportation, separation, processing and disposal of solid waste to protect the public safety, health and welfare, and to enhance the environment of the people of Guam;

(2) provide the authority and resources, including funding to plan for, establish, finance, operate and maintain efficient, environmentally acceptable solid waste management systems, privatized, but administered by the Department of Public Works and regulated by GEPA;

(3) privatize Guam’s Solid Waste Management System (‘SWMS’) subject to all applicable laws and Public Law Number 24-06;

(4) establish the SWMS to be operated by private ventures, entities or individuals, to promote land conservation by limiting landfilling requirements consistent with the SWMP, and to establish as a limit the reusing, recycling and composting of no less than twenty percent (20%) of the total solid waste generated on Guam from all sources within the time frame established by the Plan and a comprehensive solid waste disposal and resource recovery program that ultimately will minimize Guam’s need for additional landfills beyond replacing the Ordot Landfill; quantitative factors to meet such an objective shall be specified and substantiated in the SWMP;

(5) continue authority to regulate solid waste storage practices within the Department of Public Health and Social Services pursuant to Chapter 33 of this Title and, where applicable, establish such authority in the Department of Public Works to insure that such practices do not constitute a danger to human health, safety and welfare;

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(6) continue authority in GEPA to review the design of and to issue permits for the operation of solid waste collection, transport, processing and disposal activities;

(7) continue authority in GEPA to undertake a comprehensive investigation of and set minimum standards for the transportation, processing, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste, and conduct surveys for special disposal facilities for hazardous waste, to protect public health, other living organisms and the environment through an effective and efficient hazardous waste management system;

(8) continue authority in GEPA to establish and implement an enforcement system to prevent the improper disposal of solid waste;

(9) promote the application of a Solid Waste Management System which preserves and enhances the quality of air, water and land resources;

(10) promote and assist in the development of markets for recovered and recycled materials;

(11) support and encourage the rapid and efficient removal, recycling, processing, or disposal of abandoned vehicles and other bulky waste, and to assure that the recovery of resources is facilitated;

(12) authorize the closure and beneficial use of the Ordot Landfill site, and promote, assist and support the construction and operation of a privatized sanitary landfill, resource recovery and other solid waste management facilities;

(13) require consideration and evaluation of treatment of bottom and fly ash generated from resource recovery facilities that any municipal solid waste incinerator company which operates a facility which generates bottom and fly ash or waste ash shall be responsible for the collection and disposal thereof and cost of the collection and disposal thereof; and

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(14) authorize GEPA to establish such advisory committees as are necessary to carry out its planning and solid waste management responsibilities; the committees shall include but limited to representatives of GEPA, DPW, the Department of Public Health and Social Services, collectors, operators, applicable Federal agencies, educational/environmental groups and the public at large.

SOURCE.: Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-139:2 (Feb. 21, 1998). Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-272:1 (Oct. 2, 1998).

2011 NOTE: Public Law 24-139 was found to be invalid by the Guam Supreme Court in Pangelinan v. Gutierrez, 2000 Guam 11, thereby voiding the effects to this section by that public law. Public Law 24-272 was found to be invalid by Pangelinan v. Gutierrez, 2004 Guam 16. However, in San Miguel v. DPW, 2008 Guam 3, the Court reversed and found P.L. 24-272 to be valid.