[Adopted 4-13-1994 by L.L. No. 2-1994]
This article shall be known as and may be cited as the "Waste Management Facilities Law of the Town of Eden."
The Town Board finds that environmental science is presently inadequate to satisfactorily evaluate and control pollution from solid and liquid waste disposal facilities, such as landfills, ashfills, resource recovery or incineration facilities. Among other factors, the Board finds as follows:
A. 
The inability of geological science to precisely ascertain the existence and flow of groundwaters and to map subterranean geology makes it impossible to determine the extent to which solid and liquid waste disposal may or may not be contaminating water supplies.
B. 
Moreover, the accumulated extent of hazardous waste disposal in solid and liquid waste disposal facilities cannot be measured or accurately determined because of state and federal regulations permitting disposal of residential or small user quantities of hazardous wastes.
C. 
The Town's need for solid and liquid waste disposal are being met.
D. 
Future correction of pollution from solid or liquid waste management facilities, including sanitary landfills and incineration facilities, may be very expensive or impossible to achieve.
E. 
The Town's existing community character will be adversely and unalterably impacted by the location and operation of any solid or liquid waste management facilities within the Town.
F. 
Substantial scientific opinion questions the environmental and health effects of both resource recovery facilities that incinerate or burn solid waste, and of the handling and disposal of ash residue from such facilities, and the containment methods for liquid waste.
G. 
Solid and liquid waste regulation under the New York Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) is inadequate to relieve the forgoing concerns.
The Town intends by this article to:
A. 
Regulate and restrict the operation of solid waste management facilities within the Town of Eden in order to promote a clean, wholesome and attractive environment for the community.
B. 
Reduce the risk of pollution from solid waste disposal operations by restricting the scope and size of such activities.
C. 
Ensure that accurate, current information about solid waste disposal operations within the Town is available to public officials and citizens.
D. 
Protect the residents of the Town from undesirable effects of solid waste disposal operation, including:
(1) 
Unaesthetic results, including odors, blowing litter, increased traffic, dust and noise;
(2) 
Deterioration in property values associated with an adjacent or proximate disposal operation that may interfere with the orderly development of properties; and
(3) 
Threats to public health or the environment by contamination of air, surface water or groundwaters.
E. 
Exercise the Town's police powers under the Municipal Home Rule Law and §§ 130 and 136 of the Town Law for the physical and mental well-being and safety of its citizens and to restrict waste disposal operations within the Town that might otherwise be permitted under the Environmental Conservation Law. Section 27-0711 of the Environmental Conservation Law specifically recognizes and authorizes the right and authority of a Town to legislate stricter controls on solid waste management operations than state law requires.
This article shall apply to all territory within the confines of the Town of Eden.
A. 
Unless defined below or the context otherwise requires, the terms and words used in the article shall have the same meanings as those defined in Article 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law and Parts 360 to 364 and 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.
B. 
As used in this article, these terms and words used in this article shall be defined as follows:
APPLICANT
The person or persons applying for a waiver under this article. An applicant must be the owner of the solid waste management facility and the site upon which it is located.
ASH or ASH RESIDUE
All the solid residue and any entrained liquids resulting from the combustion of solid waste at a solid waste incinerator, including bottom ash, boiler ash, fly ash and the solid residue of any air pollution control device used on a solid waste incinerator.
ASHFILL
Any landfill designed to accept ash, ash residue, bottom ash, combined ash or fly ash.
COMMERCIAL WASTE
Liquid or solid waste generated by stores, offices, warehouses and restaurants.
COMPOSTING
Aerobic decomposition of solid organic constituents of solid waste to produce a stable, humus-like material used for fertilizing and conditioning land.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS
Uncontaminated, inert solid waste resulting from the construction, remodeling, repair and demolitions of structures and from road building and land clearing. Such waste includes, but is not limited to, bricks, concrete and other masonry materials, soil, rock, wood, wall coverings, plaster, drywall, asphaltic pavement, glass and plastics that are not sealed in a manner that conceals other wastes, and metals that are incidental to any of the above.
CONTAINMENT POND OR POOL
Any basin, tank, pond or pool for the disposal, storage, retention, processing, treatment or other handling of liquid waste.
DEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DISPOSAL
The placement, distribution, storage, removal or transportation of solid wastes.
FACILITY
Any solid waste management facility.
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Waste meeting the definition set forth in 6 NYCRR Part 371.
HOUSEHOLD WASTE
Liquid or solid waste from residential sources.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any liquid, gaseous, solid or waste substance or combination thereof resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade or business. It shall include, but not be limited to, pesticides, lime, acids, chemicals, petroleum products, tar and dyestuffs.
LANDFILL or SANITARY LANDFILL
Any disposal area for solid wastes in or upon the ground.
MANURE
Refuse of stables and barnyards consisting of livestock excreta, with or without litter, used for fertilizing land.
6 NYCRR
Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.
ON-SITE FACILITY
Any facility serving only the applicant's waste products generated on the applicant's premises.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, firm, association, business, industry, enterprise, public or private corporation, political subdivision of the state, government agency, municipality, estate, trust or any other legal entity whatsoever.
RECYCLING
The reuse of solid waste recovered from the solid waste stream into goods or materials suitable for reuse in original or changed form.
SEWAGE
The water-carrying human or animal wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with such groundwater infiltration and surface water as may be present.
SOLID OR LIQUID WASTE
All putrescible and nonputrescible materials or substances that are discarded or rejected as being spent, useless, worthless or in excess to the owners at the time of such discard or rejection, including but not limited to liquids, garbage, refuse, industrial, commercial and household waste, sludges from air or water treatment facilities, rubbish, tires, ashes, contained gaseous material, incinerator ash and residue and construction and demolition debris. In addition:
(1) 
A material is "discarded" if it is abandoned by being:
(a) 
Disposed of;
(b) 
Burned or incinerated, including being burned as a fuel for the purpose of recovering usable energy; or
(c) 
Accumulated, stored or physically, chemically or biologically treated (other than burned or incinerated) instead of being disposed of.
(2) 
A material is "disposed of" if it is discharged, deposited, injected, dumped, spilled, leaked or placed into or on any land or water.
SOLID WASTE INCINERATOR
An incinerator at which household waste and nonhazardous industrial/commercial waste are combusted for energy.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY
Any facility employed beyond the initial solid or liquid waste collection process and managing solid or liquid waste, including but not limited to: storage areas or facilities; transfer stations; rail-haul or barge-haul facilities; processing facilities; landfills; ashfills; disposal facilities; solid waste incinerators; resource recovery facilities; recycling facilities; and waste tire storage facilities, containment ponds or pools, sewage treatment plants and storage tanks or containers, or any other facility of any kind designated a solid waste management facility by the DEC.
A. 
The following are not subject to this article:
(1) 
Any disposal of manure in normal farming operations, but not including sewage sludge processing and spreading.
(2) 
Operations or facilities which receive or collect only nonputrescible, nonhazardous solid waste and beneficially use or reuse or legitimately recycle or reclaim such waste. Such exempt facilities are limited to citizen recycling programs, Town recycling operations, composting, farming operations, Town highway operations and bona fide salvage dealers.
(3) 
Any sewage treatment facility, but not including any sewage sludge spreading facility.
B. 
None of the above exemptions shall be construed to permit any activity contrary to existing building codes or other laws or as exempting any other permit required by state or local law.
A. 
All relevant sections of Article 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law and 6 NYCRR Parts 360 to 364 and 617 are deemed to be included within and as part of this article, and any violation thereof shall be considered to constitute a violation of this article.
B. 
The provisions of this article shall be interpreted in such a manner as being consistent with state law, except that the more stringent requirements of this article shall apply.
A. 
No solid waste management facility shall hereafter be permitted to commence operation or to continue operation within the Town of Eden.
B. 
A waiver from these prohibitions may be granted, after notice and hearing, by the Town Board in its discretion, and on such conditions as it may reasonably establish, only for facilities located on an applicant's premises and serving only the applicant's waste products. Persons requesting such a waiver shall apply to the Town Board and provide such information, proof of financial security and such other documents as the Town Board may reasonably require. No person who qualifies for and receives this on-site facility waiver shall accept, handle, import or transport any waste created or generated by any other party or from any other source or location.
A. 
All violations of this article or any of its regulations or provisions shall be deemed Class A misdemeanors, punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. Each and every day that a violation of this article is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.
B. 
Any violation of this article or regulations or provisions thereof shall create a liability to the people of the Town for civil penalty not to exceed $5,000, to be after a hearing or opportunity to be heard, upon due notice and with the right to specification of the charges and representation by counsel at such hearing. Each and every day that a violation of this article occurs or continues shall constitute a separate violation for purposes of civil liability.
C. 
Upon any violation of this article by any person, the Town shall be entitled to obtain an injunction against such persons prohibiting further violations and, in addition, ordering that any solid or liquid waste disposed of in violation hereof be removed from the Town and ordering that any land on which solid or liquid waste is disposed of in violation of this article be restored as nearly as possible to its former condition by the removal of any waste illegally disposed of and by such other restorative measures as are available, and further ordering that the operator remedy any effects of the violation on surrounding or adjacent properties or resources, including, without limitation, air, trees, crops, water bodies, wetlands and groundwaters.