Township of Upper Merion, PA Chapter 138 Solid Waste Disposal

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Upper Merion Township 5-8-1989 as Ord. No. 89-557. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Sanitary Board — See Ch. 51.

Building construction — See Ch. 67.

Garbage, rubbish and refuse — See Ch. 91.

Property maintenance — See Ch. 127.

§ 138-1 Definitions. [1]

A. The following terms shall have the following meanings in this chapter:

ACCEPTABLE WASTE

Municipal waste which is collected from the general public or is otherwise consistent with Section 7701(e)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which is not unacceptable waste.

COMPANY

Dravo Energy Resources of Montgomery County, Inc.

CONTRACTOR

Dravo Operations of Montgomery County, Inc.

COUNTY

County of Montgomery, Pennsylvania.

COUNTY ORDINANCE

An ordinance enacted by the county creating the county system, providing for the licensure of various persons, regulating waste flow and setting forth certain related provisions.

COUNTY SYSTEM OR SYSTEM

The County Solid Waste Management and Disposal System created by the county and every aspect thereof, including but not limited to equipment, transfer and resource recovery facilities, residue disposal sites, landfills, contractual arrangements or other rights owned, acquired, leased, placed under contract, constructed or assumed, operated or to be owned, acquired, leased, placed under contract, constructed, operated or assumed by the county or any agent, designee or contractor in connection with the plan.

DATE OF COUNTY SYSTEM OPERATION

That date on which the county system shall be declared by the county to be ready to commence the disposal of acceptable waste on a sustained basis.

EXISTING CONTRACT

Any agreement or contract fully executed prior to the effective date of this chapter for the collection, disposal or transportation of municipal waste generated within this municipality.

FACILITY

The mass burn resource recovery and electric generating facility, together with appurtenant structures and equipment, to be constructed on a site in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, as contemplated by the Facility Agreement.

FACILITY AGREEMENT

The amended and restated Facility Agreement among the company, contractor and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Authority, as such may be further amended from time to time.

MUNICIPAL COMMITMENT

The obligation of each participating municipality to deliver or cause to be delivered to the county system all of the residential components of its municipally-generated acceptable waste and such other acceptable waste as the participating municipality and the county may hereafter agree to include in such municipal commitment.

MUNICIPALITY

Upper Merion Township, a township of the Second Class located within the County of Montgomery, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

MUNICIPAL WASTE

Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste and other material, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous materials, resulting from operation of residential, municipal, commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities and any sludge not meeting the definition of residual waste or hazardous waste in Act 97 and Act 101[2] from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant or air-pollution control facility.

MUNICIPAL WASTE AUTHORITY

The Waste System Authority of Montgomery County created by the county for purposes relating to municipal waste processing and disposal and/or the IMA and the County Waste Flow Ordinance.

NONPROCESSIBLE WASTE

That portion of acceptable waste which consists of white goods, automobile tires in quantity or noncombustible items, stumps, logs, brush and other waste which either weighs in excess of twenty-five (25) pounds or exceeds one (1) of the following dimensions: four (4) feet in length, four (4) inches in diameter or four (4) inches in thickness.

PERSON

Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, institution, cooperative enterprise, trust, municipal authority, federal institution or agency, state institution or agency, municipality, other governmental agency or any other legal entity or any group of such persons whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. In any provisions of this chapter prescribing a fine, penalty, imprisonment or denial or grant of any license, or any combination of the foregoing, the term "person" shall include the officers and directors of any corporation or other legal entity having officers and directors.

PLAN

The county-wide municipal waste management plan developed by the county and approved by DER, as such may hereafter be amended or modified in compliance with law.

POINT OF ENTRY INTO THE COUNTY SYSTEM

Any delivery point within the county system designated by the county for delivery of municipal waste.

PROCESSIBLE WASTE

That portion of acceptable waste which is not nonprocessible waste.

RECYCLING OR RECYCLED

The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which would otherwise be disposed of or processed as municipal waste or the mechanized separation and treatment of municipal waste (other than through combustion) and creation and recovery of reusable materials other than a fuel for the operation of energy.

RESIDENTIAL COMPONENT

All acceptable waste generated by households within a participating municipality, exclusive of multiple-family dwellings which are not included in the calculation of the residential component pursuant to regulations of the county.

SERVICE AGREEMENT

The amended and restated Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Service Agreement by and between the county and Dravo Operations of Montgomery County, Inc., or any successor thereto, as such may be further amended from time to time.

SOURCE SEPARATION

The segregation and collection, prior to the point of entry into the county system for the purpose of recycling of individual components of acceptable waste, such as (without limitation) bottles, cans and other materials, in accordance with Act 101.[3]

UNACCEPTABLE WASTE

Explosives, pathological and biological waste, residual waste and hazardous waste, radioactive materials, sludges, cesspool or other human waste, human and animal remains, motor vehicles, liquid waste, contained gaseous materials which may pose a hazard to the facility or the community, hazardous substances as defined in the Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, as it may be amended from time to time hereafter, and any analogous federal, state or local law, ordinance, rule or regulation as may be applicable at the time of delivery of waste to the facility and commercial waste which is not permitted by law to be treated and disposed of in the facility; any item of waste either smoldering or on fire; construction and demolition debris, ashes, incinerator residue and foundry sand; wastes in quantities and concentrations which require special handling in their collection and/or processing, including medical or other red-bag waste; and all other items of waste which, at the time of delivery to the facility, would be likely to pose a threat to health or safety or have been prohibited by any valid and enforceable judicial decision, order or governmental action from being accepted by the facility.

WHITE GOODS

Refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, window air conditioners, hot-water heaters and other major home appliances.

[2] Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq. and 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., respectively.

[3] Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.

B. Other words and phrases shall have the same meanings as set forth in Act 97 or Act 101[4] as they may hereinafter be amended or supplemented by legislation regarding municipal waste management or planning, or as set forth in the IMA, Facility Agreement or Service Agreement. To the extent that any definition herein varies from the definition in the IMA, the definition in the IMA shall control.

[4] Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq. and 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., respectively.

[1] Editor's Note: The preamble to Ord. No. 89-557 provides as follows:

"Whereas, the Solid Waste Management Act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, No. 97, Pa. Stat. Ann. Tit. 35, P.S. § 6018.101 et seq., (Purdon Supp. 1985) (Act 97), was enacted to establish a comprehensive planning and regulatory framework to deal with the storage, collection, transportation and processing of solid waste, including municipal waste, as defined in Section 103 of Act 97, Pa. Stat. Ann. Tit. 35, P.S. § 6018.103 (Purdon Supp. 1985); and

"Whereas, Act 97 made each municipality responsible for the collection, transportation, processing and disposal of municipal waste generated or present within its boundaries and authorized municipalities to contract with any other person or municipality, including a county or an authority, to carry out such responsibilities and authorized municipalities to adopt ordinances, regulations and standards that require disposal of all municipal waste generated within their jurisdiction at a designated facility; and

"Whereas Act 97 required the preparation of municipal waste management plans, Pa. Stat. Ann. Tit. 35 P.S. § 6018.201 (Purdon Supp. 1985); and

"Whereas, Section 103 of Act 97 gave counties, cities, townships, boroughs and authorities created by such municipalities concurrent responsibility for the planning and regulation of municipal waste collection, transportation and disposal by defining all such entities as municipalities; and

"Whereas, in 1982 and 1983, pursuant to the requirements of Act 97, the several municipalities in the county adopted resolutions requesting the County Board of Commissioners (County Board) to prepare on the municipalities' behalf a comprehensive municipal waste management plan; and

"Whereas, pursuant to the requests of the various municipalities and the county's independent authority under Act 97, the County Board developed a municipal waste management plan for solid waste disposal (the plan) in which the county undertakes to assist such municipalities with the disposal of municipally collected solid waste so as to enable the county and such municipalities to fulfill their responsibilities as set forth in Act 97; and

"Whereas, the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Act No. 101 of July 28, 1988, P.L. 556 (Act 101), was enacted to empower and assign the duty to the county to develop municipal waste management plans and otherwise ensure adequate capacity for permitted processing and disposal of the municipal waste which is generated within its boundaries and empowers and assigns the duty to each municipality other than a county to assure the proper and adequate transportation, collection and storage of and adequate capacity for the disposal of municipal waste generated within its boundaries; and

"Whereas, Act 101 was also enacted to provide for strategies to encourage recycling and to confer various additional powers upon counties and other municipalities; and

"Whereas, the county supplemented the plan and submitted it to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DER) for technical approval pursuant to Act 97 and Act 101; and

"Whereas, on January 26, 1989, DER granted technical approval of the plan; and

"Whereas, Act 101 provides that the plan may serve as the county's basic planning document for municipal waste, pending the later development of a plan in accordance with the provisions of Act 101, upon approval by a majority of the affected municipalities within the county representing a majority of the county population; and

"Whereas, a majority of the municipalities, including each of the participating municipalities (as hereinafter defined) representing a majority of the county's population, have timely adopted resolutions approving the plan; and

"Whereas, prompt and effective action to implement the plan is necessary in order to protect and save the public's health, safety and welfare; and

"Whereas, Upper Merion Township has authority under the applicable laws to provide for the management of municipal waste within its boundaries as hereinafter provided; and

"Whereas, the county has or will have enacted an ordinance (the County Waste Flow Ordinance) requiring, inter alia, the disposal of all municipal waste generated within the municipalities in Solid Waste Districts One and Two of the county as described in the plan (the municipalities) at the facilities and/or in accordance with the arrangements comprising the municipal waste disposal system for the county (the county system), forbidding the collection of municipal waste within Solid Waste Districts One and Two of the county by collectors or transporters of municipal waste not licensed by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority to dispose of waste at the county system, and providing for the county and municipalities to develop additional necessary rules and regulations concerning solid waste collection, transportation and disposal; and

"Whereas, the county, in consideration of the needs of such municipalities, and to implement the provisions of the plan, plans to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with certain of such municipalities (the participating municipalities) designated "Inter-Municipal Agreement for the Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste" (the IMA) providing, among other things, for the delivery of certain acceptable waste (as hereinafter defined) from the participating municipalities to the county system for disposal; and

"Whereas, it is intended that the county system shall be available to the participating municipalities for the disposal of their acceptable waste, whether or not the facility (as hereinafter defined) is in operation; and

"Whereas, it is understood that the municipal tipping fees, as provided in the IMA dated as of May 18, 1989, to be charged to the participating municipalities and other users of the county system shall be sufficient at least to pay the costs of the county system, including any costs of the financing of the facility, whether or not the facility is in operation; and

"Whereas, it is understood that certain risks, including but not limited to the outcome of the pending litigation identified in Appendix A, potential future litigation, and other uncontrollable circumstances, may prevent the construction or operation of the facility, thereby potentially resulting in a significant increase in the municipal tipping fee; and

"Whereas, each of the participating municipalities, after due consideration of both the advantages and risks of the undertaking, and taking into account the long term waste disposal services being provided by the county, regard the commencement of construction of the facility and the creation of the financing arrangement contemplated in connection with the facility which will permit the commencement of such construction as necessary to the long-term health, safety and welfare of their communities and have determined that any municipal tipping fees to be charged by the county are or will be reasonable in light of the long-term services provided, even if an uncontrollable circumstance or other event shall result in a significant increase in the municipal tipping fee; and

"Whereas, each of the municipalities has determined that it is appropriate and in its interest to enact this ordinance (the Municipal Waste Flow Ordinance) providing for the disposition of municipal waste generated within its jurisdiction through the county system; and

"Whereas, the participating municipalities will have continuing responsibilities for collection and the transportation of such waste to the county system in accordance with Act 97 and Act 101; and

"Whereas, for all of the reasons herein set forth, it is in the public's interest that this ordinance be enacted and the county system be established as provided in the county ordinance; and

"Whereas, the form of this ordinance has been approved by the county:

Now therefore, it is hereby enacted and ordained by the Upper Merion Township (hereinafter referred to as "Municipality") as follows."

§ 138-2 License required.

No person who is not duly licensed or deemed to be licensed by the county may collect or transport municipal waste located or generated within the municipality. This waste collection or transportation license shall be a county license issued by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority. Upon approval by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority, the municipality may administer said county license.

§ 138-3 Compliance with rules and regulations.

In carrying on activities related to solid waste collection or transportation within this municipality, all municipal waste collectors and all municipal waste transporters shall comply with the county ordinance, this chapter and the other municipal waste flow ordinances and all rules and regulations pertaining to the collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste as may be hereafter promulgated by the municipality or by the Municipal Waste Authority or the county. Delivery by such collectors or transporters to the county system of unacceptable waste, nonprocessible waste (except for white goods) and waste from unapproved sources is prohibited.

§ 138-4 Enforcement.

Licenses hereunder shall be issued and revoked by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority and administered by them or at their request by the municipality. Any collectors or transporters who fail to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to any applicable sanctions in addition to the revocation of their licenses.

§ 138-5 Disposal of municipal waste; recycling.

A. Delivery to county system. Except as provided in Subsections B and C below, all acceptable waste generated within this municipality shall be delivered to the county system, and all acceptable waste collectors and transporters shall deliver to and dispose of all acceptable waste collected or generated within the municipality to solid waste facilities designated in the plan at one (1) or more points of entry into the county system as designated from time to time by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority.

B. Disposal at other sites. Disposal of municipal waste collected or generated within municipality may occur at other sites only as permitted by rule, regulation, ordinance or order duly issued by the county or Municipal Waste Authority or by the written agreement of the county or Municipal Waste Authority and the municipality.

C. Recycling. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit source separation or recycling or to affect any sites at which source separation or recycling may take place.

§ 138-6 Regulations.

A. Compliance with county regulations. The collection, transportation and disposal of municipal waste present or generated within the municipality shall be subject to such further reasonable rules and regulations as may from time to time be promulgated by the county, including any amendments to the County Waste Flow Ordinance and to such reasonable rules and regulations as may be adopted by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority, including, without limitation, regulations relating to the operation, management and administration of the county system, applications and standards for licensing, requirements for payment bonds or other payment security, including but not limited to meeting liability insurance requirements, fees to be charged for such licensing, the term of licenses, procedures, recordkeeping, transportation routes, payment for services, billing for shortfalls, sanctions for nonpayment and other matters. To the extent that a municipality is engaged in the administration of any licenses pursuant to written agreement with the county as required in Section 303(d) of Act 101 and as provided in the County Waste Flow Ordinance, it shall do so in accordance with the foregoing rules and regulations and, in any event, at the direction of the county.

B. Adoption of regulations. Rules and regulations adopted by the county or Municipal Waste Authority for the county system shall be deemed rules and regulations adopted under this chapter. Each of the municipalities shall abide by such rules and regulations and will not adopt any rules and regulations to the contrary.

C. Consistency of regulations with ordinance and other laws. No rules or regulations adopted by the municipality pursuant to this chapter shall be in violation of, inconsistent with or less stringent than the provisions of this chapter; the other municipal waste flow ordinances, the County Waste Flow Ordinance, the plan, the provisions and purposes of Act 97 or Act 101 or regulations adopted thereunder or such other laws, regulations or requirements as may be enacted by the United States of America, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources or the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board governing municipal waste planning, collection, storage, transportation, processing or disposal.

D. Enforcement of waste flow control. Enforcement of waste flow control and the terms of and any duties established pursuant to the County Waste Flow Ordinance, the other municipal waste flow ordinances and this chapter will be the responsibility of the county or the Municipal Waste Authority or the municipalities at the direction of the county or the Municipal Waste Authority.

§ 138-7 Annual survey.

A. An annual survey of all generators of municipal waste and of all municipal waste collectors and municipal waste transporters, any landfill operators, any transfer station operators or any other parties involved in the collection, transportation, processing or disposal of municipal waste of the municipality shall be conducted by an engineering consultant designated by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority. Such engineering consultant shall estimate based on such survey the amount of each type of municipal waste of the municipality expected to be generated in the following year, after recycling, in total and in each of the following categories:

(1) Municipally collected.

(2) Municipally contracted.

(3) Municipal waste disposal arranged for by residents.

(4) Municipal waste disposal arranged for by apartment houses, condominium associations and other multiresident dwellings.

(5) Municipal waste disposal arranged for by commercial establishments.

(6) Other.

B. All persons which are the subject of this survey are required to cooperate in the taking and preparation of the survey.

C. In connection with the annual survey, pursuant to the IMA, at the beginning of the first operating year and at least one hundred fifty (150) days prior to the beginning of each subsequent operating year, the county and the municipality shall jointly specify the size of the projection of the municipality's municipal commitment for such operating year, which projection shall be equal to the amount of the municipality's residential component (as reasonably determined by an engineer retained by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority for this purpose, after taking into account any and all information provided by the municipality), plus any other amounts agreed upon by the county and the municipality. This projection will be net of any waste removed as a result of source separation. This projection shall be further stated in twelve (12) monthly projections, the sum of which shall be equal to the operating year projection. This projection shall be adjusted by the county from time to time following consultation with the municipality, as and when the county determines that such projection was incorrect, and from year to year in accordance with the experience of the previous year and the volume anticipated in the coming year.

D. At the time that the county and municipality make the foregoing projection, the municipality shall assist the county in projecting the total amount of acceptable waste expected to be generated within the municipality during the forthcoming operating year.

E. Based upon the foregoing projections, the county shall make projections of total tonnage and projections of monthly tonnage as required pursuant to any applicable disposal agreements, including the service agreement, with respect to the facility. The county shall use its best efforts to maximize the tonnage delivered to the facility up to the maximum capacity of the facility.

§ 138-8 Prohibitions and requirements.

A. The municipality shall not construct, enlarge, operate or contract for or renew any contract for any facility or hauling to any facility, other than a facility designated by the county pursuant to the IMA or regulations promulgated pursuant to the IMA, for or enter into or renew any contract for the treatment, processing and/or disposal of municipally generated acceptable waste except as shall conform to the County Ordinance and this chapter as the county may expressly agree to in writing. In addition, the municipality shall take all such actions as may be necessary to ensure that all of its obligations will be met once the county system is operational. The municipality shall agree to use its best efforts to assign its rights under any contract concerning the use of any disposal facilities or transfer stations to which it was a party to the county on the effective date of the IMA. Any such assigned contract shall become part of the county system; provided, however, that with respect to any such contracts for which assignment is not possible, each participating municipality shall act at the direction of the county with respect to such contract and such contract shall be deemed to be part of the county system.

B. No person shall enter into any contract or conduct any other activity concerning the collection, transportation, processing or disposal of municipal waste in the municipality in contravention of the terms of the County Waste Flow Ordinance, this chapter or any rules and regulations issued thereunder.

C. Recycling. Nothing contained in this chapter shall interfere with the operation of any program for recycling.

D. This chapter shall be construed consistently with Act 97 and Act 101.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq. and 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., respectively.

§ 138-9 Creation of Authority.

The county will create a Municipal Waste Authority to administer the terms of the County Waste Flow Ordinance and to operate the county system. This Authority shall be recognized as having the power to act in place of the county, to the extent determined by the county.

§ 138-10 Unlawful conduct; public nuisance.

A. Unlawful conduct. It shall be unlawful for any person to:

(1) Violate, cause or assist in the violation of any provision of this chapter, any rule, regulation or order promulgated hereunder or any rule, regulation or order promulgated by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority consistent with this chapter.

(2) Transport, process, treat, transfer or dispose of or cause to be processed, treated, transferred or disposed of municipal waste generated within the municipality except as provided for in this chapter.

(3) Collect or transport municipal waste present or generated within the municipality without a valid license for collection or transportation issued by the county or the Municipal Waste Authority.

(4) Hinder, obstruct, prevent or interfere with the municipality, the Municipal Waste Authority or the county or their personnel in the performance of any duty under this chapter or in the enforcement of this chapter.

(5) Act in a manner that is contrary to Act 97 or Act 101, regulations promulgated thereunder, the plan, this chapter, the County Ordinance or rules or regulations promulgated under this chapter, the County Ordinance or the terms of licenses issued thereunder.

(6) Collect or transport municipal waste or recyclables, located within or generated within Upper Merion Township, between the hours of 0700 and 2100, prevailing time. Exception: On Saturdays and Sundays, the collection and transport of waste may proceed only between the hours of 0800 and 2100 hours (8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.), prevailing time.

[Added 11-2-1995 by Ord. No. 95-640; amended 12-7-1995 by Ord. No. 95-641; 1-8-1998 by Ord. No. 98-665]

(7) Collect or transport municipal waste or recyclables, located or generated within Upper Merion Township, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. on Fridays and 8:00 a.m., prevailing time, on Saturdays.

[Added 12-7-1995 by Ord. No. 95-641]

B. Public nuisance. Any unlawful conduct set forth in § 138-10A hereof shall constitute a public nuisance.

§ 138-11 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 12-31-1991 by Ord. No. 91-593]

Any person who engages in unlawful conduct as defined in this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before a District Justice, be sentenced to pay a fine as set forth in Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III, General Penalty Provisions, and, in default of payment thereof, shall be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days. Each day that there is a violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.

§ 138-12 Revocation of license.

Upon finding that any person has engaged in unlawful conduct as defined in this chapter, the Municipal Waste Authority or the county may revoke any license issued to that person in accordance with § 138-2 of this chapter and the Municipal Waste Authority or the county may deny any subsequent application by that person for a license pursuant to § 138-2 hereof.

§ 138-13 Injunctions; concurrent remedies.

A. Restraining violations. In addition to any other remedy provided in this chapter, the municipality or the county may institute a suit in equity where unlawful conduct or public nuisance exists as defined in this chapter for an injunction to restrain a violation of this chapter or rules, regulations, orders or the terms of licenses promulgated or issued pursuant to this chapter. In addition to an injunction, the court may impose penalties as authorized by § 138-11 hereof.

B. Concurrent remedies. The penalties and remedies prescribed by this chapter shall be deemed concurrent. The existence or exercise of any remedy shall not prevent the municipality or the county from exercising any other remedy provided by this chapter or otherwise provided at law or equity.

§ 138-14 Intermunicipal agreement.

A. Entry into IMA. In order to implement the intent and terms of this chapter, the municipality, pursuant to the authority of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, Act of July 12, 1972, No. 180, codified at 53 P.S. §§ 481 to 490 (Purdon 1974 and Purdon Supp. 1988) and Article IX, Section 5, of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, has determined to enter into the IMA between the municipality, the county and other municipalities within Solid Waste Districts Nos. One and Two of the county, together with such changes consistent with this chapter, if any, as may be approved by the officials of the parties executing the same, such execution to be conclusive evidence of such approval.

B. Terms and implementation of IMA. As more fully set forth in the IMA and this chapter:

(1) Conditions and terms of IMA. In the IMA:

(a) The county or the Municipal Waste Authority agrees to arrange through the county system for the provision of municipal waste disposal facilities for the economical and environmentally sound disposal of acceptable waste generated within the participating municipalities and, in the course thereof, to arrange for the construction of a privately owned one thousand two hundred (1,200) tons per day facility for the processing or other disposition of acceptable waste generated within the several jurisdictions of the participating municipalities.

(b) The participating municipalities state that they have enacted a municipal waste flow ordinance in a form substantially similar to this chapter and assure that the residential component of their acceptable waste will be delivered to the county system.

(c) The county or the Municipal Waste Authority agrees to enact or cause to be enacted rules and regulations and to enforce or cause to be enforced this chapter and the County Waste Flow Ordinance and the parallel municipal waste flow ordinances.

(d) The parties agree to cooperate in the joint enforcement of the IMA and all ordinances enacted pursuant to the IMA, and the participating municipalities thereby agree cooperatively to exercise, to delegate to the county or the Municipal Waste Authority and to allow delegation of such powers, duties and responsibilities as set forth in the IMA.

(2) Duration of term of the IMA. The term of the IMA shall commence on the closing date for the financing of the facility and shall terminate on the earlier of the 30th anniversary of such date or at the end of the operating year in which all bonds and any other indebtedness outstanding issued in connection with the bonds or owed to any assignee has been paid in full.

(3) Purpose of objectives of IMA. The purpose of the IMA is to provide a mechanism to finance, to construct and to operate the county system to serve the municipalities within the county and to provide continuing municipal waste planning, more fully set forth in the recitals to the IMA and this Article.

(4) Manner and extent of financing the IMA. During the term of the IMA, participating municipalities and other persons using the county system shall pay to the county on a monthly basis the then current per-ton municipal tipping fee, plus any other charges payable as specified by the county and then in effect for all tonnage delivered or caused to be delivered to the county system, in accordance with Article III of the IMA.

C. Execution. Appropriate officers of this municipality are authorized and directed to execute the IMA on behalf of this municipality.

D. Findings under Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. As required by the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of July 12, 1972, P.L. 762, No. 180, as amended,[1] the following matters are specifically found and determined:

(1) The conditions of agreement are set forth in the IMA.

(2) The duration of the term of the agreement is set forth in Section 901 of the IMA.

(3) The purpose of the IMA is to cooperate with the county or the Municipal Waste Authority and other participating municipalities in implementing the plan.

(4) The agreement will be financed through the budgeting and appropriation of funds by the municipality as necessary to meet the municipality's obligation.

(5) The organizational structure necessary to implement the agreement is set forth in the IMA with which the current officers of the municipality shall cooperate.

(6) The manner in which property, real or personal, shall be acquired, managed, licensed or disposed of is by way of lease or other contract otherwise as set forth in the IMA.

(7) The agreement contemplates cooperation with the county or the Municipal Waste Authority, which entities are empowered to enter into contracts for policies of group insurance and employee benefits, including social security, for its employees.

[1] Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 481 et seq.

§ 138-15 Construal of provisions.

The terms and provisions of this chapter are to be liberally construed so as best to achieve and to effectuate the goals and purposes hereof. This chapter shall be construed in pari materia with Act 97 and Act 101.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq. and 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., respectively.

§ 138-16 When effective.

This chapter shall become effective immediately except that § 138-5 of this chapter shall become effective upon the date of the county's issuance of a notice that the county system has become operational.

§ 138-17 Compliance with intermunicipal agreement.

The municipality will take such actions as are necessary to comply with the terms of the IMA and to fulfill its obligations thereunder.