[Adopted 3-7-1988 (Ch.
16, Art. III, of the 2007 Code)]
The purpose of this article is to protect the health, safety,
and general welfare of the citizens; to enhance and maintain the quality
of the environment; to conserve natural resources and to prevent water
and air pollution; to gain management control over solid waste; and
to enable the reclamation of natural resources, including energy,
from solid wastes by providing for a comprehensive, rational and effective
means of regulating the disposal of solid waste generated in the City.
The regulations set forth herein are intended to regulate the stream
of acceptable wastes within the City and to be delivered directly
or through the City's transfer station to the energy recovery facility,
as defined herein. Nonacceptable wastes, as defined herein, are regulated
by other provisions of the City's ordinances and shall be disposed
of in accordance with them.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
All solid wastes generated within the City of the type accepted
at the Sandy Hill municipal landfill prior to the adoption of this
article, including ordinary household, municipal, institutional, commercial
and industrial wastes, with the following exceptions:
Demolition or construction debris, including tree stumps.
Liquid wastes or sludges, including waste oil and water treatment
residues.
Hazardous, infectious, or pathological wastes, including dead
animals or portions thereof and those wastes generated by hospitals,
health care facilities, and laboratories, as defined in the Standard
Industrial Classification Manual.
Discarded white goods, such as refrigerators and stoves, and
furniture containing metal frames and springs.
Abandoned or junked vehicles.
Wastes averaging less than 4,000 Btu's per pound.
Those wastes which the public works authority determines are
unsuitable for processing at the energy recovery facility.
A building, container, or designated area in which acceptable
waste is deposited and temporarily stored for shipment to the energy
recovery facility.
The discharge, deposit, dumping or placing of any solid waste
into or on any land.
The facility designated herein which processes and recovers
energy and/or useful materials from acceptable waste generated within
the City.
Waste with inherent properties that make it dangerous to
manage by ordinary means, including, but not limited to, chemicals,
explosives, pathological wastes, radioactive, toxic, or other wastes
defined as hazardous by the state, by the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976,[1] as amended, and by any other federal, state, or local
law, order, or regulation promulgated with respect thereto.
The recovery of materials and substances that still have
useful physical or chemical properties after serving a specific purpose
and which can be reused or recycled for the same or other purposes.
Unwanted, useless, or discarded solid materials with insufficient
liquid content to be free-flowing, including rubbish, garbage, scrap
materials, junk, and refuse, but not including septic tank sludge.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.
[Amended 2-19-1991; 7-6-2009]
(Reserved)
The accumulation, collection, transportation, and disposal of
acceptable waste generated within the municipality shall be deposited
at the collection facility or directly at the energy recovery facility.
The following categories of waste shall be exempted from regulation
by this article:
A.
Glass, metal, or other noncombustible materials which are separated
from acceptable waste by the generator as part of a recycling program.
B.
Materials from manufacturing, processing, or packaging operations
which are segregated from solid waste and salvaged for alternate use
or reuse by the generator or sold to third parties.
C.
Cardboard, paper, or other combustible materials which are separated
from acceptable waste by the generator as part of a recycling program
approved by the municipal officers, provided that any such recycling
program shall not reduce the Btu content of acceptable waste below
the level acceptable to the energy recovery facility.
This article shall be administered by the municipal officers,
whose powers and duties shall include the following:
A.
The authority to adopt reasonable rules and regulations as needed
to enforce this article.
B.
The authority to enter contracts for the use of collection and disposal
facilities, subject to contractual obligations to the energy recovery
facility.
C.
The authority to review all license applications and to grant or
deny approval.
D.
The responsibility to review any alleged violation of this article
and to impose appropriate penalties therefor after notice and hearing,
and to otherwise institute proceedings, either at law or equity, to
enforce this article.
A.
License required; exception. No person, firm, or corporation shall
collect, store, transport, or dispose of acceptable waste generated
within the City without first obtaining an annual license from the
City Clerk, except for those collecting less than one ton per month
of their own waste.
B.
Application and fee. Any person, firm, or corporation required by this article to obtain an annual license shall make application to the City Clerk by January 1 of each year, providing the information required. The application shall be accompanied by the nonrefundable license fee set forth in Chapter A400, Master Fee Schedule.
C.
Contents of application. The license application shall contain complete
and current information required, including, but not limited to, a
description of the activity engaged in; the type and amount of waste
handled in each service area; a description of the facility operated
or used; and an equipment inventory which includes each vehicle used
in the collection of solid waste. The licensee shall have a continuing
responsibility to notify the City immediately of any changes to this
information.
D.
Review of application. Prior to the issuance or reissuance of any
license, the City Clerk shall refer the application to the Director
of Public Services for his review. All licenses issued pursuant to
this article shall be subject to his approval.
E.
Tipping fees. Notwithstanding the payment of annual license fees,
commercial licensees disposing of solid waste at the collection facility
or the energy recovery facility shall be subject also to payment of
per-load "tipping fees."
Any license application may be denied, and any license issued
may be suspended for 30 days by the Director of Public Services or
may otherwise be suspended or revoked by order of the municipal officers,
after benefit of a full hearing, for the following causes:
A.
Violation of this article, e.g., disposal of wastes at an unapproved
facility, knowingly or carelessly disposing of unacceptable waste
at the collection facility or energy recovery facility, or unauthorized
disposal of wastes from another municipality into the City facility.
B.
Violation of any provision of federal, state, or other municipal
law, ordinance, or regulation relating directly to the provisions
of this article.
C.
Violation of any license condition.
D.
Falsehoods, misrepresentations, or omissions in the license application.
E.
Failure to make timely payment of per-load charges.
A.
Upon the denial of a license application or upon the suspension or
revocation of a license, the affected licensee shall be entitled to
a hearing before the municipal officers if a request is made within
30 days of such denial, suspension, or revocation. Such hearings shall
be held within 30 days after receipt of the request, at which time
the licensee or applicant shall have the right to be represented by
counsel, to offer evidence and argument, and to cross-examine witnesses.
B.
A final written determination shall be issued within 20 days after
conclusion of the hearing. The notice shall set forth the reasons
for the determination. Any controversy arising out of this decision
by the municipal officers shall be reviewable directly by Superior
Court, pursuant to Maine Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 80B.
A.
Generally. The provisions of this article are enforceable by the
Director of Public Services or his representative, the Code Enforcement
Officer, and authorized law officers.
B.
Violation; penalties. Any person who violates any provision of this article commits a civil infraction and is subject to the penalty provisions of § 1-8 of this Code, together with other civil and criminal sanctions available through state and federal law. Violators shall be liable also for the cost of any damage to disposal facilities or the costs of redisposing of wastes.
C.
Conflicting provisions. In the event this article is inconsistent
with other ordinances, the provisions hereof shall apply. If any part
is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of law, such
decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
