[Amended 6-8-2004]
This article is enacted pursuant to the Town's
home rule authority and the authority granted to towns 30-A M.R.S.A.
§§ 3001, 3002, 3007 and 3351 to 3352 and 38 M.R.S.A.
§§ 1304-B and 1305.
A.Â
The municipality has a statutory obligation to provide
a solid waste disposal facility for domestic and commercial waste
generated within the municipality and is authorized to provide such
a facility for industrial waste and sewage treatment plant sludge
pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. § 1305, Subsection 1. Municipal solid
waste contains valuable recoverable resources, including energy, which
if recovered may reduce the cost of solid waste disposal. Because
energy recovery technology is complex, most energy recovery facilities
have high capital costs and long payback periods. To remain cost effective
and operate efficiently during their useful lives, energy recovery
facilities require a guaranteed steady supply of waste during their
entire useful life. Consequently, a municipality that wants to utilize
an energy recovery facility for processing municipal solid wastes
generally must agree to provide the facility with a steady supply
of solid waste for a relatively long period. The Town finds that use
of an energy recovery facility to process acceptable solid waste is
an environmentally sound and economically viable solution to the solid
waste disposal problem and thereby protects the public health, welfare
and safety of the citizens of the Town. The Town has entered into
or expects to enter into long-term agreements for the disposal of
solid waste with the energy recovery facility designated herein.
B.Â
The Town will exercise its legal authority to regulate
the collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste generated
within its borders to promote the handling of solid waste in an environmentally
responsible way that protects public health and safety. In addition,
the Town will exercise its legal authority to control the storage
and disposal of such solid waste delivered to the municipal Transfer
Station to deliver a steady supply of waste to the Energy Recovery
Facility designated herein. The Transfer Station is a licensed facility,
operated by the Town to facilitate the environmentally responsible
and cost-effective handling of acceptable waste and demolition debris
and interim storage before delivery to designated disposal facilities.
All terms not specifically defined herein or in § 150-3 of this chapter shall have their ordinary meaning. Words used in the present tense include the future, and the singular includes the plural.
All solid waste of the type presently accepted at the landfill
used by the municipality, including all ordinary household, municipal,
institutional, commercial and industrial wastes, with the following
exceptions:
Demolition or construction debris from building
and roadway projects or locations;
Liquid wastes or sludges;
Abandoned or junk vehicles;
Hazardous waste, that is, waste with inherent
properties that make it dangerous to manage by ordinary means, including
but not limited to chemicals, explosives, pathological wastes, radioactive
wastes, toxic wastes and other wastes defined as hazardous by the
State of Maine, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976,
as amended, or other federal, state or local laws, regulations, orders
or other actions promulgated or taken with respect thereto;
Dead animals or portions thereof or other pathological
wastes;
Water treatment residues;
Tree stumps;
Tannery sludge;
Waste oil; and
Discarded white goods, including but not limited
to freezers, stoves, refrigerators and washing machines.
A building or container or designated area in which acceptable
waste is deposited and temporarily stored for transshipment to the
Energy Recovery Facility, sometimes referred to herein as the "Transfer
Station."
The facility designated by the municipal officers as the
storage and/or disposal site for:
The facility designated herein which processes and recovers
energy and/or useful material from acceptable waste generated in the
Town.
The exceptions referenced in Subsections A through J of the
definition of "acceptable waste" in this section and all industrial
waste and sewage treatment plant sludge.
The Town hereby designates the Maine Energy
Recovery Company facility located in Biddeford, Maine, as its Energy
Recovery Facility for the purposes cited in this article.
The accumulation, collection, transportation
and disposal of acceptable waste and unacceptable waste generated
within the Town shall be regulated in the following manner:
A.Â
No person, firm, corporation or any other legal entity
shall revoke, take away or otherwise transport, for any reason, any
waste or any portion thereof deposited at the Wells Transfer Station
or at a disposal facility, except as specifically authorized by the
municipal officers.
B.Â
The municipal officers shall, from time to time, enact
regulations and establish fees with respect to depositing and sorting
waste at the Transfer Station or Disposal Facility.
C.Â
Due to the restrictive nature of the contract between
the Town and the Energy Recovery Facility, which places limits on
the amount of acceptable waste which may be transported from the Collection
Facility to the Energy Recovery Facility at the favorable tipping
fee, and because the Town subsidizes the tipping fee paid at the Energy
Recovery Facility, the Town accepts only waste generated within the
Town of Wells at the Transfer Station. Due to space limitations, the
foregoing restriction shall also apply to the Disposal Facility.
D.Â
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
demolition or construction debris from residential building and roadway
projects may be deposited at the Disposal Facility by residents of
the Town of Wells or their contractors in volumes and in vehicles
as permitted by regulation of the municipal officers. A fee for such
deposits shall be established by the municipal officers following
notice and a public hearing.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 150-91,
Exempted waste, was repealed 6-8-2004.
This article shall be administered by the municipal
officers. Their powers and duties are as follows:
A.Â
To adopt reasonable rules and regulations as needed
to implement and enforce this article, including but not limited to
regulations governing the types and characteristics of vehicles used
to transport waste; governing use of the Collection Facility and methods
for handling acceptable waste and demolition debris and rejecting
unacceptable waste; establishing a procedure for identifying the contractor(s)
eligible to haul waste from the Collection Facility to the Energy
Recovery Facility and excluding others from hauling to the Energy
Recovery Facility on behalf of or under the authorization of the municipality;
and for monitoring compliance with this article and regulations adopted
to implement it.
B.Â
To consider all license applications and to grant
or deny each application within 45 days after receipt of a completed
application by the Town Clerk at the municipal offices or within such
other time as the municipal officers and the applicant shall agree
is reasonable.
C.Â
To review any alleged violation of this article and
to impose appropriate penalties therefor after notice and hearing
as required by this article.
D.Â
To institute necessary proceedings, either legal or
equitable, to enforce this article.
A.Â
No person, firm or corporation shall accumulate, collect,
store, transport or dispose of acceptable waste or unacceptable waste
generated within the Town without obtaining a license from the municipal
officers, except that a person, firm or corporation that accumulates,
stores, transports or disposes of less than two tons per month of
its own waste shall not be required by this article to obtain such
a license.
B.Â
Any person, firm or corporation required by this article
to obtain a license shall make application to the Town Clerk, using
the form provided and providing the information required. Each application
shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee as established
by the Board of Selectmen following notice and a public hearing.
C.Â
The application shall contain all information required
by the municipal officers, including but not limited to the following:
(1)Â
A description of the activity engaged in, e.g., collection,
transport or disposal of acceptable and/or unacceptable waste; type
and amount of waste handled in each service area; a description of
the facility operated and used;
(2)Â
An inventory of equipment used in the licensed activity,
including for vehicles a description of the make, model and year of
each vehicle used for the collection or transportation of solid waste;
and
(3)Â
If engaged in the collection and/or transportation
of solid waste, whether the licensee will deliver waste to the Collection
Facility or to another facility. If to another facility, the applicant
shall specify where the waste will be disposed of and indicate that
the facility has the necessary licenses and permits to operate from
the jurisdiction(s) in which the facility is located.
All information provided shall be revised annually
upon application for license renewal. If the municipal officers determine
the application is incomplete, they shall notify the applicant in
writing of the specific information necessary to complete it. The
municipal officers shall be informed immediately in writing of any
changes in or additions to operating equipment, including vehicles.
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D.Â
Licenses shall not be transferable. In the event of
any emergency or vehicle breakdown, a licensee shall be issued a special
license for a satisfactory replacement vehicle upon furnishing of
all information required for a licensed vehicle.
E.Â
All licenses shall expire one year from the date of
issue unless otherwise stated on the license or revoked or suspended
sooner in accordance with the provisions of this article.
F.Â
Annual license fees shall be established by the municipal
officers following notice and a public hearing. There shall be a separate
category of license for the collection, transport or disposal of waste
at the Collection Facility. The license shall list each vehicle operated
within the Town during the license period. License fees shall not
be refunded in the event that a license is suspended or revoked for
any other reason.
Any license issued may be suspended or revoked by order of the municipal officers after benefit of a hearing in accordance with the procedures in § 150-95 for the following causes:
A.Â
Anyone denied a license or whose license is suspended or revoked pursuant to § 150-94 shall be entitled to a hearing before the municipal officers, if such request is made in writing within 10 days of the denial, suspension or revocation.
B.Â
Such hearings shall be held within 30 days after receipt
of the written request for a hearing.
C.Â
The licensee or applicant shall be notified, in writing,
as to the time and place of the hearing at least 10 days prior to
the hearing date. The applicant or licensee has the right to be represented
by counsel, to offer evidence and to cross-examine witnesses.
D.Â
A determination shall be made by the municipal officers
within 10 days after the conclusion of the hearing, and notice of
the decision shall be served upon the applicant or licensee by certified
mail, return receipt requested.
E.Â
The municipal officers' final determination relative
to the denial or suspension or revocation of a license and the period
of suspension or revocation shall take effect as provided in the notice
but no later than 10 days after the date notice of such final determination
has been mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the
applicant and shall be conclusive. Notice of the final determination
shall set forth the reasons for the denial, suspension or revocation
and the effective dates thereof, together with a statement that such
decision may be appealed as provided in this section.
F.Â
Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating
to the municipal officers' determination shall be directly reviewable
by the Superior Court pursuant to Rule 80B of the Maine Rules of Civil
Procedure.
A.Â
All provisions of this article are enforceable by
duly authorized police officers and the municipal officers.
B.Â
Any person who violates any provision of this article is subject to arrest and, if convicted, to punishment as provided in § 150-97.
C.Â
Whenever the municipal officers determine that there
has been a violation by virtue of noncompliance, they shall give notice
of such violation to the person(s) responsible by personal service
or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
(1)Â
The citation shall include a statement of reasons
and shall allow reasonable time for performance of any act it requires.
(2)Â
The citation may contain an outline of remedial action
which, if taken, will effect compliance.
(3)Â
The citation shall state that, unless corrections
are made within the allotted time, the violator is subject to prosecution
and/or to license revocation or suspension pursuant to the provisions
of this article.
A.Â
Civil penalties. Any person, firm or corporation who
or which violates this article or regulations adopted shall be subject
to a civil penalty, payable to the municipality, of not more than
$200 for each violation. Every day a violation continues after notice
thereof shall constitute a separation violation.
B.Â
Repeated violations. Any person, firm or corporation
who or which violates this article more than once within a thirty-day
period or more than three times during the annual license term may
be subject to additional penalties, for the second and succeeding
violations, in an amount not to exceed $600 for each violation. In
addition, the municipal officers shall commence proceedings to consider
suspending or revoking the license of a licensee engaging in repeat
violations.
The municipal officers may, on written application,
grant a waiver from a specific provision of this article in a specific
case subject to appropriate conditions where such waiver is in harmony
with the general purpose and intent of this article and the agreement
between the Town and the Energy Recovery Facility.
The provisions of this article shall supersede
all other local laws, ordinances, resolutions, rules or regulations
contrary thereto or in conflict therewith.
This article may be amended in the same manner
as any other ordinance of the municipality, subject to the contractual
obligations outlined in the contract between the municipality and
the Energy Recovery Facility.
This article shall become effective upon adoption
or amendment. Any person, firm or corporation required to obtain a
license hereunder shall have 60 days from the date of adoption or
amendment to secure such license or amended license as may be required,
which shall become effective on the date specified therein.