[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Brant 10-8-2002 by L.L. No. 3-2002.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Recycling — See Ch. 131.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed former Ch. 98, Garbage, Rubbish and Refuse, which consisted of Art. I, Dumps and Dumping, adopted 9-16-1992 by L.L. No. 2-1992.
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "Solid Waste Management Disposal Facilities Law of the Town of Brant."
The Town Board of the Town of Brant is concerned with the public health, welfare and safety of the community. The Town Board hereby declares that waste disposal facilities such as landfills, ashfills, construction and demolition debris processing disposal facilities, commercial composting, resource recovery, and incineration facilities present an unacceptable land use, environmental risk, and threat to the local economy in the Town of Brant. Among other factors, the Board finds as follows:
A. 
The Town Board notes that a key aspect of permitting any in-ground disposal facility is the assurance that natural resources will be protected from leachate created by the facilities. Of particular concern is groundwater, because of the wide-scale reliance on groundwater as a drinking source within the Town. The EPA has, in proposing its Solid Waste Disposal Criteria [Federal Register, 53(168):33314-33422, August 30, 1988] stated, "First, even the best liner and leachate collection system will ultimately fail due to natural deterioration, and recent improvements in MSWLF (municipal solid waste landfill) containment technologies suggest that releases may be delayed by many decades at some landfills." Further, in discussing criteria for municipal solid waste landfills (July 1988) the EPA has also stated, "Once the unit is closed, the bottom layer of the landfill will deteriorate over time and, consequently, will not prevent leachate transport out of the unit." The Town Board further recognizes that 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, contaminate water supplies. EPA and DEC permitting procedures utilize modeling to determine whether contamination, once it occurs, but, as leading scientists have continually stated, monitoring will not guarantee detection prior to contamination.
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 Board also recognizes that future correction of pollution from solid or liquid waste management facilities, including sanitary landfills, construction and demolition debris disposal facilities, and incineration facilities, may be very expensive or even impossible to achieve. DEC studies, including the Upstate New York Groundwater Management Plan, cite disposal facilities as major sources of water contamination, including groundwater contamination. This causes particular concern because, unlike urban or suburban communities, the rural nature of the Town makes the use of public water supplies prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, the threat of groundwater pollution is much more serious in the Town of Brant due to the lack of potential remedies.
D. 
The Town's need for waste disposal is being met, and this chapter neither conflicts nor hinders the operation of any local solid waste plan.
E. 
The Town Board finds, based on its review of existing facilities and present community development goals, that the community's 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. 
The Town of Brant contains significant natural and cultural resources. The wetlands and woodlands contained within the Town are a precious ecological resource and are deserving of the utmost protection.
H. 
These resources constitute crucial physical, ecological, social, aesthetic, recreational, and economical assets, and their preservation is necessary to protect and promote the health, safety, and general welfare of present and future residents of the Town.
I. 
The siting, construction, operation and expansion of solid waste management facilities within the Town of Brant will affect and impact upon all Brant residents. Furthermore, facilities which are poorly sited or operated may have a negative environmental impact on the surrounding communities together with Lake Erie public beaches and fisheries because they can contaminate groundwater and surface water, and lead to odors and air pollution.
A. 
It is the intent of this chapter to promote the public purposes identified in this section by providing for the proper regulation and use of solid waste management facilities within the Town. Specifically, the Town intends by this chapter to:
(1) 
Regulate the siting, construction, operation and expansion of solid waste management facilities within the Town of Brant in order to promote a clean, wholesome and attractive environment for the community.
(2) 
Improve the ability of public officials and town residents to participate in the process of siting and licensing solid waste management disposal facilities.
(3) 
Reduce the risk of pollution from solid waste management disposal operations by regulating the type, scope and size of such activities.
(4) 
Ensure that accurate, current information about solid waste management disposal operations with the Town is available to public officials and citizens.
(5) 
Protect the residents of the Town from undesirable effects of solid waste management operations, including:
(a) 
Unaesthetic results, including odors, blowing litter, increased traffic dust, and noise; and
(b) 
Deterioration in property values associated with an adjacent or proximate solid waste management operation that may interfere with the orderly development of properties; and
(c) 
Threats to public health or the environment by contamination of air, surface water or groundwaters.
(6) 
Exercise the Town's police powers under the Municipal Home Rule Law and § 131 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 ECL. Section 27-0711 of the ECL specifically recognizes and authorizes the right and authority of a town to legislate stricter controls on solid waste management disposal operations than state law requires, and the Town intends to do so by adoption of this chapter.
B. 
It is not the intent of this chapter to restrict, obstruct, or otherwise hinder the continuation of agricultural production. The Town Board believes that the community is enhanced by the farms, representing a majority of land uses in the community, that operate within its boundaries.
C. 
It is not the intent of this chapter to regulate in any way the composting of yard waste and food waste at the personal residences or farms at which such waste is produced.
This chapter shall be applicable to all areas within the Town of Brant.
A. 
Unless defined below or the context otherwise requires, the terms and words used in this chapter shall have the same meanings as in normal usage.
B. 
As used in this chapter, these terms and words shall be defined as follows:
DISPOSAL
(1) 
Placement, distribution, removal, discharge, deposit, injection, spilling, dumping or leaking of a solid waste, or any constituent thereof, in, onto, in or under any land, surface water or groundwater; and
(2) 
Storage of solid waste on, onto, in or under any land, water or structure, except at the site of generation.
DISPOSAL FACILITY
A solid waste management facility, or part of one, other than a land application facility, in which or on which solid waste is intentionally placed, including any land or water, and at which solid waste will remain after closure.
ECL
The New York Environmental Conservation Law.
EPA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
FACILITY
Any solid waste management facility.
PERSON
Any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, government agency, authority, department or bureau of the state, municipality, industry, partnership, limited-liability company or partnership, association, firm, trust, estate or any other legal entity whatsoever.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY
Any facility employed beyond the initial solid waste collection process and managing solid waste, including, but not limited to: storage areas or facilities; transfer stations; rail-haul or barge-haul facilities; landfills; disposal facilities; solid waste incinerators; refuse-derived fuel processing facilities; pyrolysis facilities ; construction and demolition debris processing facilities; land application facilities; composting facilities; surface impoundments; used oil storage, reprocessing, and refining facilities; recyclables handling and recovery facilities; waste tire storage facilities and regulated medical waste treatment facilities. The term includes all structures, appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for the management or disposal of solid waste.
A. 
The following are not subject to this chapter:
(1) 
Any disposal of manure in normal farming operations; but not including sewage sludge processing and spreading.
(2) 
Any sewage treatment facility, including any septic tanks, but not including any sewage sludge spreading facility or land application facility.
(3) 
On-site facilities, other than disposal facilities, located on a property owner's premises and serving only the property owner's waste products created at that site. No person shall accept, handle, import or transport any waste created or generated by any other party or from any other source or location.
(4) 
Composting of yard waste and food waste at the personal residences or farms at which such waste is produced.
B. 
None of the above exemptions shall be construed to permit any activity contrary to existing or future building codes, zoning ordinances or codes or other local or state laws or as exempting any other permit required by state or local law.
No solid waste management disposal facility shall hereafter be sited, constructed, expanded, transferred, or operated within the Town of Brant.
A. 
Each and every violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate violation as defined in the Penal Law and shall be punishable as follows:
(1) 
A fine of $250 for the first violation and/or 40 hours of community service.
(2) 
A fine of $500 for the second violation and/or 100 hours of community service.
B. 
In the event of succeeding and continuing violations, any person and/or business who shall be convicted of violating or failing to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall be liable for a fine of $1,000 per day and/or 100 hours of community service per day of violation.
C. 
In addition to the above penalties, the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding to compel compliance with this chapter or to restrain, by injunction, the violation of said chapter.