|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
CONTACT: Nicole
Reigelman |
State Rep. Jim Wansacz |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wansacz working to give communities a say in solid waste disposal
HARRISBURG, April 24 – State Rep. Jim Wansacz wants to give municipalities a greater voice in deciding where solid waste disposal facilities are located.
Wansacz, D-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Susquehanna/Wyoming, has introduced legislation that would create a Host Municipality Agreement Act to provide Pennsylvania’s municipalities with the ability to better control the disposal of solid waste in or near their communities.
"My legislation would give a greater voice to the surrounding communities near a landfill,” Wansacz said. "If my legislation becomes law, communities near landfills will be able to have a final say in what happens in their backyard without having to go through the long process of the harms versus benefits analysis."
Specifically, Wansacz’s legislation (H.B. 1164) would provide host municipalities with veto power over new solid waste permit decisions, as well as expansion or volume changes. It would be up to each municipality to decide whether to negotiate and sign a host municipality agreement, without which the state Department of Environmental Protection could not consider a permit.
For the purposes of Wansacz’s bill, a host municipality is defined as any municipality that has some portion of an existing or proposed facility within its borders, in addition to any municipality within 1 mile of the footprint of a permit area of a facility.
###nr/2007/agh
l:\print\releases\landfillmunicipality.114