CHAPTER 93
H.P. 1205 - L.D. 1626
Resolve, To Authorize the State To Purchase a Landfill in the City of Old Town
Sec. 1. Acquisition of landfill authorized. Resolved: That, notwithstanding anything in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 1825-B, subsection 1, Title 38, section 1310-X and Title 38, chapter 24 to the contrary, the following provisions apply.
1. The Executive Department, State Planning Office, referred to in this section as "the office," may acquire, own and cause to be operated an existing, Department of Environmental Protection-licensed and generator-owned solid waste disposal facility in the City of Old Town known as the West Old Town Landfill, referred to in this resolve as "the disposal facility," under such terms and conditions as are revenue-neutral to the State and as the office determines are advisable and in the public interest. The acquisition may be subject to a possibility of reverter to the seller.
2. The office may establish the terms and conditions of, and execute and deliver, in the name of and on behalf of the State, all contracts the office determines are necessary or appropriate to effect the acquisition and operation of the disposal facility and to undertake all actions the office determines necessary or appropriate to fully perform all obligations established under the contracts. The acquisition agreement must provide that the current owner of the disposal facility is responsible for environmental liability associated with the operation of the disposal facility prior to acquisition by the office and that a baseline must be established by agreement of the current owner of the disposal facility and the office for determining the existing ground and surface water conditions surrounding the disposal facility as of the date of acquisition.
3. Any agreement for the operation of the disposal facility must be established by the office through a competitive bidding process and must require the operator to indemnify the office for liabilities and costs associated with the acquisition, development and operation of the disposal facility. All persons submitting proposals in response to the request for proposals to operate the disposal facility are required to include with their bids up to a $20,000 nonrefundable deposit, as determined by the office, to offset the office's costs associated with the transactions authorized under this resolve and the cost to the City of Old Town and the Town of Alton to establish a joint citizen advisory committee authorized under this resolve.
4. Nothing in this resolve permits the abrogation of, abrogates or intends to abrogate the sovereign immunity of the State with respect to the acquisition agreement authorized under this resolve.
5. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 1310-U, the municipality in which the disposal facility is located may not regulate the operation or any other aspect of the disposal facility as provided in Title 38, section 2173 or by means of any municipal ordinances, regulations, licenses or permits, except that the municipality may enact ordinances with respect to the operation of any expansion of the disposal facility, including any expansion of the type of waste the facility is licensed to accept, that contain standards the municipality finds reasonable, including, without limitation, standards concerning conformance with federal and state solid waste rules; fire safety; traffic safety; levels of noise heard outside the facility; the distance from existing residential, commercial or institutional uses; groundwater protection; surface water protection; erosion and sedimentation control; and compatibility of the disposal facility with local zoning and land use controls, as long as the standards are not more strict than those contained in Title 38, chapter 3, subchapter 1, articles 5-A and 6 and Title 38, chapter 13 and the rules adopted under those chapters. The municipality is prohibited from enacting stricter standards than those contained in Title 38, chapter 13 governing the hydrogeological criteria for siting or designing the expansion of or the governing of the engineering criteria related to waste handling and disposal areas of the expanded disposal facility. Such municipal ordinances must use definitions consistent with those adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection, Board of Environmental Protection. The municipal officers of the City of Old Town and the Town of Alton shall establish a joint citizen advisory committee consisting of 7 members, of which 5 must be from the City of Old Town and 2 from the Town of Alton. In appointing members to the committee, the municipal officers shall use Title 38, section 2171, subsection 1 as guidance. The committee shall meet as soon as practical following appointment of its members and shall select a chair from among its members. The committee shall establish procedures for the conduct of meetings. The committee may:
A. Review proposed contracts, site analyses, applications and other documents relating to the construction, permitting and operation of the disposal facility;
B. Hold periodic public meetings to solicit the opinions of residents concerning the disposal facility and any permit applications, contracts or other provisions relating to the disposal facility;
C. Provide the disposal facility operator and office with any alternative contract provisions, permit conditions, plans or procedures the committee considers appropriate; and
D. Serve as a liaison between the communities and the disposal facility operator or the office to facilitate communications during the development and operation of the disposal facility and provide residents with updated information about the project, including providing explanations of any technical terms; and be it further
Sec. 2. Report. Resolved: That, by February 15, 2004, the Executive Department, State Planning Office shall submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources on the acquisition of the disposal facility authorized under section 1 and a review of the operations related to that disposal facility.
Effective September 13, 2003, unless otherwise indicated.
| Revisor of Statutes Homepage | Subject Index | Search | 121st Laws of Maine | Maine Legislature |
