SENATE BILL 530 GETS BLAME FOR GROWING WASTE DISPOSAL COSTS

A new Missouri solid waste law enacted in 1990 has been blamed for rising solid waste costs throughout the state, but many cities regard the measure as a necessary burden.

The law, often referred to as Senate Bill 530, is aimed at minimizing landfill use by promoting recycling, market development for recycled products and the recovery and reuse of energy from trash.

Although its general intent seems benign, the measure has been blamed for rapidly rising solid waste management and disposal costs.

In Cape Girardeau, monthly trash fees were raised from $8.90 to $10.54, while trash collection was reduced from twice weekly to once a week in lieu of a curbside recycling collection. City officials said the measures were needed to offset the rising cost of recycling, which is required by Senate Bill 530, and other state and federal solid waste mandates.

Several residents have complained about the changes in residential trash service.

Richard Sheets, senior staff associate at the Missouri Municipal League in Jefferson City, said Cape Girardeau isn't unique.

"Everything I hear about Cape could be said about Boonville or Columbia or most any city in Missouri and probably the rest of the nation," Sheets said.

The law now prohibits disposal in Missouri's landfills of lead acid batteries, waste oil, tires, yard waste. In 1994, small quantities of household, hazardous waste will be banned.

A $1.50-per-ton tax for waste disposed in landfills also was implemented to help regional solid waste districts establish solid waste and recycling plans.

Probably the most ambitious tenet in the law is a requirement that by 1998 at least 40 percent of the recyclable waste be diverted from landfills.

But Sheets questioned how the state intends to measure disposal reduction and whether Senate Bill 530 can be enforced.

"How are we going to figure this 40 percent, and what's going to happen if we don't reach it?" he said. "I don't know that the state can do anything if in 1998 a city or county hasn't reduced its waste stream. There's really no teeth in it."

Sheets said that because of Missouri's Hancock Amendment, which prohibits the state from imposing costly mandates on municipalities without also providing the funding needed for compliance, Senate Bill 530 was carefully worded to avoid such terms.

Harold Morton, director of solid waste for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, acknow~ledged the measure is intentionally vague.

"I'm not sure that it's spelled out very clearly in Senate Bill 530," Morton said. "The language studiously avoids mandates, and identifies goals and targets and that sort of thing.

"As far as regulatory authority to take specific action if a regional district doesn't comply, I think there's room for discussion within the law. Certainly some action is called for, but it's not specified within the law."

Despite the law's ambiguity, many cities Cape Girardeau included take the measure seriously.

Cape Girardeau's Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said the city has taken the position that Senate Bill 530 is only a harbinger of similar mandates from the federal government. He said he doubts restrictions on waste disposal will decrease in the future.

"As the population of the country increases, that pressure will increase," Stoverink said. "Despite the conservative administrations we've had on the federal level, the political realities really indicate that scenario will not occur.

"The perception is, `If you don't get started, you're liable to be stuck with a lot more costs down the road.'"

Morton said Missouri's solid waste law is similar to legislation in states throughout the country. He also said Congress is considering legislation that would require states to take measures similar to those in Senate Bill 530.

Sheets said many Missouri cities consider the guidelines in Missouri's solid waste law as inevitable and necessary to conserve rapidly depleting landfill space.

"I think, primarily, the big response has been to do this because cities are really having critical problems finding landfill space," he said. "I talk with city officials a lot, and they're not looking at it in terms of, `Are we going to get in trouble?' or `What are we required to do?'"

"I think they see we need to reduce the waste stream. I don't think they're worried about penalties. It's more of a practical concern with waste disposal."

But at what cost? While the cost of trash collection has dropped in Cape Girardeau the past two years, overall solid waste costs have increased, due primarily to higher disposal expenses and costs associated with operation of the city's recycling program.

While the city has cut trash collection costs by reducing to a single pickup per week, recycling and composting operations have added $2.66 to monthly residential trash fees.

Morton said cities throughout Missouri are faced with the same dilemma as Cape Girardeau they realize the need for recycling and composting, but don't welcome the added costs.

"Landfill costs are going up, as well as new programs to deal with waste. There are costs associated with all those," Morton said. "There are also benefits. Maybe some of them are tangible, but others are hard to quantify because they're long-term."

Stoverink said he believes citizens eventually will become accustomed to recycling, composting of yard waste and other inconveniences associated with new state and federal mandates.

"A lot of people have ideas how they think it could be improved, but I think there's less and less resistance," he said. "I think recent criticism represents a widespread feeling against having to pay more.

"It represents an inherent quality in this community and this country to be skeptical of government. But I think people will adjust."

But, he added, education and cooperation are the key to fostering a better community perception of the city's solid waste program.

"We're trying to expand citizen participation and get more individuals involved knowing and understanding what we're doing and why we're doing it and to get them to help formulate decisions for the future," Stoverink said. "I think that's real important."