9053-19 - Adopt County Solid Waste Mangement Plan

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Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management Plan Update (December 2018) Chapter 1: Introduction information and data prescribed in Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3734.53 and Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) Rule 3745-27-90. Among other things, plans must demonstrate that the district will have access to at least 10 years of landfill capacity to manage all of its waste, how the district will meet the waste reduction and recycling goals established in the State of Ohio Solid Waste Management Plan and how it will fund the implementation of the plan. Once the district and its policy committee prepares a draft of its solid waste management plan, it is sent to the Ohio EPA for its review and comments. After revising the draft to address Ohio EPA's comments, the district makes the plan available to the public for comment, holds a public hearing and revises the plan as necessary. Next, the plan must be ratified which requires communities to vote to approve or disapprove. The plan is ratified when communities representing 60% of the population of the district including the largest city., vote to approve the plan. It is then sent to the Director of the Ohio EPA and the district receives its final findings and orders and can begin to implementation. If the plan is not approved, the Ohio EPA will prepare a plan for the district and order it to be implemented. From start to finish, preparing a solid waste management plan can take up to 33 months. An approved solid waste management plan covers a planning period of 15 years and must be updated every five years. Cuyahoga County's initial Solid Waste Management Plan was approved by the Director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on July 8., 1994. Subsequent Plan Updates were approved on October 6, 2000, November 8, 2006 and May 1, 2013. This plan update is the fourth. C. Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District Overview The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District (CCSWD) is responsible for implementing the solid waste management plan through programs and services offered to the public. The District is funded by a "generation fee" which is a fee of $1.50 levied on each ton of waste produced in Cuyahoga County and landfilled in Ohio. The generation fee is approved by communities each time it ratifies the plan. Cuyahoga County's fee is one of the lowest in Ohio and was only increased one time since the district was created. That was in 2007 when the fee was increased from $1.00 per ton to $1.50 which is still $3.00 less than the state average of $4.50. The CCSWD strives to operate efficiently so it may keep its fee low while still funding all plan elements. It benefits from having a large infrastructure of private solid waste management and recycling service providers. This means that the District can focus on providing technical assistance and educational services and only become a service provider in cases where there is no private sector company offering the service such as with its household hazardous waste collection. The CCSWD employs a staff of six. Our vision is for Cuyahoga County to be a national leader in the movement toward a world without waste and our mission is to educate,, empower and enable people across Cuyahoga County to reduce, reuse and recycle. We practice the following core values daily. Responsibility We advocate for policies and legislation that reduce waste and support best practices in solid waste management. Integrity We act in an honest, ethical, professional, and respectful manner with each other and our community, taking personal responsibility and being accountable for achieving results. 1-2 016