9053-19 - Adopt County Solid Waste Mangement Plan

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Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management Plan Update (December 2018) Chapter 1: Introduction CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A. Brief Introduction to Solid Waste Planning in Ohio In the 1980"s, Ohio faced a combination of solid waste management problems. These included rapidly declining landfill capacity, increasing amounts of waste being produced, a lack of environmental controls at existing landfills and an influx of solid waste being brought into Ohio from other states. These issues combined with Ohio's outdated and incomplete solid waste regulations caused Ohio's General Assembly to pass House Bill (H.B.) 592 in 1988. H.B 592 dramatically revised Ohio's solid waste regulatory program and established a comprehensive solid waste planning process intended to ensure that Ohio has adequate,, protective capacity at landfills to dispose of its waste while reducing Ohio's overall reliance on landfill disposal by increasing waste reduction and recycling statewide. B. Requirements of County and Joint Solid Waste Management Districts 1. Solid Waste District Formation As a result of H.B. 592., Ohio's counties or groups of counties were required to form a solid waste management district for the purpose of preparing and implementing a solid waste management plan. Ohio currently has 52 solid waste districts. Of these, 37 are single-county districts and 15 are multi-county districts. The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District was formed as a single county district on August 29, 1988 by the Board of Commissioners of Cuyahoga County. 2. Solid Waste District Governance Solid waste districts are governed by two bodies — a board of directors and a policy committee. The policy committee is responsible for developing the solid waste management plan while the board of directors is responsible for implementing the plan. The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District Board of Directors and Policy Committee are uniquely structured. The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Policy Committee consists of the 11-member Cuyahoga County Planning Commission plus two public representatives. This structure differs from that specified in Ohio Revised Code Section 3734.54 due to a waiver granted by Ohio EPA that provides more municipal input into the solid waste planning process. The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District Board of Directors differs from other districts that are governed by county commissioners. When Cuyahoga County became a charter county in 2011, its county commissioner governance structure was replaced with that of a county executive and county council. As a result the Solid Waste District Board was changed to include the county executive., a county council member and the county public works director. 3. Solid Waste Management Plans Once solid waste management districts were formed, each was required to prepare an initial solid waste management plan and then update the plan every five years. Solid waste management plans must be prepared according to an Ohio EPA format and contain the 1-1 015