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Virginia Landmarks December 2, 1998 | Fairlington Historic District Arlington County News | National Register March 29, 1999 |
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 | COMMUNITY ALERT (Posted September 23, 2005) Arlington County Awards Contract for Commercial Solid Waste Study Briefing Notes Published to Update Stakeholders Full Details and Project Status on County Web Site Click Here for Solid Waste Study Site |
May 6, 2005
TO THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES
HOUSE BILL NO. 2168
"Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 2168. HB 2168 would have added new requirements to the procedures that local governments must follow before displacing trash haulers.
In 1995, the General Assembly developed a careful balance between the interests of trash haulers and local governments. Current law requires a public hearing and five-years’ notice to any hauler that would be displaced by a local government. House Bill 2168 would have tipped that balance. HB 2168 added a requirement that a written finding of at least one of four specific situations must be determined in order for the local government to proceed with displacing a trash hauler.
My proposed amendments would have added two important local government protections. One was to protect the bonds of waste-to-energy plants, and the other was to ensure that local governments are able to meet their state-mandated environmental goals.
Unfortunately, my amendments were rejected by the House of Delegates. I do not believe that the bill provides adequate financial and environmental protections without my amendments. Therefore, I am returning HB 2168 without my signature."
The current situation regarding the trash franchising proposal can be summarized as follows:
- The County Board consideration of trash franchising did not take place at the March 12 Board meeting.
- The public hearing previously scheduled for the May 7 County Board meeting did not take place.
- A feasibility study regarding trash franchising is being undertaken by the County this year and be completed by the end of the year.
- Public hearings prior to the issuance by the County of a "five-year notice of intent to implement solid waste franchising" have not be scheduled at this time.
- With the veto by Governor Warner of HB 2168 (see below), decisions regarding the issuance of the five-year notice are no longer dependent on that legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly. That legislation was set to go into effect on July 1, 2005, if signed by the Governor and would have required the County to meet specific criteria prior to issuing the notice.
- Here is a summary of the bill (Click Here for Full Text (and current status) of HB 2168):
- Displacement of private waste companies. Adds requirements to the procedures localities must follow before displacing private companies providing garbage, trash, or refuse collection services. Such requirements include making a written finding of at least one of the following:
- (i) privately-owned refuse collection and disposal services are not available;
- (ii) the use of privately-owned and operated services has substantially endangered the public health or created a public nuisance;
- (iii) privately-owned services, although available, are not able to provide needed services in a reasonable and cost-efficient manner;
- (iv) or displacement is necessary to provide for the development or operation of a regional system of refuse collection or disposal for two or more localities.
STAY TUNED - WE WILL POST NEW INFORMATION
AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE!!
This proposal is contained in the County's "Solid Waste Management Plan" (SWMP) completed last year.
According to Section 7. 1(2) of the SWMP:The County proposes to give, following an adequate preparatory interval after SWMP adoption, the State-mandated five-year notice of intent to implement solid waste franchising. The County would then propose to begin a comprehensive feasibility study on implementing solid waste franchising. Solid waste franchising could increase the County’s control of its waste stream, stabilize the tip fee at the Alexandria/Arlington WTE Facility so that all users of the WTE Facility pay the same fee for waste disposal, and generate revenues for
solid waste programs.
The following is quoted from the County's web site (Overview of Solid Waste Management Plan - see below):
Franchising – feasibility study for commercial and multi-family refuse and recycling collection
- "Franchising" – allowing the county to manage contracts for multi-family and commercial refuse/ recycling services, as it now does for single-family and duplex properties – would give the county better information and control over the entire waste stream. It also would reduce the traffic congestion and air-pollution created by almost 100 haulers.
Seeking Equitable Pricing
Franchising would also enable Arlington to direct all trash collected to the waste-to-energy (WTE) plant and establish one common disposal fee. Currently, single-family and duplex homes are – in effect – subsidizing disposal costs for commercial and multi-family haulers, perhaps as much as $3 million per year, according to one estimate.
With the proposed plan, Arlington would establish one common disposal fee, lowering disposal costs for single-family disposal by as much as 13% and for some multi-family and commercial haulers as well. The proposed plan includes a five-year notice of intent to franchise.
For more details, please read the news release (Overview of Solid Waste Management Plan) from the County along with the complete "Solid Waste Management Plan" (SWMP) provided below.
