SB143INTRODUCED
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SB143
4646RRI-1
By Senator Kitchens
RFD: Veterans and Military Affairs
First Read: 11-Feb-25
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5 4646RRI-1 01/27/2025 ZAK (L)ZAK 2025-168
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First Read: 11-Feb-25
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, households whose sole source
of income is Social Security benefits are exempt from
paying solid waste collection fees.
This bill would add households whose sole source
of income is veterans' benefits to those exempt from
paying these fees.
This bill would also make nonsubstantive,
technical revisions to update the existing code
language to current style.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to solid waste collection fees; to amend
Section 22-27-3, Code of Alabama 1975, to add households whose
sole source of income is veterans' benefits to those exempted
from paying such fees; and to make nonsubstantive, technical
revisions to update the existing code language to current
style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 22-27-3, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
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amended to read as follows:
(a) Generally. (1) The county commission or municipal
governing body may , and is hereby authorized to, make
available to the general public collection and disposal
facilities for solid wastes in a manner acceptable to the
department. The county commission or municipal governing body
may provide such the collection or disposal services by
contract with private or other controlling agencies and may
include house-to-house service or the placement of regularly
serviced and controlled bulk refuse receptacles within
reasonable (generally less than eight miles) distance from the
farthest affected household and the wastes managed in a manner
acceptable to the department. For purposes of this section,
"reasonable distance" means generally less than eight miles.
(2) Any county commission or municipal governing body
providing services to the public under this article shall have
the power and authority may by resolution or ordinance to
adopt rules and regulations providing for mandatory public
participation in and subscription to such system of services.
Such The governing body may , in its discretion, submit the
question of requiring such mandatory public participation to a
vote of the qualified electors of the county or municipality
as the case may be . If such the governing body submits the
question to the voters, then the governing body shall also
provide for holding and canvassing the returns of the election
and for the giving notice thereof for two consecutive weeks in
a paper of general circulation in the county. Every person,
household, business, industry, or property generating solid
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household, business, industry, or property generating solid
wastes, garbage, or ash as defi ned in this section shall
participate in and subscribe to such the system of service
unless granted a certificate of exception as provided in
subsection (g). Provided , however, any individual person,
household, business, industry, or property generating solid
wastes that were was sharing service for a period of at least
6 six months may continue to share service without filing for
a certificate of exception. In the event such a person,
household, business, industry, or property owner who has not
been granted a certificate of exception refuses to participate
in and subscribe to such the system of service, the county
commission or municipal governing body may, in addition to any
other remedy provided in this article , may bring an
appropriate civil action in circuit court to compel such
participation and subscription. Except as provided in
subsection (g), any person , firm, or corporation violating
such rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this section
shall be in violation of this article and shall be punished as
provided in Section 22-27-7.
(3)a. Any household whose sole source of income is
Social Security benefits or veterans' benefits shall be
granted an exemption from the payment of any fees required
under this article, provided the household seeking to claim
the exemption shall present proof of income to the county
health officer no later than the first billing date of any
year in which the exemption is desired. The county health
officer or his or her designee shall forward the exemption
request and proof of income to the solid waste officer or
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request and proof of income to the solid waste officer or
municipal governing body upon receipt. The exemption shall
apply only so long as the household's sole source of income is
Social Security benefits or veterans' benefits and shall be
requested each year in which the exemption is desired.
Additionally, the Legislature may, by local law, may authorize
the county commission to grant additional exemptions to
households whose total income does not exceed 75 percent of
the federal poverty level. Any person who knowingly provides
false or misleading information in order to obtain an
exemption shall be subject to the provisions of Section
22-27-7.
b. For purposes of this section, the term "veterans'
benefits" means an benefit, program, service, commodity,
function, status, or entitlement that pertains to veterans,
their dependents, their survivors, or any other individual
eligible for such benefits under the laws and rules
administered by the United Sates Department of Veterans
Affairs and the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs.
(4) No county commission shall provide solid waste
collection and disposal services within the corporate limits
of a municipality without the express consent of the municipal
governing body of such municipality nor shall any municipality
provide solid waste collection and disposal services outside
its corporate limits without the express consent of the county
commission of the county in which it is situated.
(5) Any county providing door-to-door solid waste
collection shall not reduce such the service unless and until
a letter has been sent to each resident or property or,
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a letter has been sent to each resident or property or,
business owner, or property owner receiving door to door
door-to-door service stating that such the service will be
reduced or changed and allowing at least 60 days for any
resident, business owner, or property owner to call for a
public hearing and for the county or municipality to hold such
a public hearing upon request.
(6) Any provision of this article to the contrary
notwithstanding, no person, household, business, industry, or
property owner shall be required to pay any solid waste
collection exemption or disposal fee chargeable under this
article unless solid waste collection and disposal services
for which such the charge was made were actually made
available to such the person, household, business, industry,
or property owner.
(b) Solid waste officer. As used in this article, solid
waste officer shall mean means any county official or county
employee or any official or employee of a solid waste disposal
authority authorized under Section 11-89A-1 et seq. designated
by the county commission to exercise the authority and perform
the duties delegated by this article to such the official, and
such the officer shall have the same powers of enforcement
against persons violating this article as do license
inspectors with regard to persons violating revenue laws as
provided under Section 40-12-10 (i), (j), (k), and (n).
(c) As used in this article, the terms "solid wastes",
"garbage", "solid wastes," "garbage," and "ash" do not include
any drilling discharges from oil or natural gas operations.
(d) Garbage disposal. Garbage and rubbish containing
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(d) Garbage disposal. Garbage and rubbish containing
garbage shall be disposed of by sanitary landfill, approved
incineration, composting, or by other means now available or
which may later become available as approved by the
department. The method chosen and used shall also meet the
requirements of the health department for sanitation and the
protection of public health.
(e) Burning. No garbage or rubbish containing garbage
or other putrescible materials or hazardous wastes shall be
burned except in approved incinerators meeting the necessary
temperature requirements and air pollution controls as now
established or as may later be established. The open burning
of rubbish shall be permitted only under sharply controlled
circumstances where sanitary landfill or landfill is not
feasible and not in proximity to sanitary landfill or landfill
operations where spread of fire to these operations may be a
hazard in the opinion of the department.
(f) Haulage. Trucks or other vehicles engaged in the
business of hauling garbage and rubbish shall be so covered,
secured, or sealed that there will be no loss during haulage
to cause littering of streets and highways, or cause a
nuisance or hazard to the public health.
(g) Exception. (1) a. A person, household, business,
industry, or any property owner may store, haul, and dispose
of his or her own solid wastes on his or her land or
otherwise, provided such storage, haulage, or disposal is
accomplished pursuant to a certificate of exception as
provided in this subsection. In order to obtain a certificate
of exception, an application, an application fee, and plan
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of exception, an application, an application fee, and plan
must be filed with the county health officer or his or her
designee in the case of household solid waste or with the
department in the case of solid waste from a business or
industry, setting out the proposed method of storing, hauling,
and disposing of solid waste so as to comply with rules and
regulations adopted by the state or county boards of health or
the department as appropriate , and not create a public
nuisance or hazard to the public health.
b. The certification of exception application fee shall
be established by the State Board Committee of Public Health
or the department, as the case may be, except that with regard
to an individual household such the fee shall be ten dollars
($10). The proceeds from such application the fees are hereby
appropriated to the State Board Committee of Public Health or
the department, as the case may be, to be used for the
administration of this article.
c. The county health officer or his or her designee or
the department as appropriate shall investigate such the
application and plan and issue a certificate of exception
within the time set by the State Board Committee of Public
Health or the department, as the case may be (, not to exceed
sixty 60 days in the case of an individual household ), if such
the proposal will, in such the officer's or, designee's, or
the department's judgment, comply with such the rules and
regulations and adequately prevent a public nuisance or hazard
to public health. A certificate of exception granted under
authority of this section subsection shall be valid for the
period established by the department, except that in the case
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period established by the department, except that in the case
of an individual household such the period shall not exceed
one year. The county health officer , or his or her designee ,
or the department shall notify the county commission or
municipal governing body in writing of the intention to grant
a certificate of exception and no such certificate of
exception shall be granted for an individual household without
prior written approval of the county commission or municipal
governing body as the case may be.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter
to the contrary, no exception, exception fee, or any other
review, approval, or payment shall be required of any
generator for the collection, handling, or disposal of its own
solid waste using facilities or equipment owned by the
generator, its corporate parent, affiliate, or subsidiary and
duly permitted for such use by the Alabama Department of
Environmental Management department or its successor in
function.
(h) Coal combustion by-products. Upon the adoption and
implementation of a federal regulatory program to govern the
disposal of coal combustion by-products pursuant in whole or
in part to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42
U.S.C. ยง6941 et seq., the department is authorized to develop
and adopt rules as necessary to implement a state regulatory
program consistent with the federal requirements. Until such
the federal program requirements take effect, the disposal of
coal combustion by-products shall be subject to the applicable
requirements of this article; provided, however, that a
facility permitted by the department pursuant to Chapter 22 of
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facility permitted by the department pursuant to Chapter 22 of
this title as of May 25, 2011, and thereafter may continue to
operate without additional authorization by the department
until federal requirements under the Solid Waste Disposal Act
take effect. To the extent permissible under the federal
program, the department shall allow beneficial uses of coal
combustion by-products as an alternative to disposal as part
of any adopted state program."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2025.
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