UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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AN ACT relating to the environmental remediation fee. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 224.43-500 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) As used in this section: 4
(a) "Environmental remediation fee" means a two dollar ($2)[one dollar and 5
seventy-five cents ($1.75)] fee paid per ton of waste by generators of waste 6
and collected at transfer stations and waste disposal facilities that is in 7
addition to all other applicable fees and taxes assessed prior to January 1, 8
2003; 9
(b) "Transfer station" means a facility permitted by the cabinet where waste is 10
transferred from one (1) vehicle to another for transportation to a municipal 11
solid waste disposal facility;[ and] 12
(c) "Public road" means any city, county, state, federal, or limited access street, 13
highway, or turnpike, including bridges and bridge approaches; and 14
(d) "Residual waste facility" means a solid waste disposal facility designed and 15
operated to receive a limited number of nonhazardous industrial wastes for 16
disposal that are fully characterizable. 17
(2) The environmental remediation fee levied under this section is in addition to all 18
other applicable fees and taxes assessed prior to January 1, 2003. Notwithstanding 19
any law, franchise, or contract to the contrary, the owner or operator of a transfer 20
station or municipal solid waste disposal facility, or the person who collects waste 21
and delivers such waste to a transfer station or municipal solid waste disposal 22
facility may pass through and obtain from the generator any environmental 23
remediation fee required under this section. 24
(3) The environmental remediation fee shall be paid by generators of waste to be 25
disposed of at a municipal solid waste disposal facility and collected by waste 26
transfer stations or municipal solid waste disposal facilities in the Commonwealth. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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No environmental remediation fee shall be collected at a municipal solid waste 1
disposal facility on waste for which the fee has been paid at a transfer station to the 2
disposal facility. The cabinet shall, by administrative regulation, adopt a conversion 3
formula to allow assessment of the fee by transfer stations that do not have scales. 4
For loads of waste weighing less than one (1) ton, the environmental remediation 5
fee shall be two dollars ($2)[one dollar and seventy-five cents ($1.75)]. 6
(4) Not later than thirty (30) days following the last day of each calendar quarter, every 7
owner or operator of a transfer station or municipal solid waste disposal facility 8
shall remit to the cabinet the environmental remediation fee collected during the 9
prior quarter, with a report stating the number of tons of waste for which the 10
environmental remediation fee was collected. 11
(5) Moneys received by the cabinet for environmental remediation fees from residual 12
waste facilities shall be returned to the fiscal court of the county in which the 13
residual waste facility is located. 14
Section 2. KRS 224.43-505 is amended to read as follows: 15
(1) A trust fund known as the Kentucky pride fund is hereby established in the State 16
Treasury to receive money collected from environmental remediation fees 17
established in KRS 224.43-500, except that environmental remediation fees 18
collected from residual waste facilities shall be administered in accordance with 19
subsection (5) of Section 1 of this Act. The fund shall be used to accomplish the 20
purposes established in this section. Any money accruing to the fund in any fiscal 21
year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward to the next fiscal year. The fund 22
may also receive state appropriations, gifts, grants, and federal funds. All interest 23
earned on money in the fund shall be credited to the fund. 24
(2) The cabinet shall administer the Kentucky pride fund as provided by this section 25
and any administrative regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. Except for 26
moneys received by the cabinet from residual waste facilities, which shall be 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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expended in accordance with subsection (5) of Section 1 of this Act, money from 1
the fund received by the cabinet shall be distributed as follows: 2
(a) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) of the money deposited into the fund each 3
year shall be retained by the cabinet, subject to the following conditions: 4
1. The cabinet may use up to two and one-half million dollars ($2,500,000) 5
of the money deposited into the fund as necessary for direct costs 6
associated with site identification, characterization, and corrective action 7
assessments of solid waste disposal sites and facilities that have ceased 8
accepting waste before July 1, 1992, including former permitted 9
municipal solid waste disposal facilities or abandoned solid waste 10
disposal sites or facilities. The cabinet shall prioritize the sites and 11
facilities based on risks to human health, safety, and the environment, 12
and develop an implementation plan for closure and remediation of 13
those sites and facilities. Funds may be utilized to begin design and 14
implementation of proper closure and corrective action for those sites 15
and facilities with unabated pending violations. 16
2. The cabinet shall suspend until July, 2006, enforcement activity 17
regarding landfill closure and remediation obligations against formerly 18
permitted municipal solid waste disposal facilities owned by a city or 19
county that ceased accepting waste prior to July 1, 1992, except as 20
necessary to abate an environmental emergency. 21
3. Two and one-half million dollars ($2,500,000) per year shall be used to 22
pay debt service on bonds sold by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority 23
in the amount of at least twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), the 24
proceeds from which were deposited into the Kentucky pride fund 25
established in this section and utilized for undertaking closure and 26
corrective action at formerly permitted solid waste disposal facilities or 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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abandoned solid waste sites or facilities that ceased accepting waste 1
prior to July 1, 1992, which pose the most significant environmental or 2
human health risk. Moneys not appropriated for the identification and 3
characterization of orphaned or abandoned landfills, or debt service, 4
may be used for the elimination of illegal open dumps, direct costs 5
associated with the closure of orphaned landfills, recycling grants, 6
household hazardous waste grants, or additional debt service. 7
(b) The interest on all moneys deposited into the fund, including unused debt 8
services, shall be distributed annually in an amount not to exceed one million 9
dollars ($1,000,000) to the Kentucky Environmental Education Council for 10
implementation of the environmental education center component of the 11
Environmental Education Master Plan. 12
(c) The remaining balance of the funds from the environmental remediation fee 13
established in KRS 224.43-500, plus any unspent interest revenues, shall be 14
utilized by the cabinet for grants to counties for the elimination of illegal open 15
dumps and to establish a recycling and household hazardous waste grants 16
program. Any county, waste management district, city, urban-county 17
government, or other political subdivision of the state shall be eligible to 18
apply for recycling and household hazardous waste grants under this program. 19
(d) Two and one-half million dollars ($2,500,000) shall be transferred in each of 20
the fiscal years 2002-03 and 2003-04 and annually thereafter from the road 21
fund established in KRS 48.010(15)(g) and two and one-half million dollars 22
($2,500,000) shall be transferred in each of the fiscal years 2002-03 and 2003-23
04 and annually thereafter from the highway construction contingency fund to 24
the Kentucky pride fund established in this section, to be reserved and 25
distributed annually for anti-litter control programs with distributions to be 26
made as follows: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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1. Thirty-three and one-third percent (33-1/3%) of the money shall be 1
distributed annually based on each county's miles of public roads as a 2
percentage of the total miles of public roads in the Commonwealth at the 3
time of distribution; 4
2. Thirty-three and one-third percent (33-1/3%) of the money shall be 5
distributed annually based on the county's rural population as a 6
percentage of the total rural population of the Commonwealth at the 7
time of distribution. "Rural population" means the population residing 8
outside a city, town, or urban area with a population of two thousand 9
five hundred (2,500) persons or more; 10
3. Thirty-three and one-third percent (33-1/3%) of the money shall be 11
distributed annually based on the county's population as a percentage of 12
the total population of the Commonwealth at the time of distribution; 13
4. Of the moneys apportioned to counties on the basis of miles of public 14
roads and population as provided for in subparagraphs 1. and 3. of this 15
paragraph, the cabinet shall provide to the participating incorporated 16
cities within the jurisdiction of each respective county which, by 17
ordinance or other means, provides municipal solid waste collection 18
service, an amount of funds equal to the ratio of that city's total miles of 19
public roads in the county and the ratio of that city's population to the 20
population of the county, to be used for the purpose of litter cleanup on 21
public roads within city boundaries; 22
5. Moneys received by counties and cities pursuant to this paragraph shall 23
be applied for by November 1 of the year preceding the grant 24
distribution and shall be used to meet obligations with respect to the 25
litter cleanup of public roads required by the provisions of KRS 224.43-26
345; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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6. Litter abatement funding rejected or otherwise returned from the grant 1
recipients shall be applied to the following year's allotment for litter 2
abatement grants. 3
(3) Any county may apply for a grant for the elimination of illegal open dumps subject 4
to the following provisions: 5
(a) The cabinet first shall prioritize expenditures from this fund among those 6
counties with approved solid waste management plans in order to address 7
those illegal open dumps posing the most significant public health and 8
environmental risks; and 9
(b) The cabinet shall provide grants to counties for eliminating illegal open 10
dumps. To be eligible for grant funding, the applicant shall: 11
1. Establish an effective universal municipal solid waste collection service 12
that is available to all county residences and businesses; 13
2. Employ a solid waste coordinator with enforcement powers; 14
3. Remain in compliance with an approved solid waste management plan 15
under this chapter; 16
4. Enter into agreement with the cabinet to provide a twenty-five percent 17
(25%) match which may be in kind to the grant amount and comply with 18
the grant criteria, except that the grant match may be waived for illegal 19
dump cleanups projected to cost more than fifty thousand dollars 20
($50,000); 21
5. Agree to use all legal methods at their disposal to collect delinquent 22
solid waste collection fees; and 23
6. Establish a committee to be designated as the clean county committee, 24
composed of representatives from business, schools, agriculture, 25
homemakers, and other concerned citizens, to increase awareness and 26
develop education and enforcement strategies to keep the county free of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1192
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litter and illegal open dumps. 1
(4) The cabinet shall impose the following requirements for recycling and household 2
hazardous waste management grants to counties, waste management districts, cities, 3
urban-county governments, or other political subdivisions of the state: 4
(a) Each grantee shall provide a twenty-five percent (25%) match to the grant 5
amount which may be in kind and shall comply with the grant criteria; 6
(b) Each grantee shall demonstrate that the proposed project will remain 7
financially viable after grant funds have been expended; 8
(c) The grantee shall demonstrate that the service added by the project is needed 9
and would otherwise be unavailable within the proposed service area; and 10
(d) Projects that create opportunities for regional recycling or regional household 11
hazardous waste management shall be given priority. 12
(5) Counties that meet the requirements set out above in subsection (3) of this section 13
shall be provided the following incentives and rewards by the cabinet: 14
(a) Extra points when applying for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants, 15
National Recreation Trails Funds grants, and funding from the state-funded 16
Community Rivers and Streams Program; and 17
(b) Priority consideration for funds from the Division of Conservation State Cost 18
Share Program for dumps on farmland and the Waste Tire Trust Fund for tire 19
dumps. 20
(6) The cabinet shall be reimbursed for reasonable costs related to the implementation 21
of the provisions of this section, not to exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars 22
($750,000) annually. 23
(7) As used in this section, "residual waste facility" means a solid waste disposal 24
facility designed and operated to receive a limited number of nonhazardous 25
industrial wastes for disposal that are fully characterizable. 26