By Rory Sweeney, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Jul.
19--Many of the county's popular and successful drop-off recycling
programs might disappear if state legislators do not pass a bill that
would allow counties to fund the programs.
For years, counties
assessed per-ton fees on trash collected within their borders, which
helped fund recycling programs. But a 2005 court decision ruled that
none of the state's three laws regulating recycling gives counties the
authority to assess that fee or another method for collecting it.
The ruling has caused some counties to drop programs, and while others
have supported themselves on surplus funds, the savings are running
dry, said John Frederick, executive director of the Professional
Recyclers of Pennsylvania.
House Bill 934 was introduced to
legalize the fee, but it has reached an impasse, with state House
leadership refusing to send it to the Senate while some in the Senate
say it can't review the legislation until it's sent over, according to
PennEnvironment.
"The reason (it's stalled), quite frankly, is that some legislators
are concerned that it will be described as a 'new tax,' " Frederick
said. "We happen to think that's not the case because the fee was being
charged already."
If the bill remains dormant, "I don't think
there's any question that there are going to be a lot of counties who
are going to have to scale back a lot of what they're doing, including
laying off" professionals in various related fields, Frederick said. "I
think you're going to see programs especially like drop-off programs in
rural areas that are not going to be able to be funded."
Beth
DeNardi, Luzerne County's recycling coordinator, isn't sure what effect
loss of the funding will have, but it will be significant.
"It
greatly helps us with our collections and with many other things for
our department, and without it, I don't know," she said.
PennEnvironment estimates Luzerne County stands to lose about $254,876 through the now illegal fee.
DeNardi said her counterparts in other counties are just as anxious to
see the bill become law. "In each of our own ways, we rely on this bill
going through."
Frederick, however, concedes that bill likely
has opposition in the waste industry. "I still don't think they're
going to be happy with this fee. What we tried to do was give them some
insurance on the fee," he said.
Three "worthwhile olive
branches" were extended in the bill, he said, including a cap to the
fee, requiring the money to go into a fund dedicated to recycling and
waste management, and giving the waste industry access to discussions
on future regulation changes.
Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.
