Healthy Communities In the News

By SUSAN EVANS

The Tribune-Democrat

Recycling programs across the state are in jeopardy because landfill fees that funded them were struck down by Commonwealth Court and state legislators have not acted.

If the fees aren’t reinstated, it will mean a loss of about $250,000 annually in Cambria County – 95 percent of which pays for the county’s recycling collections at 18 sites – and three sites in Somerset County.

That threatens the recycling of newspapers, magazines, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and corrugated cardboard, along with special arrangements for electronics and other items. Cambria County collected almost 4 million pounds of recyclables last year.

Cambria County’s $2-per-ton fee on trash collected within the county paid for that and education programs.

That fee is separate from the so-called “host fees” paid to a municipality and its county for hosting a landfill site, which remain legal.

Addressing a suit filed in 2005 by Waste Haulers Association against Northumberland County, the Commonwealth Court recently ruled that counties do not have the authority to impose per-ton fees to fund recycling programs.

Trash haulers argued that there was no guarantee that the fees they were paying actually went to recycling efforts. Some counties that collected the fees did not even have recycling programs, they said.

Now environmentalists are turning to the Legislature, via House Bill 934, to reinstate the trash-fee funding system for recycling. They argue that households are accustomed to collecting recyclables and that children are taught it in school.

The bill also would ensure that all monies collected through the “tipping fee” system would go toward the respective counties’ recycling programs – and the per-ton fee would be capped at $4.

“Unfortunately, the bill is being held in a political stalemate in Harrisburg,” said David Masur, director of PennEnvironment.

“The state House leadership has said that they will not send the bill to the state Senate unless the Senate leadership promises to take the bill up. The Senate has said that they will not review the issue until the House sends them legislation,” he said.

“Clearly, this is a case of politics at its worst – when substance loses out to partisan bickering.”

Cambria County’s Kris Howdyshell and other county recycling coordinators support the proposed legislation.

“Our entire budget is about $250,000,” he said. “And if that’s not reinstated, it remains to be seen what would happen to recycling. That money would have to come from somewhere.”

Howdyshell and the environmentalists acknowledge that not all counties may have handled the fee revenue responsibly.

“In some counties, the fees were being collected but probably not going to recycling. And that’s why some haulers had issues with it,” he said.

“And some counties could have assessed as much as $8 per ton, and that’s pretty large. A cap on the fee is a good thing,” he said.

State Rep. Tom Yewcic, a Democrat who represents parts of Cambria and Somerset counties, agreed that it’s a political stalemate.

"The bill was passed unanimously by members of the environmental committee. And I understand that they got tons of letters from tons of groups, and most notably from kids who want to recycle,” Yewcic said.

“What’s the problem? It won’t increase anyone’s garbage bill, because counties were already charging a fee,” he said.

“It comes down to getting it up for a vote, and I imagine the House will do that in the fall. There seems to be a lot of support to re-establish the fee,” he said. “Remember, a lot of people are used to recycling now.”

Howdyshell said the county recycling coordinators will continue to work for passage of the bill. And Masur of PennEnvironment warns that, if it is not passed before the session ends Dec. 1, it would be put off until 2009 or 2010.

Area drop-off sites

Cambria County has 18 recycling drop-off sites in the county and three in Somerset County, where only newspaper and plastics are accepted.

Cambria County

• Adams Township: Municipal building.
• Conemaugh Township: Janie Street.
• Cresson: Township garage.
• Croyle Township: Municipal building.
• East Conemaugh: Railroad Street.
• Ebensburg: Manor Drive near Lake Rowena.
• Ebensburg: Cambria County Industrial Park.
• Geistown: Fire hall parking lot.
• Hastings: Fire hall.
• Lilly: Cleveland Street.
• Loretto: JFK parking lot of St. Francis University.
• Lower Yoder: Next to the ballfield on D Street.
• Jackson Township: Pike Road and Route 271, Mundys Corner.
• Northern Cambria: Giant Eagle parking lot.
• Northern Cambria: Bi-Lo parking lot.
• Patton: Borough building.
• Portage: Intersection of Caldwall Avenue and Main Street.
• Roxbury: Derby Street entrance to Roxbury Park.

Somerset County

• Hooversville: Fireman’s Grove, Route 403.
• Jenner Township: Township building, Route 30.
• Windber: Parking lot of Windber Community Center, Graham Avenue.

Details on recycling: cambriarecycles.org.

Funding loss

For years, 37 of the state’s 67 counties charged a now-illegal per-ton fee on trash collected within their counties as a way to fund their recycling programs. Some counties with several landfills, such as Somerset with its three, have not charged “tipping fees,” relying instead on “host fees” as revenues.

Other situations:

• Cambria and Somerset counties: Cambria’s $2.50 per-ton fee has generated about $256,000 annually, funding 95 percent of the costs for its 18 recycling drop-off sites and the three it runs in Somerset County.
• Indiana County: $1.50 per-ton fee generated $107,000 annually for recycling.
• Blair County: $3 per-ton fee generated $309,000 annually for recycling.
• Crawford County: $3 per-ton fee generated about one-third of recycling funds.
• Mercer County: Officials say they will face a $120,000 deficit and greatly reduced recycling program.
• Cumberland County: $2.50 per-ton fee generated about $500,000 annually, funding 80 percent of the county’s recycling efforts.