As Amended
SEC. 49-31-17. Department of Economic and Community Development to assist and promote recycling industry; Recycling Market Development Council; report of actions required to facilitate development and expansion of markets for materials and products recovered from solid waste; annual reports on recycling activities.
(1) The Department of Economic and Community Development shall assist and actively promote the recycling industry in the state. Assistance and promotion of the recycling industry shall include, but is not limited to:
(a) Identification and analysis, in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Quality, of components of the state's recycling industry and present and potential markets for recyclable materials in the state or other states;
(b) Provision of information on the availability and benefits of using recycled materials to business, industry, academic institutions and governmental entities within the state;
(c) Distribution of any material prepared in implementing this section to business, industry, academic institutions, governmental entities and the general public upon request; and
(d) Active promotion of the present markets and development of the potential markets of recyclable materials through the resources of the Department of Economic and Community Development.
(2) By July 1, 1991, the Department of Economic and Community Development shall prepare a report assessing the recycling industry and recyclable materials markets in the state.
(3)
(a) There is created a fourteen-member Recycling Market Development Council to be appointed as follows:
(i) Five (5) members appointed by the Governor representing the paper, glass, aluminum, plastic, and ferrous and nonferrous metal industries, and trade associations which are active in recycling;
(ii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor representing a statewide, chartered public interest group;
(iii) One (1) member who is an elected city official to be appointed by the Governor;
(iv) One (1) member who is an elected member of a county governing authority to be appointed by the Governor;
(v) One (1) member designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(vi) One (1) member designated by the President of the Senate;
(vii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor representing the private recycling industry; and
(viii) One (1) representative each from the Department of Finance and Administration, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Economic and Community Development.
(b) The chair of the council shall be elected by the membership. The council shall adopt operating procedures and shall meet on the call of the chair or on the call of a majority of the members. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum to do business. The Department of Economic and Community Development shall provide the necessary staff, administrative facilities and services to the council.
(c) The members shall be appointed by September 1, 1991, and the council shall convene by October 1, 1991.
(4) The council shall determine what actions, if any, are needed to facilitate the development and expansion of markets for materials and products recovered from solid waste in the state and shall prepare a report with recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature. The report shall be due on January 1, 1993, and shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(a) A description and analysis of the state's existing recycling industry, the types and estimated amounts of recovered materials being separated or reprocessed;
(b) An analysis of the projected long-term capacity of existing markets to absorb materials generated by source separation, recovery or recycling programs;
(c) An analysis of potential markets in the state, in other states or in foreign countries for source-separated or recovered materials or products from the state;
(d) An analysis of institutional, economic and technical barriers to the use of source-separated or recovered materials or products;
(e) Recommendations for actions which may be taken to increase demand for source-separated and recovered materials or products;
(f) Recommendations for actions which may be taken to increase the incentives for private individuals and for business and industry to source-separate and recover materials;
(g) Recommendations on categories of materials which should be source-separated and recovered in the state, given existing and potential markets for such materials;
(h) Recommendations for a public education program to be implemented by the Department of Environmental Quality to provide information to the public and to business and industry on the benefits of source separation, recovery and recycling and on the availability of those materials or products;
(i) A study of methods of source separation, recycling and disposal of household waste; and
(j) A study of packaging reduction.
(5) Following its initial report, the council shall submit to the Governor and to the Legislature by the end of each calendar year an annual report on recycling activities within the state which shall, at a minimum, include the following:
(a) Any revisions which the council determines are necessary to its initial report;
(b) An analysis of changes that have occurred with markets for recovered materials since the last report;
(c) Any other recommendations to facilitate the development of markets for source-separated and recovered materials in the state.
(6) Subsections (3), (4) and (5) of this section shall stand repealed on January 31, 1996.
SOURCES: Laws, 1990, ch. 507, Sec. 9, eff from and after June 1, 1990. Laws, 1991, ch. 494 Sec. 4, eff from and after passage (approved April 1, 1991).