Mississippi § 17-18-17 - Volunteer host community for hazardous waste management facility; procedures for volunteering.

§ 17-18-17. Volunteer host community for hazardous waste management facility; procedures for volunteering.

Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a community desiring to volunteer to host the state commercial hazardous waste management facility to be operated pursuant to this chapter may propose to do so by the adoption of a resolution by a majority vote of the governing body of the local governmental unit. The committee shall determine the adequacy of any proposal to voluntarily host the state commercial hazardous waste management facility. Once a proposal to volunteer to host the state commercial hazardous waste management facility has been accepted in writing by the committee, the resolution making such proposal may not be rescinded by the governing body of the local governmental unit, unless the management category or categories determined under Section 49-29-7 is changed after the date of the submission of such category determination to the Hazardous Waste Technical Siting Committee. The governing body of the local governmental unit shall hold a minimum of two (2) public hearings prior to submission of a resolution regarding any proposal to volunteer to host the state commercial hazardous waste management facility pursuant to this chapter. The governing body of the local governmental unit shall advertise its intent to hold the public hearings. The advertisement shall be in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The advertisement shall be no less than one-fourth (1/4) page in size and the type used shall be no smaller than eighteen (18) point and surrounded by a one-fourth (1/4) inch solid black border. The advertisement may not be placed in that portion of the newspaper where legal notices and classified advertisements appear. It is legislative intent that, whenever possible, the advertisement appear in a newspaper that is published at least five (5) days a week, unless the only newspaper in the county is published less than five (5) days a week. It is further the intent of the Legislature that the newspaper selected be one of general interest and readership in the community, and not one of limited subject matter. The advertisement shall be run once each week for the two (2) weeks preceding the public hearings. The advertisement shall state that the governing body will meet on a certain day, time and place fixed in the advertisement, which shall be not less than seven (7) days after the day the first advertisement is published, for the purpose of hearing comments regarding the proposed resolution and to explain the reasons for the proposed resolution. Washington County and Issaquena County are hereby designated as volunteer host communities without having to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section. This section shall not be construed to give priority for the evaluation of potential sites to any one (1) volunteer host community over any other volunteer host community, regardless of whether the designation of a governmental unit as a volunteer host community is accomplished under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section.