Rhode Island § 23-19-11 - Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation

§ 23-19-11. Planning requirements.

Planning responsibilities of the corporation shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) The preparation of a statewide resource recovery system development plan which will indicate the location, type, and size of solid waste management facilities, including without limitation, transfer stations, waste processing facilities, and ultimate disposal facilities which may be required to serve the future needs of the state and its municipalities through the development of an integrated statewide resource recovery system for the effective management of solid waste;

(2) The plan shall be in conformity with the applicable provisions of the state guide plan;

(3) The plan will be subject to amendment;

(4) In developing the plan, the corporation will assure that:

(i) The orderly extension of future solid waste facilities and management systems are provided for in a manner consistent with the needs and plans of the whole area, and in a manner consistent with the state departments of health and environmental management rules and regulations for locating and operating solid waste facilities;

(ii) All aspects of planning, zoning, population estimates, engineering, and economics are taken into consideration to delineate with all practical precision those portions of the area which may reasonably be expected to be served by a given time frame, as determined by the corporation;

(iii) Appropriate time schedules are set for the phasing in of the required component parts of the system.

(iv) Future solid waste disposal facilities shall be regional in size and emphasize the geographic and political nature of the surrounding area.

(5) In the interim prior to the completion of the statewide plan, the corporation is authorized to develop component facilities as may be required to carry out the purposes of this chapter; provided, however, upon completion of the plan, all projects of the corporation undertaken thereafter shall be in conformity with the plan; and

(6) The corporation shall cooperate with the department of environmental management and other state and local agencies in the development of a comprehensive statewide solid waste management plan, of which the corporation’s statewide resource recovery system development plan shall be a component part. Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted as limiting the authority of the department of environmental management to prepare a statewide, comprehensive, solid waste management plan, including, but not limited to, any plan required by any federal law, rules, or regulations to meet federal requirements that may be conditions precedent to receiving federal assistance.

(7) The plan shall not include incineration of solid waste.

(8) The plan shall limit the use of landfills to providing temporary backup or bypass disposal capacity and residue disposals from waste processing facilities. The plan shall also seek to minimize landfilling of any type of waste and phase out the use of landfills for waste disposal.

(9) The plan shall include composting of yard waste and other appropriate organic wastes.

(10) The plan shall consider the financial feasibility of modifying, curtailing, or supplanting the provisions of chapter 19.1 of this title in light of the requirements for waste processing facilities.

(11) The plan shall primarily rely on a system of waste processing facilities.

(12) The plan shall provide that the corporation actively pursue research and develop new uses for materials recovered from solid waste to maximize revenue from recycled materials.