PRINTER'S NO. 337
No. 330 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY O'PAKE, KUKOVICH, COSTA, STAPLETON AND BOSCOLA,
FEBRUARY 8, 1999
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999
AN ACT
1 Establishing a landfill impact fee and fund to compensate owners
2 of residential property near a landfill for loss in property
3 value and to provide grants to certain political subdivisions
4 for traffic improvement and safety projects.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Landfill
9 Impact Fee Act.
10 Section 2. Fee imposed.
11 A fee of 25¢ is hereby imposed on each ton of weighed waste
12 or 25¢ per three cubic yards of volume-measured waste of any
13 type deposited in any landfill located in this Commonwealth.
14 This fee shall be paid by the operator and shall be collected by
15 the Department of Environmental Protection. All of these fees
16 shall be deposited in the Landfill Impact Fee Fund established
17 in section 6.
18 Section 3. Form and timing of fee payment.
1 (a) Quarterly payments.--Each operator of a waste landfill
2 shall make the fee payment quarterly. The fee shall be paid on
3 or before the 20th day of April, July, October and January for
4 the three months ending the last day of March, June, September
5 and December.
6 (b) Quarterly reports.--Each fee payment shall be
7 accompanied by a form prepared and furnished by the Department
8 of Environmental Protection and completed by the operator. The
9 form shall state the total weight or volume of waste received by
10 the facility during the payment period and provide any other
11 aggregate information deemed necessary by the department to
12 carry out the purposes of this act. The form shall be signed by
13 the operator.
14 (c) Timeliness of payment.--The operator shall be deemed to
15 have made a timely payment of the fee if the operator complies
16 with all of the following:
17 (1) The enclosed payment is for the full amount owed
18 pursuant to this section and no further departmental action
19 is required for collection.
20 (2) The payment is accompanied by the required form, and
21 such form is complete and accurate.
22 (3) The letter transmitting the payment that is received
23 by the department is postmarked by the United States Postal
24 Service on or prior to the final day on which the payment is
25 to be received.
26 (d) Refunds.--Any operator who believes he has overpaid the
27 fee may file a petition for refund to the department. If the
28 department determines the operator has overpaid the fee, it
29 shall refund the amount due, together with interest at a rate
30 established pursuant to section 806.1 of the act of April 9,
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1 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, from the date
2 of overpayment. No refund shall be made unless the petition is
3 filed with the department within six months of the overpayment.
4 (e) Alternative proof of payment.--For purposes of this
5 section, presentation of a receipt indicating that the payment
6 was mailed by registered or certified mail on or before the due
7 date shall be evidence of timely payment.
8 Section 4. Collection and enforcement of fee.
9 (a) Interest.--If an operator fails to make a timely payment
10 of the fee, the operator shall pay interest on the unpaid amount
11 due at the rate established pursuant to section 806 of the act
12 of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code,
13 from the last day for timely payment to the date paid.
14 (b) Additional penalty.--In addition to the interest
15 provided in subsection (a), if an operator fails to make timely
16 payment of the fee, there shall be added to the amount of fee
17 actually due 5% of the amount of such fee, if the failure to
18 file a timely payment is for not more than one month, with an
19 additional 5% for each additional month, or fraction thereof,
20 during which such failure continues, not exceeding 25% in the
21 aggregate.
22 (c) Assessment notices.--
23 (1) If the Department of Environmental Protection
24 determines that any operator has not made a timely payment of
25 the fee, it will send the operator a written notice of the
26 amount of the deficiency within 30 days of determining such
27 deficiency. When the operator has not provided a complete and
28 accurate statement of the weight or volume of waste received
29 at the facility for the payment period, the department may
30 estimate the weight or volume in its notice.
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1 (2) The operator shall have 30 days to pay the
2 deficiency in full or, if the operator wishes to contest the
3 deficiency, to forward the amount of the deficiency to the
4 department for placement in an escrow account with the State
5 Treasurer or any Pennsylvania bank, or post an appeal bond in
6 the amount of the deficiency. Such bond shall be executed by
7 a surety licensed to do business in this Commonwealth and be
8 satisfactory to the department. Failure to forward the money
9 or the appeal bond to the department within 30 days shall
10 result in a waiver of all legal rights to contest the
11 deficiency.
12 (3) If, through administrative or judicial review of the
13 deficiency, it is determined that the amount of deficiency
14 shall be reduced, the department shall within 30 days remit
15 the appropriate amount to the operator, with any interest
16 accumulated by the escrow deposit.
17 (4) The amount determined after administrative hearing
18 or after waiver of administrative hearing shall be payable to
19 the Commonwealth and shall be collectible in the manner
20 provided in section 1709 of the act of July 28, 1988
21 (P.L.556, No.101), known as the Municipal Waste Planning,
22 Recycling and Waste Reduction Act.
23 (5) Any other provision of law to the contrary
24 notwithstanding, there shall be a statute of limitations of
25 five years upon actions brought by the Commonwealth pursuant
26 to this section.
27 (6) If any amount due hereunder remains unpaid 30 days
28 after receipt of notice thereof, the department may order the
29 operator to cease receiving any waste until the deficiency is
30 completely paid.
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1 (d) Filing of appeals.--Notwithstanding any other provision
2 of law, all appeals of final department actions concerning the
3 fee, including, but not limited to, petitions for refunds, shall
4 be filed with the Environmental Hearing Board.
5 (e) Constructive trust.--All fees collected by an operator
6 and held by such operator prior to payment to the department
7 shall constitute a trust fund for the Commonwealth, and such
8 trust shall be enforceable against such operator, its
9 representatives and any person receiving any part of such fund
10 without consideration or with knowledge that the operator is
11 committing a breach of the trust. However, any person receiving
12 payment of lawful obligation of the operator from such fund
13 shall be presumed to have received the same in good faith and
14 without any knowledge of the breach of trust.
15 (f) Remedies cumulative.--The remedies provided to the
16 department in this section are in addition to any other remedies
17 provided at law or in equity.
18 Section 5. Surcharge.
19 The provisions of any law to the contrary notwithstanding,
20 the operator may collect the fee imposed by this section as a
21 surcharge on any fee schedule established pursuant to law,
22 ordinance, resolution or contract for waste disposal at the
23 facility. In addition, any person who collects or transports
24 waste subject to the fee to a landfill may impose a surcharge on
25 any fee schedule established pursuant to law, ordinance,
26 resolution or contract for the collection or transportation of
27 waste to the facility. The surcharge shall be equal to the
28 increase in disposal fees at the facility attributable to the
29 fee. However, interest and penalties on the fee under section
30 4(a) and (b) may not be collected as a surcharge.
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1 Section 6. Landfill Impact Fee Fund.
2 The Landfill Impact Fee Fund is established as a restricted
3 receipts account in the General Fund. The Landfill Impact Fee
4 Fund shall be used to compensate all eligible residential
5 property owners and to provide funds for traffic improvement and
6 safety grants to eligible political subdivisions. The fund shall
7 include a reserve in an amount determined by the Auditor General
8 to be necessary to maintain its actuarial soundness in the view
9 of outstanding and reasonably foreseeable claims. Moneys raised
10 by the fee in excess of the reserve shall be directed to the
11 Department of Transportation at the beginning of the next fiscal
12 year and shall be allocated for providing grants to host and
13 neighboring municipalities for traffic and safety improvements
14 in accordance with section 8.
15 Section 7. Eligible residential property owners.
16 A person is an eligible residential property owner if he owns
17 and lives in a residential dwelling within one mile of the
18 boundary of any landfill which was granted a permit to open or
19 to physically expand since July 1, 1998, and as a result of the
20 opening or expansion he suffered a decrease in the property
21 value of his residential dwelling.
22 Section 8. Eligible political subdivision.
23 Any political subdivision wherein a landfill is located or
24 through which passes a public road within ten miles of the
25 entrance of the landfill which is regularly used as an access
26 road to the landfill is eligible for a traffic improvement and
27 safety grant provided for under this act.
28 Section 9. Landfill impact compensation.
29 All homeowners who make application to the Department of
30 Environmental Protection and are determined to be eligible for
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1 compensation shall be awarded full compensation within one year
2 of the final determination of such eligibility by the
3 department.
4 Section 10. Traffic improvement and safety grants.
5 The Department of Transportation may award traffic
6 improvement and safety grants in accordance with the provisions
7 of section 6.
8 Section 11. Administrative costs.
9 (a) Department of Environmental Protection costs.--The
10 Department of Environmental Protection may retain an amount of
11 money not to exceed 5% of the total amount of money in the
12 Landfill Impact Fee Fund for its expenses directly related to
13 the administration of this act.
14 (b) Department of Transportation costs.--The Department of
15 Transportation may retain an amount of money not to exceed 5% of
16 the total amount of traffic improvement and safety grants for
17 its expenses directly related to the administration of this act.
18 Section 12. Regulations.
19 The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department
20 of Transportation shall promulgate regulations in order to carry
21 out their duties under this act.
22 Section 13. Reports.
23 The Department of Environmental Protection shall report
24 annually to the General Assembly by depositing copies of the
25 report with the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of
26 the House of Representatives. The report shall indicate all
27 collections to and payments from the Landfill Impact Fee Fund,
28 including any recommendations for any increase in the fee.
29 Section 14. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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