Opinion: DNR interests succeed in 2000 legislative session

Missouri's legislative session for the year 2000 has been widely described as one of little accomplishment, but that pattern was not followed in the key environmental area of hazardous waste management and remediation.

After years of controversy and near misses in attempts to find agreements among generators, consumers, regulators and others, a compromise has been worked out and enacted into law. As a bonus, a new Dry Cleaning Environmental Response Fund has been established. While industry and government agency people have been working on the issue for years, an interim legislative committee focused on the problem during 1999 and brought increased understanding to the General Assembly.

The existing hazardous waste law has been ripe for revisions because its effects are now felt inconsistently over various segments of industry, and the revenue produced is projected to be insufficient to meet the obligations of the state in managing current generators and carrying out environmental response and site remediation obligations.

Current generators have suggested that much of the environmental emergency response and remediation activity is beyond their area of responsibility and in fact is done for the benefit of the general public, therefore the general public should participate in the funding. The legislature agreed and provided for a minimum of $1 million of state general revenue to be requested for hazardous waste activity, as part of the $3.5 million of new money raised by Senate Bill 577.

Missouri's cement industry has become a significant consumer of hazardous waste as a partial substitute for other fuel in kiln operations.

But since the companies organized differently in their approach to acquiring the waste fuel, potential changes in the law could work to the competitive disadvantage of some companies. Also, there has been strong sentiment to remove the current exemption for blenders of hazardous waste for use as fuel.

These issues have been resolved by acceptance of the repeal of the fuel blender exemption and the establishing of a new "fee on hazardous waste fuel produced from hazardous waste by processing, blending or other off-site treatment to be assessed and collected only at the facility where hazardous waste fuel is used as a substitute for other fuel." This fee is capped at $80,000 annually, subject to an annual inflationary increase not to exceed 2.55 percent.

Another significant improvement in the in the law was made with a new fixed-rate formula that generates funds based on the amount of waste generated, with the fund assuming the risk of changes in the waste stream. Under this system if there is a significant reduction of hazardous waste generated, the remaining generators will not be required to make up the deficit through higher rates.

Other changes include a new $100 annual fee for hazardous waste generators and a revised hazardous waste transporter license fee based on tonnage and mileage, with rates set to generate $600,000 annually.

The original Senate Bill 577, to which the hazardous waste issue was added as an amendment, provided for a new Dry Cleaning Environmental Response Trust Fund to be utilized to address contamination resulting from releases of dry cleaning solvents.

The fund is supported by an annual dry cleaning facility surcharge ranging from $500 to $1,500, based on the amount of solvent used annually. In addition, sellers of dry cleaning solvents will be required to pay a dry cleaning solvent surcharge of $8 per gallon for chlorinated solvents and 40 cents per gallon for non-chlorinated solvents.

For the Hazardous Waste Program in the Department of Natural Resources, the 2000 legislature was a productive session.