COMPOSTING MATERIALS



House Bill 6006 (Substitute H-1)

First Analysis (9-24-98)


Sponsor: Rep. Patricia Birkholz

Committee: Conservation, Environment

and Recreation



THE APPARENT PROBLEM:


In 1990, due to the rapid filling of landfills and the pollution problems associated with incinerators, legislation was enacted (Public Act 264) to prohibit the disposal of certain materials in these facilities. Grass clippings, leaves, vegetable or other garden debris, wood chips, shrubbery, and other items, were considered natural composting materials, and it was decided that it made more sense to encourage composting them than to burn such materials or bury them in landfills. These provisions became effective in 1993 for yard waste that was generated on county-, municipal-, or state-owned land. The provisions affecting yard waste from other sources became effective two years later.


Since that time, some manufacturers have suggested that other products -- such as the remains of damaged food and vegetable products -- should also be composted, rather than incinerated or buried in landfills. Such products are unfit for sale, but have some uses. For example, in written testimony presented to the House Conservation, Environment and Recreation Committee, Kalamazoo County's Department of Planning and Community Development points out that the Southwest Michigan Recycling Market Development Strategy's report dated May, 1995, recommends the composting of food residuals and wood products to reduce the region's dependence on landfill disposal. Consequently, legislation has been introduced that would allow certain residual food and wood products to be composted, rather than disposed of in landfills.


THE CONTENT OF THE BILL:


By-products that are processed from, or are a residual from, fruits, vegetables, sugar beets, or field crops are excluded from the definition of "solid waste" under Part 115 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), which regulates solid waste management, and may be applied on farmland for an agricultural purpose without a permit or license. House Bill 6006 would amend the NREPA to redefine these by-products, and to specify that they could be composted and applied on farmland or forestland without a permit or license. The bill would also establish definitions for "scrap wood," "treated wood," and "wood."


Food Processing Residuals. "Food processing residuals" would be defined under the bill to mean any of the following:


** Residuals of fruits, vegetables, aquatic plants, or field crops.


** Otherwise unusable by-products from the processing of fruits, vegetables, aquatic plans, or field crops.


** Otherwise unusable food products which do not meet size, quality, or other product specification and which were intended for human or animal consumption.


Wood, Scrap Wood, and Treated Wood. Under the act, recycled sludges and ashes, or nondetrimental materials approved by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for agricultural or silvicultural use, are excluded from the definition of "solid waste." Wood ashes are included under this exclusion. ("Ashes" are defined under the act to mean the residue from the burning of wood, coal, and other materials.) Under the act, "wood" would be defined as trees, branches, bark, lumber, pallets, wood chips, sawdust, or other wood or wood product excluding scrap wood, treated wood, painted wood, or painted wood product, or any wood or wood product that had been contaminated during its manufacture or use. However, the bill would differentiate between other types of wood, as follows: