Relating to programs within the department of natural resources, including specifications of procedures relating to solid waste disposal and the repeal of the state interagency Missouri river authority and the mercury-free recycling Act

This bill relates to certain programs within the department of natural resources (DNR). The bill inserts the word “sanitary” before certain instances of the word “landfill” in Code chapter 455B, subchapter IV, part (part 1). The phrase “sanitary landfill” is defined in part as a sanitary disposal project where solid waste is buried between layers of earth. Therefore, the provisions affecting a landfill in the amended Code sections apply specifically to a sanitary landfill as defined in part 1. The bill also changes certain instances of “sanitary disposal project” and “sanitary disposal project site” to “sanitary landfill” so that only a sanitary landfill, rather than a sanitary disposal project in general, is subject to specific regulations, including groundwater monitoring requirements and the installation of shafts to relieve the accumulation of gas. The bill changes instances of the word “variances” in part to “waivers” to conform to DNR practices. The bill authorizes the environmental protection commission (EPC) to adopt rules providing for the land application of soils resulting from the remediation of petroleum releases and land application of certain solid wastes including industrial sludges, rather than from the remediation of underground storage tank releases. The bill authorizes an operator of a sanitary landfill to combine closure and postclosure accounts into one account. The bill amends other provisions in part to make conforming changes and remove outdated language. The bill repeals the state interagency Missouri river authority. Under current law, the authority consists of representatives from the state executive branch who are tasked with representing the interests of this state with regard to its membership in the Missouri river association of states and tribes, an interstate association of government representatives formed to seek consensus solutions to issues impacting the Missouri river basin. The state withdrew from the Missouri river association of states and tribes in 2011 and the association has since disbanded. The bill repeals Code chapter 455B, subchapter XI, which is the mercury-free recycling Act. The mercury-free recycling Act required vehicle manufacturers to develop and publish plans for the removal, collection, and recovery of vehicle mercury-added switches and authorized EPC to enforce the plans.803 provides for the termination of EPC’s enforcement of the removal, collection, and recovery plans on July 1, 2020. The mercury-free recycling Act also generally prohibits a person from delivering an end-of-life vehicle to a scrap recycling facility unless the mercury-added switch was removed from the vehicle. An existing future repeal of the subchapter is contingent upon the adoption of a national mercury switch recovery program that meets certain standards.