The fate of an existing solid waste management district could be decided by a vote of the county commissioners if a proposed bill at the Indiana General Assembly becomes law.
Senate Bill 366, authored by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, will go before the full Senate this week after it passed the Senate Committee on Environmental Affairs by a 6-3 vote last Monday. The bill allows the county executive board to decide whether to disband any existing solid waste district or withdraw from any joint solid waste district after June 30, 2017.
While many solid waste district advocates are not happy with the bill, they agreed that another bill, Senate Bill 88, was worse. That bill, which was withdrawn, would have changed how districts were funded. So, a compromise was struck between advocates and legislators.
According to a legislative update from the Association of Indiana Solid Waste Management Districts, while the organization understands the concern surrounding SB 366, the association agreed to remain neutral on the proposal as part of a deal with legislators to ensure that SB 88 was stopped.
“Since so many districts had expressed concerns over the funding bill and had received overwhelming support from their commissioners, councils and boards, the AISWMD Board accepted the deal,” according to the legislative update the organization sent out.
That deal, proposed by Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, who chairs the senate's environmental affairs committee, also includes a proposed amendment from Brown and Senator Karen Tallian, D-Portage, that will require a public hearing be called if the county commissioners should decide to dissolve a district.
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