Morris County Response:
As shown in Table 1, the latest year for which solid waste generation data from the NJDEP is available is 2004, therefore this Plan Amendment will use 2004 as its base year. According to Table 1, solid waste generated in 2004 for Morris County was 1,174,122 tons. Total solid waste generation includes all solid waste disposed as garbage and all solid waste recycled. Disposal plus recycling yields generation. The recycling totals in Table 1 provided by the NJDEP for Morris County are a total of the annual recycling tonnage reports submitted by each Morris County municipality. The NJDEP adds tonnage to the municipal reports from other reports provided to the state by various sources, i.e. ISRI (the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) and the NJDOT. These tonnages, often referred to as "add-ons," usually are in material categories which apply only toward the 60% Recycling Goal and not the 50% Recycling Goal. Municipal solid waste is a subset of total solid waste. Total solid waste includes all municipal solid waste plus other waste categories such as construction and demolition debris and industrial waste.

In order to arrive at an estimate of what the total generation, solid waste disposed and recycled for all types of waste, will be in 2015, the MCMUA looked at the trend of total generation from 1995 to 2004. The resulting totals for waste generation are shown in Table 2. For informational purposes, the table also shows population projections. Population projections based on the 2000 U.S. Census were available from the 2006 Morris County Data Book for 2005, 2010 and 2015. The data for the years between were extrapolated. The generation rate in pounds per capita per day was calculated from the population and total generation projections. Appendix A shows the table that was used to arrive at the total generation figures in Table 2. Appendix B compares Morris County total solid waste disposal tonnages which were handled at the 2 MCMUA transfer stations to the total solid waste disposal tonnages for Morris County as provided by the NJDEP and shown in Table 1. The difference between the two figures is assumed to be Morris County tonnage which was disposed outside of the 2 transfer stations.  

Table 1
Morris County Recycling Rates 1995 – 2004

Data provided by the NJDEP on its website.

Table 2
Morris County Total Solid Waste Generation
Ten-Year Projection from 2004 Base Year

3)  "An inventory of all solid waste and recycling facilities (lot and block and street address) including approved waste types and amounts, hours of operation and approved truck routes;"  

Morris County Response:
Provided as Appendix C is an inventory of the solid waste and recycling facilities that have been previously included in the Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan.  

4)  "An outline of the solid waste disposal strategy to be utilized by the district for a ten-year planning period;"  

Morris County Response:
The outline of the solid waste disposal strategy to be utilized by the district for a ten year planning period is set forth below and is premised on the following history:

On November 10, 1997, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in Atlantic Coast Demolition and Recycling, Inc. v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of Atlantic County, 112 F.3d 652 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 996 (1997). As a result, Solid Waste Management Districts in New Jersey were required to either adopt plan amendments to revise their solid waste disposal strategies to conform with Atlantic Coast or undertake Administrative Action procedures under N.J.A.C. 7:26-6.11 if the current solid waste system was in conformance with the dictates of Atlantic Coast.

Having determined to re-institute solid waste flow control for waste types 10, 13, 23, 25 and 27 generated within the County of Morris, MCMUA held a public hearing on December 9, 1997 on the adoption of the Administrative Action. The Administrative Action explained that the MCMUA’s existing solid waste flow control disposal strategy was the result of an open, fair and competitive procurement process. Following the public hearing, the MCMUA adopted a Resolution accepting and approving the Administrative Action. In a letter dated January 9, 1998, the NJDEP certified as an Administrative Action the Morris County solid waste management system.

In the Administrative Action, the MCMUA demonstrated that the procurement process for out-of-state landfill capacity and the operations of the two MCMUA transfer stations and the transportation to out-of-state landfills was consistent with the criteria set forth in the Atlantic Coast decision and accordingly, Morris County was able to continue to direct all solid waste for disposal to either the MCMUA Mt. Olive transfer station or the MCMUA Parsippany-Troy Hills transfer station.  

Pursuant to American Ref-Fuel Co. of Essex County v. Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority, 169 N.J. 135 (2001), the MCMUA, on January 7, 2002, issued a Notice to Bidders seeking sealed competitive bids for the "Operating The Two Morris County Solid Waste Transfer Stations, Located in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township and Mount Olive Township, Including Providing Transportation and Disposal of all County Solid Waste received at the Transfer Stations."  

On April 9, 2002, the Authority adopted a Resolution accepting the bid submitted by Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. as the lowest responsible bidder. Both the April 9, 2002 Resolution and the January 7, 2002 Notice to Bidders stated the performance of the contract is conditioned upon receipt of all applicable governmental approvals, including approval by the Department of Environmental Protection of an amendment to the Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan.  

Accordingly, on July 24, 2002, the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted an amendment to the Morris County District Solid Waste Management Plan. The Amendment included the terms and conditions of the bid submitted by Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc., dated April 2, 2002 for "Operating the Two Morris County Solid Waste Transfer Stations, Located in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township and Mount Olive Township, Including Providing Transportation to Disposal Facilities and Disposal of County Solid Waste."  

The bid of Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. provides for the operation of the Morris County Transfer Stations for a period of five (5) years. Additionally, for a period of five (5) years, Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. will transport all the solid waste accepted at the Morris County Transfer Stations to the out-of-state disposal facilities. These disposal facilities are:

• GROWS Landfill, Morrisville, PA

• Tullytown Resource Recovery Facility Landfill, Morrisville, PA

• Alliance Sanitary Landfill, Taylor, PA  

• Wheelabrator Falls, Inc., Resource Recovery Facility, Morrisville, PA

On December 20, 2002, the Department certified the amendment to the Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan, which included the aforementioned solid waste disposal strategy contained in the bid submitted by Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. On December 27, 2002 the Authority issued a Notice to Proceed for the Contract to commence on January 27, 2003. The existing Contract with Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. expires on January 27, 2008.

Given this background, for the next ten-year planning period, Morris County, through the MCMUA, its implementing agency, intends to maintain the solid waste disposal system that was re-affirmed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in its certification and approval of the Administrative Action on January 9, 1998. Accordingly, MCMUA shall continue to direct all solid waste generated within Morris County to either its Mt. Olive Transfer Station or its Parsippany-Troy Hills Transfer Station. In light of the fact that its contract with Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. expires on January 27, 2008, the MCMUA will continue to engage in nondiscriminatory, fair, open and competitive procurement processes when it chooses operators of its transfer stations, disposal facilities for the waste accepted at its transfer stations and transporters to haul the waste from the transfer stations to the selected disposal facilities. These procurements will be in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Atlantic Coast decision as well as New Jersey Local Public Contracts Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1 et seq.

5)   "A procedure for the processing of applications for inclusion of solid waste and recycling facilities within the district solid waste management plans. The procedure shall state the applicant requirements for inclusion into the district plan and the specific county review process/procedures, including time frames for county approvals or rejections and subsequent submittals to the Department.  Note- the criteria for inclusion shall not include a requirement that local zoning or planning board approval(s) be obtained as a condition for inclusion within the district solid waste management plan, nor shall such a requirement be made a condition for subsequent construction or operation of any facility;"

Morris County Response:
Provided as Appendix D is the procedure utilized by Morris County for processing applications for solid waste and recycling facilities to be included in the Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan.  

6)   "Where applicable, utilizing the data supplied in Table B-1 that identifies the additional tonnage of recycled materials in the MSW stream (by material commodity types) required by each county to meet the mandated MSW recycling goal, a strategy for the attainment of the recycling goals as outlined above.  The strategy shall include, as necessary:  

a)    the designation of the currently mandated recyclable materials and additional materials, if any, to be source separated in the residential, commercial and institutional sectors;"  

Morris County Response:
See the section titled “Materials Mandated to be Source Separated and Recycled” that follows.  

b)   "a listing of those entities providing recycling collection, processing and marketing services for each of the designated recyclable materials;”

Morris County Response:
The MCMUA website (www.MCMUA.com) contains information in response to the requirement above.  The MCMUA continually updates and revises this information as needed.  Due to the fact that this information is voluminous and dynamic, it has not been printed and included in this Plan Amendment.  The MCMUA suggests the Department visit this website, specifically the following subsections found under the main heading “Home:”  

• "Materials" http://www.mcmua.com/Materials.asp

• "Facilities" http://www.mcmua.com/Facilities.asp

• "Towns" http://www.mcmua.com/Towns.asp.

c)    "the communication program to be utilized to inform generators of their source separation and recycling responsibilities;"  

Morris County Response:
See subsections 3.1(g) and 3.2(a),(c),(f),(h),(i),(j),(k), regarding existing and proposed educational programs to be implemented at the county level.  See also subsection 2.f. of the section entitled “Municipal Responsibilities” that addresses the communications program requirements to be implemented to inform generators of their source separation and recycling responsibilities at the municipal level.

d)   "a comprehensive enforcement program that identifies the county and/or municipal entity(ies) responsible for enforcement of the recycling mandates, specifies the minimum number of recycling inspections that will be undertaken by these entities on an annual basis and details the penalties to be imposed for non-compliance with the municipal source-separation [sic] ordinance and county solid waste management plan."

Morris County Response:
See the section titled “Enforcement Program” that follows.

As further stated in the Department letter dated February 9, 2006:

"Additionally, each county or district must submit copies of each municipal source-separation [sic] ordinance to the Department within 6 months of the approval of its updated county or district solid waste plan."

Morris County Response:
Each Morris County municipality is required to update and submit a copy of its municipal ordinance to the MCMUA within 6 months of the approval of this Plan Amendment.  Copies of these ordinances will be forwarded to the Department.