NJDEP Recycling Exemptions

In accordance with state regulations (N.J.A.C 7:26A-1.4), some limited recycling activities are exempt from needing NJDEP solid waste division approval prior to operating. Additionally, some of these limited recycling activities may commence without first obtaining and Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan inclusion or consistency.

Click here to read a summary of these regulations or Click here to go to NJDEP's website containing NJ's solid waste and recycling rules and regulations to read the specific regulations. Call NJDEP's planning office at 609-984-3438 for more information about notifying and operating as an exempt recycling activity/facility.

Amending the Plan

Provided below are the three means of applying to Morris County to amend the Morris County District Solid Waste Management Plan (Plan) with respect to including a solid waste facility in the Plan.

1. Guidelines For Evaluation of Solid Waste Facility Requests To Be Included In The Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan utilized by the Solid Waste Advisory Council in formulating its recommendation to the Board of Chosen Freeholders.  Originally adopted on September 16, 1998 this procedure was formally included as part of the Morris County Solid Waste Management Plan as part of the Plan Amendment dated March 2007.

2. Blanket Inclusion Policy for Vegetative Waste Compost Facilities and Recycling Centers.   Included in Plan amendment dated February 1993 and certified by the NJDEP on August 25, 1993.

3. 7:26-6.11 Administrative actions concerning a district solid waste management plan.

   (a) Each administrative action taken relative to a district solid waste management plan or program shall comply with the requirements of this section.

   (b) For the purposes of this section, a solid waste management plan administrative action includes, but is not limited to, the following:

   1. The use of Resource Recovery Investment Tax (RRIT) grant moneys and/or the development of the associated disbursement schedules;
   2. The designation of or change to prior approved truck routes to or from solid waste facilities;
   3. The inclusion of new recycling facilities for processing Class A or Class C recyclable materials (as identified at N.J.A.C. 7:26A-1.4(a)14), or replacement units at existing regulated medical waste facilities; i. The inclusion and/or expansion of recycling and compost facilities shall be, at the discretion of the district, subject to any previous blanket inclusion policies approved by the Department and shall be undertaken by the district in accordance with the approved district solid waste management plan. This paragraph is intended to supplement and not replace any previously approved blanket inclusion policy for a district. ii. Any blanket inclusion amendment approved by the Department shall contain a provision requiring, among other things, notification to the public as to the location for the receipt of written comments and the starting and ending dates for the written comment period.
   4. The expansion of capacity of any size, other than that specified at N.J.A.C. 7:26-6.10(b)8 and 10, for any regulated solid waste facility. Only one capacity increase over the operational life of the regulated solid waste facility may be accomplished via administrative action.
   5. The modification of an existing facility including acceptance of additional waste types, on-site operational changes and expansions of facility buffer zones or expansions into buffer zones for ancillary operational activities;
   6. The modification of a recycling program, including the designation of additional materials for recycling, procurement strategies, market strategies, public education, private incentive programs, waste audit strategies, yard waste programs, per container programs, and enforcement strategies;
   7. The deletion of any facility which is included in the plan for more than two years but for which a complete permit application has not been made, or the deletion of any facility which is included in the plan but has not been in operation for more than two years;
   8. Unless specifically noted by the Department within a plan certification document, any information collected and/or submitted by the district plan implementation agency, including, but not limited to, solid waste studies, reports, data collection, compost inventories, and weekly waste averaging (when the daily rate has already been included in the plan);
   9. The reaffirmation of an existing district solid waste disposal strategy subsequent to the final disposition of the Atlantic Coast Demolition and Recycling, Inc. v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of Atlantic County, Civil Action No. 93-cv-02669 (D.N.J. May 1, 1997) case, provided that the plan implementation agency has held a public hearing on such reaffirmation for the purpose of receiving comments from persons interested in or affected by the amendment. Notice of such hearing shall be published in newspapers of general circulation in the district not less than 10 calendar days prior to the hearing and shall include the information set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:26-6.10(c)2;
   10. Any increase in the solid waste disposal capacity of an existing permitted landfill which is less than or equal to the volume equivalent of the acceptance of an additional 100 tons per day of solid waste over the smaller of 10 years or the remaining life of the existing permitted landfill. Such capacity increase may only be done via administrative action if the facility has signed a Silver Track II for Landfills Covenant with the Department. Additionally, only one capacity increase over the operational life of the permitted landfill may be accomplished via administrative action; and
   11. The operation of a solid waste intermodal container facility;
   12. The operation of a commercial collection facility for medical waste;
   13. The operation of a RD & D project pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-1.7;
   14. Any other administrative action as may be identified by the Department.

   (c) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to subrogate the district solid waste management planning process. The board of chosen freeholders or the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, in its discretion, may hold a public hearing prior to the adoption of any administrative district solid waste plan action.

   (d) The board of chosen freeholders or the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission or the designated implementation agency of the affected district shall submit to the Department a letter that describes in detail the administrative action to be taken relative to the district solid waste management program. 1. The letter concerning the administrative action shall be submitted to the address at N.J.A.C. 7:26-6.10(e).

   (e) Upon receipt of a letter describing the administrative action, submitted pursuant to (d) above, the Department shall review the information provided. Within 10 working days of receipt of the letter, the Department shall notify, in writing, the entity that submitted the letter concerning the administrative action of its receipt of such letter.

   (f) The Department shall approve, modify or reject an administrative action within 30 working days of receipt of the letter describing the administrative action pursuant to (d) above, unless it determines that the described action is subject to the requirements for a solid waste management plan amendment pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-6.10. In the event the Department fails to respond to a letter concerning an administrative action within the 30 day period, the administrative action shall be deemed approved.