HCS/SCS/SB 328 - This act modifies provisions relating to natural resources. Section 142.028 - Under current law, a qualified fuel ethanol producer is eligible for a monthly grant for fuel ethanol produced from Missouri agricultural products. This act allows such fuel ethanol to also be produced from biomass that is qualified by the Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority in consultation with the Conservation Commission. Fuel ethanol grant incentives paid for fuel ethanol produced from biomass are authorized between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2018, not to exceed $10 million per year.
Section 142.031 - Under current law, the biodiesel producer monthly incentive payment is calculated based on the estimated number of gallons of biodiesel produced from agricultural products originating in Missouri. This act removes the in-state origination criteria and allows the incentive payment to be calculated based on the amount of biodiesel produced from agricultural products originating in any state.
Sections 260.211 to 260.240 - Under current law, the crime of illegally disposing demolition waste in the first degree is a Class A misdemeanor, illegally disposing demolition waste in the second degree is a Class C misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent offense is a Class D felony. This act removes the first and second degrees of the crime and instead makes any instance of illegal disposition of demolition waste a Class D felony as well as subject to the same penalty as what was for a crime in the first degree, which is up to $20,000.
Any person who knowingly disposes more than 2,000 pounds or 400 cubic feet of his own personal construction or demolition waste on his own property shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. Any person who receives remuneration from another person to dispose of such waste on his own property shall be guilty of a Class D felony.
The act makes similar modifications to the crime of illegal disposition of solid waste where it removes the first and second degrees of the crime, and makes a single instance of illegally disposing solid waste a Class D felony subject to a fine of not more than $20,000.
The act expands the authority of the Department of Natural Resources to seek injunctive relief and civil penalties against operators of solid waste sanitary landfills and operators of transfer stations who violate certain fee collection provisions.
The maximum civil penalty a court may assess is increased from $1,000 to $5,000 per day for violations concerning a solid waste disposal area or for violations of the landfill or transfer station fee collection provisions by a solid waste processing facility.
The act increases from $100 to $500 the per-day penalty a county may assess for violations of any county law developed under provisions of the state solid waste laws.
Section 260.247 - Current law prescribes requirements for cities that expand solid waste collection services into areas where such service is currently provided by a private entity. This act makes the same requirements applicable to political subdivisions.
Section 260.249 - This section changes an incorrect statutory reference.
Section 260.250 - This section allows yard waste to be disposed of in a municipal solid waste disposal area when the Department of Natural Resources approves the operation of the disposal area as a bioreactor and when the landfill gas produced will be used for electricity generation.
Sections 260.330 to 260.335 - These sections extend the period of time from October 1, 2009, to October 1, 2014, during which no annual adjustment shall be made to the per-ton fee required to be remitted to the Department of Natural Resources by operators of solid waste sanitary landfills and transfer stations except when needed to fund the operating costs of the Department. The act also extends for the same time period the provision that any adjustment made shall not exceed the percentage increase as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
Sections 260.360 and 260.800 - These sections expand the definition of "treatment" to include plasma arc technology as a procedure for the processing of waste and allow any facility designated as a waste to energy facility that generates electricity fueled from solid waste to use plasma arc technology.
Provisions of the act are similar to provisions in HCS/HB 709, SCS/SB 499, SCS/SB 571, SB 535, HCS/HB 886, HB 185, and HCS/SB 419, all from the 2007 session.
ERIKA JAQUES