To amend sections 343.01, 343.011, 343.012, 343.022, 343.08, 3714.07, 3714.073, 3734.521, 3734.53, 3734.56, 3734.57, 3734.574, and 3745.015 and to enact section 3734.522 of the Revised Code to make changes to the laws governing the transfer and disposal of solid waste and construction and demolition debris and to provide for new procedures governing a county's withdrawal from a joint solid waste management district.
SB147 revises Ohio’s solid waste and construction-and-demolition debris laws, with a major focus on how county and joint solid waste management districts are formed, governed, financed, and reorganized. The bill updates procedures for counties withdrawing from joint districts, joining existing joint districts, forming new joint districts, and uniting joint districts, and it creates a new section specifically governing unilateral county withdrawal through a memorandum of understanding process. It also expands and clarifies the role of regional solid waste management authorities and their boards of trustees, including authority over staffing, legal counsel, contracts, and district operations.
The bill also makes extensive changes to district planning and fee authority. It revises the content and timing of solid waste management plans and amended plans, including capacity demonstrations, facility designations, and the treatment of scrap tires in district planning. It updates the rules governing solid waste transfer and disposal fees, county and municipal fees tied to solid waste and construction-and-demolition debris disposal, and the distribution of those revenues to health districts, counties, the Environmental Protection Agency, and state funds. The bill further adjusts procedures for limiting out-of-district waste, approving waivers, inspecting out-of-state waste, and enforcing district rules, while preserving exemptions for certain generator-owned facilities, coal combustion wastes, and composting operations.
SB147 would amend multiple sections of the Revised Code governing county solid waste districts, joint districts, regional solid waste management authorities, and construction-and-demolition debris fees. It would create a new statutory withdrawal process for counties leaving joint districts, revise how district composition changes are approved and implemented, and update how district assets, liabilities, and tax authority are divided when a county withdraws or districts reorganize. The bill also changes the legal framework for district planning, fee collection, and the use of fee revenues, affecting counties, municipalities, townships, health districts, facility operators, and the Ohio EPA.
The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and little recorded opposition. It passed the Senate twice unanimously and the House overwhelmingly, with only two no votes on final House passage. The vote history suggests general agreement that the bill is a technical and administrative update to Ohio’s solid waste system rather than a highly controversial policy change.
The main substantive issues in the bill are procedural and financial: how much control counties should have when leaving or joining joint districts, how district assets and tax obligations are divided, and how much authority districts and the director of environmental protection should have over waste flow restrictions, fee schedules, and plan approval. Another point of potential concern is the bill’s expansion and clarification of fee authority for solid waste and construction-and-demolition debris disposal, which affects facility operators and local governments that rely on those revenues. No committee transcript is available, so the record does not show specific arguments from supporters or opponents.