                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REGULATION OF GARBAGE AND REFUSE PICKUP AND DISPOSAL SERVICES; CONTRACTING FOR
SUCH SERVICES IN CERTAIN LOCALITIES (§ 15.2-931)

A. Localities may adopt ordinances requiring the delivery of all or any portion
of the garbage, trash or refuse generated or disposed of within such localities
to waste disposal facilities located therein, or to waste disposal facilities
located outside of such localities if the localities have contracted for
capacity at or service from such facilities.
			Such ordinances may not be adopted until the local governing body, following
one or more public hearings, has made the following findings:

   1. That other waste disposal facilities, including privately owned facilities
   and regional facilities, are: (i) unavailable; (ii) inadequate; (iii)
   unreliable; or (iv) not economically feasible, to meet the current and
   anticipated needs of the locality for waste disposal capacity; and

   2. That the ordinance is necessary to ensure the availability of adequate
   financing for the construction, expansion or closing of the locality&#8217;s
   facilities, and the costs incidental or related thereto.
   				No ordinance adopted by a locality under this subsection shall prevent or
   prohibit the disposal of garbage, trash or refuse at any facility: (i) which
   has been issued a solid waste management facility permit by an agency of the
   Commonwealth on or before July 1, 1991; or (ii) for which a Part A permit
   application for a new solid waste management facility permit, including local
   governing body certification, was submitted to the Department of Waste
   Management in accordance with &#xA7; 10.1-1408.1 B on or before December 31,
   1991.

B. Localities may provide in any ordinance adopted under this section that it is
unlawful for any person to dispose of his garbage, trash and refuse in or at any
other place. No such ordinance making it unlawful to dispose of garbage, trash
and refuse in any other place shall apply to the occupants of single-family
residences or family farms disposing of their own garbage, trash or refuse if
such occupants have paid the fees, rates and charges of other single-family
residences and family farms in the same service area.
			No ordinance adopted under this section shall apply to garbage, trash and
refuse generated, purchased or utilized by an entity engaged in the business of
manufacturing, mining, processing, refining or conversion except for an entity
engaged in the production of energy or refuse-derived fuels for sale to a person
other than any entity controlling, controlled by or under the same control as
the manufacturer, miner, processor, refiner or converter. Nor shall such
ordinance apply to (i) recyclable materials, which are those materials that have
been source-separated by any person or materials that have been separated from
garbage, trash and refuse by any person for utilization in both cases as a raw
material to be manufactured into a product other than fuel or energy, (ii)
construction debris to be disposed of in a landfill, or (iii) waste oil. Such
ordinances may provide penalties, fines and other punishment for violations.
			Such localities are authorized to contract with any person, whether profit or
nonprofit, for garbage and refuse pickup and disposal services in their
respective localities and to enter into contracts relating to waste disposal
facilities which recover energy or materials from garbage, trash and refuse.
Such contracts may make provision for, among other things, (i) the purchase by
the localities of all or a portion of the disposal capacity of a waste disposal
facility located within or outside the localities for their present or future
waste disposal requirements, (ii) the operation of such facility by the
localities, (iii) the delivery by or on behalf of the contracting localities of
specified quantities of garbage, trash and refuse, whether or not such counties,
cities, and towns collect such garbage, trash and refuse, and the making of
payments in respect of such quantities of garbage, trash and refuse, whether or
not such garbage, trash and refuse are delivered, including payments in respect
of revenues lost if garbage, trash and refuse are not delivered, (iv)
adjustments to payments made by the localities in respect of inflation, changes
in energy prices or residue disposal costs, taxes imposed upon the facility
owner or operator, or other events beyond the control of the facility operator
or owners, (v) the fixing and collection of fees, rates or charges for use of
the disposal facility and for any product or service resulting from operation of
the facility, and (vi) such other provision as is necessary for the safe and
effective construction, maintenance or operation of such facility, whether or
not such provision displaces competition in any market. Any such contract shall
not be deemed to be a debt or gift of the localities within the meaning of any
law, charter provision or debt limitation. Nothing in the foregoing powers
granted such localities includes the authority to pledge the full faith and
credit of such localities in violation of Article X, Section 10 of the
Constitution of Virginia.
			It has been and is continuing to be the policy of the Commonwealth to
authorize each locality to displace or limit competition in the area of garbage,
trash or refuse collection services and garbage, trash or refuse disposal
services to provide for the health and safety of its citizens, to control
disease, to prevent blight and other environmental degradation, to promote the
generation of energy and the recovery of useful resources from garbage, trash
and refuse, to protect limited natural resources for the benefit of its
citizens, to limit noxious odors and unsightly garbage, trash and refuse and
decay and to promote the general health and welfare by providing for adequate
garbage, trash and refuse collection services and garbage, trash and refuse
disposal services. Accordingly, governing bodies are directed and authorized to
exercise all powers regarding garbage, trash and refuse collection and garbage,
trash and refuse disposal notwithstanding any anti-competitive effect.

C. The following localities may by ordinance require the delivery of all or any
portion of the garbage, trash and refuse generated or disposed of within such
localities to waste disposal facilities located therein or to waste disposal
facilities located outside of such localities if the localities have contracted
for capacity at or service from such facilities: (i) Arlington County or the
City of Alexandria, singly or jointly, two or all of such counties and cities;
(ii) Fairfax County, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, or
Stafford County and any town situated within or city wholly surrounded by any of
such counties, singly or jointly, two or more of such localities, that have by
resolution of the governing body committed the locality to own or operate a
resource recovery waste disposal facility; and (iii) localities which are
members of the Richmond Regional Planning District No. 15 or Crater Planning
District No. 19, singly or jointly, two or more of such localities, that by
ordinance of the governing body after a minimum of two public hearings, and
after complying with applicable provisions of the Public Procurement Act
(Chapter 43 (&#xA7; 2.2-4300 et seq.) of Title 2.2), have committed the locality
to own, operate or contract for the operation of a resource recovery waste
disposal facility.

HISTORY: 1984, c. 763, § 15.1-28.01; 1987, c. 422; 1988, c. 264; 1991, cc. 521,
615; 1997, c. 587; 2007, c. 813.