The undersigned organizations oppose SB 250 Needs Assessment Amendments (Sen. Anderegg) and urge you to vote against this bill.
This bill appears to be written for the Promontory Point Resources (PPR) solid waste landfill and is intended to work around the needs assessment requirement currently in state law that PPR has twice failed to meet. While the Class I permit that PPR has now limits it to storing in-state municipal waste, what the company really wants is to upgrade to a Class V commercial facility that can accept out-of-state waste such as California hazardous waste and coal ash. Storage of these types of waste on the shores of Great Salt Lake could prove a serious threat to the health of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and the $1.3 billion the Lake contributes to Utah’s economy annually.
Importantly, this bill has implications well beyond a single landfill, such as the landfill at Promontory Point. SB250 would remove oversight of any Class V or Class VI commercial landfills from the state and place that decision in the hands of local cities and counties through a simple zoning change. The question would no longer be whether the state needs another commercial landfill based on the statutory criteria, but whether a local community chooses to have one within its tax base. A decision to allow a corner market in a residential neighborhood is, and should be, a local issue, but a decision to allow a commercial landfill that can import unknown quantities of out-of-state waste is, and should remain, a state issue.
FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake
Bridgerland Audubon Society
Great Salt Lake Audubon
Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College
League of Women Voters of Utah
National Audubon Society
South shore Wetlands and Wildlife Management, Inc.
Utah Audubon Council
Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club
Utah Airboat Association
Utah Waterfowl Association
Wasatch Wigeons Association