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I. REGIONAL PLAN UPDATEII. REGULATORY OVERVIEW.
Update of Local Plans, Policies, Ordinances, or Agreements Affecting Solid Waste Management
III. REVISED DATA.
Population Projections and Source
1996 Waste Flow
Solid Waste Management and Waste Reduction Programs and Services
Solid Waste Facilities in the Region
IV. Assessment of Need for Formal Amendments.
A. Recommended Changes to the Regional Plan
B. Status of Regional Plan Implementation
Date of plan update: February 11, 1999
The East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) has participated in regional solid waste management planning over the past several years. One milestone was the development of the East Texas Council of Governments Regional Solid Waste Management Plan For the 25 Year Planning Period, 1991-2015 (Plan). The authority for the development of that Plan was Senate Bill 1519 of the 71st Texas Legislature, which in 1989 directed all regional planning agencies to develop such plans. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), at that time the Texas Water Commission, provided funding for the work. That funding and the current funding for Plan implementation is derived from municipal solid waste disposal tipping fees. TNRCC continues to fund Plan implementation. As part of this implementation, ETCOG manages a grant program for funding projects aimed at achieving the Plan's goals, and performs coordination work such as maintaining a regional Solid Waste Advisory Committee, facilitating regional education and training, and updating the Plan.
TNRCC has set parameters for updating the Plan by providing ETCOG with an update form. The update form is not a comprehensive update, since the original Plan is three volumes of comprehensive information, which took a consultant and a solid waste task force one and a half years to complete. Therefore, this Plan update is titled "1998 Regional Solid Waste Management Plan Update Form" (Update Form). The original Plan offers: 1) a descriptive basis of information to help local governments in their planning efforts; 2) a set of strategies for addressing common regional problems in solid waste management and for promoting coordinated approaches; and 3) a framework for a continuing regional approach in evaluating solid waste management issues in upcoming years. Some of this descriptive information as well as information associated with fulfilling these strategies or goals are addressed in this Update Form.
The primary area of concern and the first goal of the original Plan is disposal capacity. Three regional landfills continue to dispose of the vast majority of municipal solid waste generated in the fourteen county ETCOG region. Only about 30,000 tons of the over 500,000 tons generated is exported out of the region. The current capacity of these three landfills equals about 23,000,000 tons. To determine how long this tonnage could serve the region requires disposal rate information. Disposal rate projections through the life of the Plan, or 2015, depends on other factors as well, such as economic activity and population growth. The most empirical figures for disposal rate reported in pounds per person per day: 1) the 1991 original Plan findings, 5.94; 2) the 1994 reporting figures listed on the 1996 TNRCC report, 4.68; 3) the 1996 Plan Update findings, 4.19; and 4) the current 1998 figures derived from actual Olympic Waste Systems' report of municipal solid waste disposed in the three regional landfills, 4.59. All these consider the waste export just mentioned. Another figure to consider is the amount used for projection purposes by Olympic, 5.21. Using the highest figure of 5.94 pounds per person—and considering economic activity and population growth—equals 13.6 million tons disposal capacity necessary. Therefore, through 2015, ample disposal capacity is available for the region.
Reducing the rate of disposal is another goal of the original Plan. The Plan adopted the statewide goal of reducing by 40% the amount of municipal solid waste disposed of in 1992. From analyzing the rate mentioned in the previous paragraph, one can see a reduction in pounds per person per day between 1991 and 1998. Based on these figures, the current rate is about 15% less than the amount estimated for 1992, a reduction of about 100,000 tons or 570,000 cubic yards per year. However, the trend is not a continual downward direction. The current rate in 1998 is higher than 1996. The Update Form also includes the hypothetical amount of disposal if the 40% reduction were met this year and maintained through 2015: between 4.7 million and 1.8 million less tons disposed.
Since both economic activity and population growth are for sure not declining, the most likely factor affecting the downturn in disposal rates are waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. In fact, the increased practice of these three Rs is another goal of the Plan. Increasing waste reduction and reuse in business and manufacturing is proving to be a common sense approach. On the residential side, a lot of organizations have taken the step ahead to promote and facilitate recycling. As listed in this Update Form, many more recycling collectors and services are offered than in 1991. In addition, the TNRCC and ETCOG have distributed some of the waste disposal tipping fee grants to public organizations in the ETCOG region for projects promoting and facilitating the three Rs. Relative to the mid 1990s, overall market prices for recyclables have dropped. This has put a lot of recycling programs in a precarious position regarding covering dollar costs. However, the infrastructure for collection in the more urbanized areas is still in place. Noteworthy, is the recent addition to this infrastructure, namely the Carthage Materials Recovery Faciltiy.
Another, albeit, negative factor that could influence the decline in disposal rates is illegal dumping. However, many areas in the region are becoming more active in enforcing litter abatement laws. In addition ETCOG has also provided seed money to local governments for employing litter abatement officers. Some of the results from these as well as other funded projects are included in this Update Form.