BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to transportation of hazardous or biomedical waste; amending RCW 81.77.010; adding a new section to Title 81 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 81.80 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to Title 81 RCW to read as follows:

(1) For purposes of this section, "biomedical waste" and "treatment" mean the same as defined in RCW 70.95K.010. "Hazardous waste" means the same as defined in RCW 70.105K.010.

(2) No person or entity not otherwise exempted from the provisions of this chapter shall transport hazardous or biomedical waste for compensation on the public highways of this state for treatment, including recycling, or for disposal, without first having obtained a certificate from the commission authorizing the service. The commission shall grant a certificate upon finding the following:

(a) The applicant is fit, willing, and able to provide transportation of hazardous and/or biomedical waste and to comply with all laws and rules applying to that service;

(b) The applicant has an operating plan, training plan, and packaging and containment program appropriate for hazardous and/or biomedical waste, complying with all pertinent laws and regulations;

(c) The applicant will transport hazardous or biomedical waste for treatment, storage, or disposal only to a facility that meets all local, state, and environmental regulations as determined by the appropriate local, state, and federal agencies;

(d) The applicant has paid the appropriate filing fees authorized by this chapter and established by the commission for applications for solid waste operating authority; and

(e) A grant of authority is consistent with the public interest.

A person operating a treatment facility for hazardous or biohazardous substances that meets all local, state, and federal environmental regulations as determined by the appropriate local, state, and federal agencies may be granted a permit upon findings as given in (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection.

(3) Any person authorized to provide this service under RCW 81.77.040 or 81.80.070 as of the effective date of this section shall convert that authority to authority under this section within one year after the effective date of this section, or the carrier's existing authority to provide such service will expire. The possession of such existing authority shall be prima facie evidence that the applicant complies with subsection (2) of this section.

(4) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section governing (a) the nature and method of tariffing of rates for hazardous and biomedical waste service; (b) the application fee, not to exceed the fee for motor carrier authority under chapter 81.80 RCW, and the application processes for securing new and converted authority; and (c) any other matter, consistent with this section, that the commission deems necessary to effect the provisions of this section.

(5) Every person who engages for compensation to perform a combination of services, a substantial portion of which includes transportation of hazardous and/or biomedical waste, shall not engage in the activity without first obtaining a permit to do so under this section. An example of such a combination of services includes, but is not limited to, treating hazardous and/or biomedical waste to render it nonhazardous. Every person engaging in such a combination of services shall advise the commission what portion of the consideration is intended to cover the transportation service. The rates or charges for the transportation services included in such combination of services shall be subject to control and regulation in the manner specified by the commission by rule.

(6) Any application for hazardous or biomedical waste authority that is pending as of the effective date of this section may be granted as authority under this section if it meets the pertinent tests for authority under which the application was filed or if it meets the tests specified in subsection (2) of this section. If the commission finds that the pending application fails to meet the tests for authority applied for, and if parties have not previously addressed the standards established in this section, the commission shall allow all parties to comment and, in its discretion, may allow parties to present additional pertinent evidence.

Sec. 2. RCW 81.77.010 and 1989 c 431 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Motor vehicle" means any truck, trailer, semitrailer, tractor or any self-propelled or motor driven vehicle used upon any public highway of this state for the purpose of transporting solid waste, for the collection and/or disposal thereof;

(2) "Public highway" means every street, road, or highway in this state;

(3) "Common carrier" means any person who undertakes to transport solid waste, for the collection and/or disposal thereof, by motor vehicle for compensation, whether over regular or irregular routes, or regular or irregular schedules;

(4) "Contract carrier" means all garbage and refuse transporters not included under the terms "common carrier" and "private carrier," as herein defined, and further, shall include any person who under special and individual contracts or agreements transports solid waste by motor vehicle for compensation;

(5) "Private carrier" means a person who, in his own vehicle, transports solid waste purely as an incidental adjunct to some other established private business owned or operated by him in good faith: PROVIDED, That a person who transports solid waste from residential sources in a vehicle designed or used primarily for the transport of solid waste shall not constitute a private carrier;

(6) "Vehicle" means every device capable of being moved upon a public highway and in, upon, or by which any solid waste is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human or animal power or used exclusively upon stationary rail or tracks;

(7) "Solid waste collection company" means every person or his lessees, receivers, or trustees, owning, controlling, operating or managing vehicles used in the business of transporting solid waste for collection and/or disposal for compensation, except septic tank pumpers, over any public highway in this state whether as a "common carrier" thereof or as a "contract carrier" thereof;

(8) Solid waste collection does not include collecting or transporting recyclable materials from a drop-box or recycling buy-back center, nor collecting or transporting recyclable materials by or on behalf of a commercial or industrial generator of recyclable materials to a recycler for use or reclamation. Transportation of these materials is regulated under chapter 81.80 RCW; and

(9) "Solid waste" means the same as defined under RCW 70.95.030, except for the purposes of this chapter solid waste does not include recyclable materials except for hazardous and biomedical materials as provided in section 1 of this act, and except for source separated recyclable materials collected from residences. For purposes of RCW 81.77.040, solid waste does not include biomedical waste as defined in chapter 70.95K RCW or hazardous waste as defined in RCW 70.105.010.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:

Transportation for treatment, including transportation for recycling, of hazardous waste as defined in RCW 70.105.010 and biomedical waste as defined in RCW 70.95K.010 shall be governed by section 1 of this act and by chapter 81.77 RCW, and not by RCW 81.80.070 and chapter 81.80 RCW.