Signatures Are Needed For 'Yardwaste Disposal Ban' Resolution!

NEWS RELEASE: March 1, 1999

CONTACT: Lynn Landes, Director, www.ZeroWasteAmerica.org / lynnlandes@earthlink.net / 215-629-3553

DEP MISLEADS ON YARD WASTE DISPOSAL BAN… AGAIN

Once again a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has misled the press, the public, and politicians on the subject of a yard waste disposal ban.

In a Feb. 24 Bucks County Courier Times article, Rick Morrison, a DEP spokesperson, indicated to the reporter that Pennsylvania already has a yardwaste disposal ban in place. Morrison’s comments were in response to statements by Rep. David Steil, leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representative's Waste Caucus, and Lynn Landes, of Zero Waste America (ZWA), on the merits of the soon-to-be-proposed ‘yard waste disposal ban’ legislation and its impact on waste imports.

Over the last several years, in both public forums and private discussions, Landes has repeatedly corrected DEP officials on their misleading statements regarding the existence of a yard waste disposal ban under Pennsylvania law.

"Pennsylvania does not currently have a disposal ban on yard waste, in general, nor on grass clippings and leaf waste, specifically. Act 101, Section 1502 only applies a waste disposal restriction to ‘truckloads composed primarily of leaf waste,'" says Landes.

The regulations do not prohibit truckloads that are not ‘primarily’ composed of leaf waste, which means that a considerable amount of leaf waste in an unlimited number of trash trucks is acceptable. Grass clippings are exempt for any disposal restrictions. (Revised 9/27/99).

A complete yard waste disposal ban will prohibit both in-state and out-of-state trash haulers from disposing of yard waste in Pennsylvania landfills or incinerators. Disposal ban proponents hope that it will be the first in a series of disposal bans that will help stop waste imports and start protecting Pennsylvanians' health and natural resources.

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