Bill Text: VA SB1158 | 2023 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Garbage and refuse pickup and disposal services; regulation, exclusive service areas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-01-23 - Passed by indefinitely in Local Government (10-Y 3-N) [SB1158 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2023-SB1158-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §15.2-930 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§15.2-930. Regulation of garbage and refuse pickup and disposal services; contracting for such services.
A. Any locality may by ordinance impose license taxes upon and otherwise regulate the services rendered by any business engaged in the pickup and disposal of garbage, trash, or refuse, wherein service will be provided to the residents of any such locality. Such regulation may include the delineation of service areas, the limitation of the number of persons engaged in such service in any such service area, including the creation of one or more exclusive service areas, and the regulation of rates of charge for any such service.
Such locality is authorized to contract with any person, whether profit or nonprofit, for garbage and refuse pickup and disposal services in its respective jurisdiction.
B. Prior to enacting an ordinance pursuant to subsection A
which displaces a private company engaged in the provision of pickup and
disposal of garbage, trash, or
refuse in service areas, the governing body shall: (i) hold at least one public
hearing seeking comment on the advisability of such ordinance; (ii) provide at
least forty-five 45
days' written notice of the hearing, delivered by first class mail to all
private companies which provide the service in the locality and which the
locality is able to identify through local government records; and (iii)
provide public notice of the hearing. Following the final public hearing held
pursuant to the preceding sentence, but in no event longer than one year after
the hearing, a governing body may enact an ordinance pursuant to subsection A
which displaces a private company engaged in the provision of pickup and
disposal of garbage, trash, or
refuse in a service area if the ordinance provides that private companies will
not be displaced until five years after its passage. As an alternative to
delaying displacement five years, a governing body may pay a company an amount
equal to the company's preceding twelve 12 months' gross receipts for
the displaced service in the displacement area. Such five-year period shall
lapse as to any private company being displaced when such company ceases to
provide service within the displacement area.
For purposes of this section, "displace" or
"displacement" means an ordinance prohibiting a private company from
providing the service it is providing at the time a decision to displace is
made. "Displace or displacement" does not mean: (i) competition between the
public sector and private companies for individual contracts; (ii) situations
where a locality or combination of localities, at the end of a contract with a
private company, does not renew the contract and either awards the contract to
another private company or, following a competitive process conducted in
accordance with the Virginia Public Procurement Act, decides for any reason to
contract with a public service authority established pursuant to the Virginia Water
and Waste Authorities Act, or, following such competitive process, decides for
any reason to provide such pickup and disposal service itself; (iii) situations
where action is taken against a company because the company has acted in a
manner threatening to the health and safety of the locality's citizens or
resulting in a substantial public nuisance; (iv) situations where action is
taken against a private company because the company has materially breached its
contract with the locality or combination of localities; (v) situations where a
private company refuses to continue operations under the terms and conditions
of its existing agreement during the five-year period; (vi) entering into a
contract with a private company to provide pickup and disposal of garbage,
trash, or refuse in a service area
so long as such contract is not entered into pursuant to an ordinance which
displaces or authorizes the displacement of another private company providing
pickup and disposal of garbage, trash, or
refuse in such service area; or (vii) situations where at least fifty-five 55
percent of the property owners in the displacement area petition the governing
body to take over such collection service.
C. Any county with a population in excess of 800,000 may by ordinance provide civil penalties not exceeding $500 per offense for persons willfully contracting with a solid waste collector or collectors not licensed or permitted to perform refuse collection services within the county. For purposes of this section, evidence of a willful violation is the voluntary contracting by a person with a solid waste collector after having received written notice from the county that the solid waste collector is not licensed or permitted to operate within that county. Written notice may be provided by certified mail or by any appropriate method specified in Article 4 (§8.01-296 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 8.01.
D. Fairfax County may by ordinance authorize the local police department to serve a summons to appear in court on solid waste collectors operating within that county without a license or permit. Each day the solid waste collector operates within the county without a license or permit is a separate offense, punishable by a fine of up to $500.
E. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, general or special, any locality in Planning District 8 may by ordinance establish exclusive service areas and award such service areas to businesses that as of July 1, 2023, are legally engaged in the pickup and disposal of garbage, trash, or refuse, wherein service will be provided to the residents of the county. For each such business, the locality may establish a separate service area with a customer base that approximates the number of residential customers served by the business in the locality on July 1, 2024. The ordinance shall establish procedures for removing or adding businesses and adjusting the boundaries of such service areas as needed. Property owners' associations may continue to contract with properly licensed businesses of their choice notwithstanding the establishment of exclusive service areas.
2. That the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless reenacted by the 2024 Session of the General Assembly.
