In re Certain Amendments to the Adopted & Approved Solid Waste Management Plan

518 A.2d 1105, 214 N.J. Super. 247, 1986 N.J. Super. LEXIS 1523
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedDecember 10, 1986
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 518 A.2d 1105 (In re Certain Amendments to the Adopted & Approved Solid Waste Management Plan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Certain Amendments to the Adopted & Approved Solid Waste Management Plan, 518 A.2d 1105, 214 N.J. Super. 247, 1986 N.J. Super. LEXIS 1523 (N.J. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BAIME, J.A.D.

This is an appeal by 23 municipalities challenging the validity of an emergency order issued by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) redirecting Camden County’s solid waste flows from the now closed Kinsley landfill in Gloucester County to a transfer station operated by the Forge, Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Appellants contend that the emergency order transcends the territorial jurisdiction of the DEP and the BPU and, in any event, is ultra vires because the agencies failed to adhere to the requisites of the Administrative Procedure Act (N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq.) and the applicable Administrative Code provisions.

We need not recite the facts at length. Suffice it to say, the joint action of the DEP and the BPU came in the wake of protracted litigation resulting in a court order directing the phased closure of the Kinsley landfill. See Glassboro v. Gloucester Cty. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, 98 N.J. 186 (1984), on [249]*249remand, 199 N.J.Super. 91 (App.Div.1985), aff’d, 100 N.J. 134 (1985), cert. den. — US. -, 106 S.Ct. 532, 88 L.Ed.2d 464 (1985). Virtually all the solid waste generated within New Jersey which was deposited at that landfill emanated from Gloucester, Camden and Salem Counties. Since the Kinsley landfill had reached its maximum capacity, the court’s order directed those counties to develop new solid waste disposal facilities as soon as possible.

In response, the Camden County Solid Waste Advisory Council retained a consultant to assist it in locating potential sites for new landfills. Several sites were investigated but none was found to be environmentally acceptable. Inquiries to other New Jersey districts concerning the possibility of utilizing out-of-county facilities proved unavailing.

Ultimately, the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders entered into negotiations with the Forge, Inc., which, as we have noted, operates a disposal facility in Philadelphia. Following public hearings, the Board approved an amendment to the county’s solid waste management plan redirecting waste flows formerly deposited in the Kinsley landfill to the Forge, Inc. The amendment was then presented to the DEP which submitted it to various state review agencies for comment.

On November 25, 1985 the Commissioner of the DEP certified the amendment with certain minor alterations. The certification directs that various types of solid waste are to be transported to the transfer station operated by the Forge, Inc. A landfill located in Winslow Township is to be used as a back-up solid waste facility subject to the county’s obtaining waivers of strict compliance from the New Jersey Pinelands Commission. In the certification, the Commissioner emphasized that the redirection of solid waste to these facilities was not intended to be a permanent solution to Camden County’s problem. Rather, the redirection of Camden County’s solid waste is said to be a temporary emergency measure which is to terminate at the end of a three and one-half year period. [250]*250During this period, Camden County is obliged to consider other sites and adopt a new sold waste management plan. Under the certification, the approved amendment was to take effect on December 1, 1985.

On the date that the Commissioner issued his certification of the plan amendment, he sent a memorandum to the President of the BPU informing her of the problems confronting Camden County and requesting that she approve an emergency redirection order. Pursuant to his request, the redirection order was approved by the BPU on December 27, 1985. This appeal followed.

I

Initially, we reject appellants’ argument that the emergency redirection order and the amendment to the solid waste management plan are invalid because they exceed the territorial jurisdiction of the DEP and the BPU. Stripped to its essentials, appellants’ contention is premised upon the thesis that the Solid Waste Management Act (Act) (N.J.S.A. 13:1E-1 et seq.) requires that all waste generated in New Jersey be disposed of in this state. Appellants cite no specific authority supporting this proposition and we find none. Although the Act does not expressly authorize out-of-state disposal of solid wastes, we are firmly convinced that such power can be reasonably implied from a fair reading of the statutory language.

The Solid Waste Management Act is described in great detail in A.A. Mastrangelo, Inc. v. Environmental Protec. Dep’t, 90 N.J. 666 (1982), and it would be superfluous for us to engage in an extensive discussion of its provisions here. We merely observe that the Act represents a comprehensive statement by the Legislature which provides “a framework for the coordination of solid waste collection, disposal, and utilization activity in New Jersey.” Id. at 672. The Act “sets forth a structured scheme for the integration of solid waste management planning at local, regional and state levels.” Ibid. The principal articu[251]*251lated objective of the statutory scheme is to promote the “health, safety and welfare of the people of this State [through] efficient and reasonable solid waste collection and disposal service or [through the] efficient utilization of such waste.” N.J.S.A. 13:lE-2a.

In our view, the authority of the DEP and the BPU to redirect solid waste flow from a New Jersey landfill that has reached its maximum capacity to an out-of-state facility is reasonably incidental to the ability of these agencies to effectuate fully the legislative intent underlying the Act. See A.A. Mastrangelo, Inc. v. Environmental Protec. Dep’t, supra, 90 N.J. at 683. In New Jersey Guild of Hearing Aid Dispensers v. Long, 75 N.J. 544 (1978), our Supreme Court addressed a factual complex somewhat similar to that here in that the statutory authority for an administrative agency action was not expressly stated in the enabling legislation, yet the action furthered the policies and findings upon which the statutory scheme rested. The Court stated that “[t]he authority possessed by an administrative agency ‘consists of the powers expressly granted which in turn are attended by those incidental powers which are reasonably necessary or appropriate to effectuate the specific delegation.’ ” Id. at 562, quoting In re Regulation F-22, Office of Milk Industry, New Jersey, 32 N.J. 258, 261 (1960). The Court went on to note that “the grant of authority to an administrative agency is to be liberally construed in order to enable the agency to accomplish its statutory responsibilities and ... the [judiciary] should readily imply such incidental powers as are necessary to effectuate fully the legislative intent.” New Jersey Guild of Hearing Aid Dispensers v. Long, supra, 75 N.J. at 562. See also In re Suspension of Heller, 73 N.J. 292, 303 (1977); Cammarata v. Essex County Park Comm’n, 26 N.J. 404, 411 (1958); Lane v. Holderman, 23 N.J. 304, 315 (1957). More recently, in A.A. Mastrangelo, Inc. v. Environmental Protec. Dep % supra, the Court reiterated these principles in reference to the Solid Waste Management Act and stated that “the absence of an express [252]

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Related

Matter of Camden Cty. Solid Waste Mgt. Dist.
518 A.2d 1105 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
518 A.2d 1105, 214 N.J. Super. 247, 1986 N.J. Super. LEXIS 1523, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-certain-amendments-to-the-adopted-approved-solid-waste-management-njsuperctappdiv-1986.