Transamerican Waste Industries, Inc. v. Benson

690 So. 2d 346, 1997 Ala. LEXIS 57, 1997 WL 112724
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 14, 1997
Docket1950650, 1950916
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 690 So. 2d 346 (Transamerican Waste Industries, Inc. v. Benson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Transamerican Waste Industries, Inc. v. Benson, 690 So. 2d 346, 1997 Ala. LEXIS 57, 1997 WL 112724 (Ala. 1997).

Opinion

ALMON, Justice.

TransAmerican Waste Industries, Inc., appeals from a summary judgment holding that the public notices of three meetings of the Chilton County Commission did not meet the minimum notice requirements of Ala.Code 1975, §§ 22-27-47(0 and 22-27-48(a). At one of those meetings, the Commission modified its solid waste management plan, and at the other two meetings it gave local approval for a modification of the permit for the Chil-ton County sanitary landfill. The purpose and effect of those modifications was to transfer ownership and management of the landfill to TransAmerican and to expand and otherwise modify its operation.

Eight individual residents of Chilton County and S.A.V.E., a nonprofit corporation “organized under Alabama law for the protection of Chilton County, Alabama, and its public water supply,” filed an action against TransAmerican; Chilton County, its Commission, and the individual commissioners (collectively referred to herein as “Chilton County”); and the director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”). The complaint sought relief against the transfer and expansion of the landfill, but the circuit court entered a summary judgment for the defendants on all counts except the three — counts three and four and part of count five — that sought relief based on allegations of improper notice as mentioned above. TransAmerican1 appeals from the summary judgment against it on those three counts, and the plaintiffs appeal from the summary judgment for the defendants on the remaining counts.

TmnsAmerican’s Appeal

Title 22 of the Alabama Code of 1975 pertains to “Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control.” Chapter 27 of that title governs “Solid Waste.” Article 3 [349]*349(§§ 22-27-40 through -49) of that chapter is a codification of 1989 Ala. Acts, No. 89-824, p. 1638, and is entitled “Solid Waste Management Plan.” Section 22-27-45 of that article requires ADEM to develop a state solid waste management plan, and § 22-27-47 requires each county (and municipalities that elect to do so) to develop a local solid waste management plan. Pursuant to § 22-27-47, Chilton County had implemented a plan before these events occurred.

Section 22-27-47(f) provides:
“Prior to final adoption or amendment of a plan, the jurisdiction shall afford the public an opportunity to present data, views and arguments thereon, orally or in writing. The public comment period shall be no less than 30 days in length and shall include at least one public hearing. Notice of the public comment period shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction and in the official gazette, if any, of the jurisdiction. Notice of the inclusive dates of the public comment period and the date of the public hearing may be combined in the same publication. Notice of the time and place of the public hearing shall be published at least 30 days, but not more than 45 days prior to the date of said hearing. Any published notice shall contain a brief description of the proposed plan, and shall identify a location where copies of the plan shall be available for inspection during normal business hours, and shall also identify a contact person from whom interested persons can obtain additional information or copies of the proposed plan. The plan, including any revisions, subsequently submitted for adoption shall be accompanied by a document containing written responses to comments made during the comment period.”

(Emphasis added.)

On July 29; August 5, 12, 19, and 26; and September 2 and 9,1994, the following notice was published in the Clanton Advertiser (Clanton is the county seat of Chilton County and the largest municipality in that county):

“PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
“MODIFICATION OF SOLID WASTE PLAN
“The Chilton County Commission will conduct a public hearing on Monday September 12, 1994, at 10:00 A.M. at the Chil-ton County courthouse, Clanton Alabama, to solicit public comment concerning the county solid waste management plan- as required by Alabama law 89-824 (Holley Act). The public Hearing will involved [sic] the topics of landfill Management and Service Area Expansion.
“Public comments will be received, and copies of the proposed modification will be available for review, from July 27 to September 12,1994 at the County Commission Office. Written comments should be addressed to the Chairman, Chilton County Commission, P.O. Box 1945, Clanton, Alabama.”

The plaintiffs contend in count three that this notice of the hearing on the proposed modification of Chilton County’s solid waste management plan was deficient. However, the only provision of the statute that arguably was not satisfied by this notice was the requirement that it contain a “brief description of the proposed plan.”

Similarly, § 22-27-48(a), in pertinent part, requires a county to give notice of, and an opportunity to be heard on, any proposal to modify a solid waste disposal permit:

“Any determination by the local governing body of the proposed issuance of or modification of a permit for a new or existing solid waste management site or the proposal to contract for any services described in the solid waste management plan, shall be made in a public meeting only after public notice of such application or proposal and an opportunity for public comment is provided.
“In providing public notice of any application or proposal regarding any services described in the solid waste management plan, the local government shall at a minimum hold at least one public hearing thereon, notice of the time and place of which shall be given by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the [350]*350municipality and in the official gazette, if any, of the jurisdiction. Furthermore, such notice shall be given at least 30 days but not more than 45 days prior to the proposed date of said hearing. Each notice published in compliance with this section shall contain at a minimum a description of the proposed action to be considered, its relevance to and consistency with the local solid waste management plan and shall identify a contact person from' whom interested persons can obtain additional information and can review copies of both the local plan and the application or proposal to be considered. All pertinent documents shall be available for inspection during normal business hours at a location readily accessible to the public....”

The County published on July 29; August 5,12,19, and 26; and September 2, 9,16, and 23, the following notice of a hearing to be held on September 26 concerning a proposed modification of the landfill permit:

“PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
“The Chilton County Commission will conduct a Public Hearing on September 26,1994 at 6:30 P.M. at the Chilton County Courthouse, to solicit public comment regarding the renewal/modification of the permit for the Chilton County Sanitary Landfill (Permit No. 11-01R). The permit to operate the facility is being renewed through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and at the same time is being modified to increase the volume of waste that can be accepted due to an increased service area.

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Related

Calhoun County Com'n v. Hooks
728 So. 2d 625 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1997)
Ex Parte Beck
690 So. 2d 346 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
690 So. 2d 346, 1997 Ala. LEXIS 57, 1997 WL 112724, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/transamerican-waste-industries-inc-v-benson-ala-1997.