§ 27A-2-10-1001 — Development of plan - Fees and charges - Acceptance

and disbursement of funds - Contracts for land, facilities and vehicles - Operational policies - Personnel - Violations and penalties - Exempt counties. A. The board of county commissioners in each county of the state shall develop a plan, subject to the approval of the Department of Environmental Quality, to provide a solid waste management system to handle adequately solid wastes generated or existing within the boundaries of such county. An application for a solid waste transfer station to be located in a county with a population of less than twenty thousand (20,000) based on the 1990 Federal Decennial Census shall not be submitted to the Department unless it is included in the county plan submitted to the Department. The application shall be made in accordance with the permitting requirements in the Oklahoma Solid Waste Management Act. By agreement or contractual arrangement the board of county commissioners may assume responsibility for solid wastes generated within incorporated cities or towns whether within their counties or other counties. The board of county commissioners of a county may enter into agreements with other counties, one or more towns or cities, governmental agencies, with private persons, trusts or with any combination thereof to provide a solid waste management system for the county or any portion thereof. B. The county commissioners shall have the authority to levy and collect such fees and charges and require such licenses as may be appropriate to discharge their responsibility for a solid waste management system or any portion thereof. Such fees, charges and licenses shall be based on a fee schedule contained in an official resolution of the board of county commissioners and may be invoiced and collected by other public or private utility services in the normal course of their business. C. The board of county commissioners may accept and disburse funds derived from federal or state grants or from private sources or from monies that may be appropriated from the General Revenue Fund for the installation and operation of a solid waste management system. D. The board of county commissioners is authorized to contract for the lease or purchase of land, facilities and vehicles for the operation of a solid waste management system either for the county or as a party to a regional solid waste management district. E. The board of county commissioners of a county shall have the right to establish written policies in compliance with the plan approved by the Department for the operation of a solid waste management system including hours of operation, amount, character and kind of waste accepted at the solid waste container sites or any disposal site, and such other rules as may be necessary for the safety of the operating personnel, persons using the sites and the general public. F. The board of county commissioners of a county is authorized to hire such persons, including peace officers, as may be necessary to administer the county solid waste management system, enforce policies established pursuant to the solid waste plan and issue citations for violation of the solid waste laws of the State of Oklahoma. G. Any person who violates any policy established by the board of county commissioners for the operation of a solid waste management system created pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per day. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense. H. The provisions of this section requiring approval of the Department for plans providing for a solid waste management system, shall not apply to counties having a solid waste management system plan in effect on July 1, 1992. For any county having a solid waste management system plan in effect on July 1, 1992, the county commissioners may charge and collect reasonable service and disposal fees as necessary for any nonhazardous industrial solid waste collection and disposal system. In determining reasonable fees for any nonhazardous industrial solid waste collection and disposal system, the county may take into account the damage and repair of access roads, litter control, surveillance, civil defense, and such other costs and expenditures deemed necessary by the county. Any person subject to the assessment of such fees who is aggrieved at the action of the commissioners in determining the amount of such fees, may appeal the action of the commissioners to the district court of the county for a review as to the reasonableness of the fees. The decision of the court shall be final and binding upon the commissioners, provided that any such order of the commissioners assessing the fees shall be binding until reversed by the court.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1970, c. 69, § 7, emerg. eff. Mar. 17, 1970. Amended by Laws 1982, c. 77, § 11, emerg. eff. April 1, 1982. Renumbered from § 2257 of this title by Laws 1990, c. 217, § 10, eff. Sept. 1, 1990 and by Laws 1990, c. 225, § 11, eff. Sept. 1, 1990. Amended by Laws 1992, c. 121, § 1, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1992, c. 270, § 2, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 145, § 165, eff. July 1, 1993. Renumbered from Title 63, § 1-2413 by Laws 1993, c. 145, § 359, eff. July 1, 1993. Amended by Laws 1993, c. 324, § 41, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 338, § 5, emerg. eff. June 8, 1994; Laws 1999, c. 284, § 6, emerg. eff. May 27, 1999.