Sponsor: Public Health
Title
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Ramsey County Solid Waste Management Plan 2024-2042
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Recommendation
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1. Adopt the Ramsey County Solid Waste Management Plan 2024-2042.
2. Authorize Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health to submit the Solid Waste Management Plan to the Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for review and approval.
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Background and Rationale
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Ramsey County is required by state statute to revise the Ramsey County Solid Waste Management Plan every six years. The county’s plan has a 20-year horizon and guides county activities related to waste management.
Solid Waste Management Plan revision is guided by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Policy Plan, which includes objectives for abating the need for land disposal of mixed municipal solid waste. The county’s plan describes how the county will implement the Policy Plan. The policies and strategies in the county’s plan should not be viewed only through the lens of MPCA goals but are designed to align with Ramsey County’s goals of well-being, prosperity, opportunity, and accountability.
The Ramsey County Solid Waste Management Plan reflects the strong partnership with Washington County and Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy in managing waste. The Ramsey County plan and Washington County plan are written in close alignment to facilitate this collaboration.
Plan objectives relate to waste reduction, recycling, organics recovery, resource recovery and landfilling. Areas of particular focus in this plan include:
• Reuse
• Measurement
• Deconstruction (taking buildings apart instead of demolishing them so that materials can be reused)
• Food scraps collection
• Exploration of new technologies for recovering value from waste
The plan is organized into 15 chapters with seven appendices. The topical chapters include policies and strategies. Policies are statements of principle: the “why” of the plan. Strategies are statements of action: the “how” of the plan. The appendices include supporting documents such as a description of the existing solid waste management system, relevant ordinances, environmental justice review, acronyms, and definitions.
Saint Paul-Ramsey County Public Health presented on the revised plan to the Ramsey County Board at a board workshop on July 9, 2024. The Ramsey County Board held a policy discussion of the revised plan on September 4, 2024. Upon board approval, The Solid Waste Management Plan will be submitted to the Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for review and approval.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☐ Prosperity ☐ Opportunity ☒ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
The Solid Waste Management Plan addresses all aspects of waste reduction and management in the county. Equity considerations include access to information and services and ensuring that environmental risks associated with waste are not disproportionately borne by communities of color.
Working to ensure health equity and environmental justice is an overarching policy of the plan. Overarching policies are intended to be applied across the implementation of all plan chapters. They also assist in prioritizing county efforts and funding.
Numerous plan strategies have racial equity and environmental justice implications, including:
• Removing barriers to participation in county engagement activities.
• Addressing barriers to household hazardous waste collection.
• Providing education and programming to help residents understand and mitigate home health hazards, such as lead and radon.
• Helping multi-unit residential properties to improve recycling opportunities.
• Continuing to roll out a food scraps collection program that mitigates vehicles traffic by using existing collection trucks and routes and is available to all residents, regardless of the type of housing in which they live.
Appendix F of the plan includes an environmental justice review.
Community Participation Level and Impact
Feedback gathered through community engagement helped determine elements to include in the final plan. Community engagement included:
• Waste Reduction Advisory Committee. This group of 29 individuals included members of the community, municipality representatives and waste industry representatives. The group also included a representative from Saint Paul-Ramsey County Public Health’s Community Health Services Advisory Committee. Members were compensated for their time and expertise.
• Pop-up community engagement. Staff attended 15 community locations and events to request feedback on plan priorities. Community members were compensated for their time and expertise.
• Resident survey. The county conducted a statistically significant survey of residents that included questions to guide plan preparation.
• Public comment. The draft plan was posted online for the community to review and respond to.
• Municipality engagement. Ramsey County municipal representatives were surveyed and attended an in-person workshop to discuss the plan.
• Waste industry engagement. With the help of a consultant, the county hosted conversations with representatives from the waste industry serving the region for feedback on plan preparation.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☒ Involve ☒ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
The Solid Waste Management Plan guides county activities related to waste management over a six-year period. There is no fiscal impact to the 2024-2025 budget. The 2026-2027 Public Health budget will include any updates from the revised plan.
Last Previous Action
On September 4, 2024, the Ramsey County Board had a policy discussion around the proposed Solid Waste Management Plan.
On July 9, 2024, Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health presented the proposed Solid Waste Management Plan at a Ramsey County Board Workshop.
On October 10, 2017, the Ramsey County Board adopted the 2018-2038 Ramsey County Solid Waste Management Plan (Resolution B2017-264).
Attachments
1. Ramsey County Solid Waste Management Plan 2024-2042