Ohio Code 3734.40 – Policy as to off-site treatment, storage and disposal of wastes
The general assembly hereby finds and declares the following to be the public policy of this state:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3734.40
- Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, emitting, or placing of any solid wastes or hazardous waste into or on any land or ground or surface water or into the air. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Hazardous waste: includes any substance identified by regulation as hazardous waste under the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976" 90 Stat. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Person: includes the state, any political subdivision and other state or local body, the United States and any agency or instrumentality thereof, and any legal entity defined as a person under section 1. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Solid wastes: means such unwanted residual solid or semisolid material as results from industrial, commercial, agricultural, and community operations, excluding earth or material from construction, mining, or demolition operations, or other waste materials of the type that normally would be included in demolition debris, nontoxic fly ash and bottom ash, including at least ash that results from the combustion of coal and ash that results from the combustion of coal in combination with scrap tires where scrap tires comprise not more than fifty per cent of heat input in any month, spent nontoxic foundry sand, nontoxic, nonhazardous, unwanted fired and unfired, glazed and unglazed, structural products made from shale and clay products, materials converted into a feedstock that replaces a raw material in a manufacturing process at an advanced recycling facility, materials used as a legitimate fuel at an advanced recycling facility, and slag and other substances that are not harmful or inimical to public health, and includes, but is not limited to, garbage, scrap tires, combustible and noncombustible material, street dirt, and debris. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(A) That the off-site treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste and the off-site disposal of solid wastes, including incineration, and transfer of solid wastes are critical components of the economic structure of this state and, when properly controlled and regulated, make substantial contributions to the general welfare, health, and prosperity of the state and its inhabitants by minimizing the serious health and environmental threats inherent in the management of these wastes;
(B) That the regulatory provisions of this chapter are designed to extend strict state regulation to those persons involved in the operations of these permitted activities so as to foster and justify the public confidence and trust in the credibility and integrity of the conduct of these activities;
(C) That the solid and hazardous waste management industries in this state can attain, maintain, and retain integrity, public confidence, and trust, and promote the general public interest, only under a system of control and regulation that precludes the participation therein of persons with known criminal records and excludes or removes from any position of authority or responsibility any person known to be so deficient in reliability, expertise, or competence with specific reference to the solid or hazardous waste management industries that his participation in them would create or enhance the danger of unsound, unfair, or illegal practices, methods, and activities in the conduct of the business of the industries;
(D) That strict licensing standards will help ensure that members of the waste management industry in this state will continue to maintain standards of professionalism and responsibility;
(E) That it therefore is vital to the interests of this state to prevent either direct or indirect entry into the operations of the off-site solid waste disposal and transfer and the off-site hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal, industries of persons who are not competent and reliable or who have pursued economic gains in an occupational manner or context violative of the criminal code or civil public policies of this state, and it is to the end of excluding such persons from those industries that the regulatory and investigatory powers and duties provided in sections 3734.41 to 3734.47 of the Revised Code shall be exercised to the fullest extent consistent with law.