For the purpose of this Chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given herein, unless their use in the text of the Chapter clearly demonstrates a different meaning.

(a) Administrator means the Administrator of GEPA or his designee.

(b) Agency means GEPA.

(c) Best public interest means any activity which: lessens the demand for landfill sites, conserves land resources and serves to insure proper, cost effective and environmentally sound disposal of solid waste; and, does not pose health risks to human life or endanger plant and animal life.

(d) Board means the Board of Directors of GEPA.

(e) Business means and includes any activity or conduct, whether proprietary, partnerships, corporate or whatever form, engaged in, or caused to be engaged in, with the object of gain or economic benefit, either direct or indirect, but shall not include casual sales, personal service contracts, fundraising activities by political candidates or the activities of non-profit associations.

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(f) Collection or Collect means the act of removing solid waste from a generator.

(g) Collector means any individual, governmental organization or business which has received a permit to collect and transport waste in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

(h) Combustion means to thermally break down certain types of solid waste in an enclosed device using controlled temperatures.

(i) Composting means the controlled degradation of organic solid waste.

(j) Department means the Department of Public Works
(‘DPW’).

(k) Director means the Director of DPW.

(l) Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground water.

(m) Division means the Division of Solid Waste
Management of the DPW.

(n) Dump means a land site where solid waste is disposed without a valid permit or a landfill that has historically been in regulatory noncompliance.

(o) Dwelling means a building or portion thereof designed exclusively for residential occupancy by one (1) family for living and sleeping purposes and not to exceed two (2) dwelling units.

(p) Dwelling unit means one (1) or more rooms and a single kitchen in a dwelling, designed as a unit for occupancy by one (1) family for living and sleeping purposes.

(q) Financial assurance means a financial guarantee assuring that funds are available to pay for the design,

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construction, operation and closure of a solid waste landfill facility, for rendering post-closure at a solid waste landfill facility, for corrective action and to compensate third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by sudden and non-sudden accidents related to the operation of a solid waste landfill facility.

(r) Generator means any person that generates or produces solid waste.

(s) Government means the government of Guam, all of its agencies, whether line or autonomous, and all public corporations.

(t) Hardfill shall mean a method of compaction and earth cover of solid wastes other than those containing garbage or other putrescible (putrescent) waste, including, but not limited to, demolition material, and like materials not constituting a health or nuisance hazard, where cover need not be applied on a per day used basis. No combustible materials shall be deposited in a hardfill.

(1) Combustible Materials shall mean any solid or liquid that may be ignited.

(A) Combustible Solids, as defined in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1, Subtitle B, Part 173.124, are those capable of igniting and burning.

(B) Combustible Liquids, as defined in Title
29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 17, Subtitle B, Part 1910.106, shall mean any materials having a flash point at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius), but below 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93.3 degrees Celsius), except any mixture having components with flashpoints of
200 degrees Fahrenheit (93.3 degrees Celsius), or higher, the total volume of which make up ninety-
nine percent (99%) or more of the total volume of
the mixture.

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(u) Hazardous Waste means any material or substance which, by reason of its composition or characteristics,

(1) is hazardous waste as defined in the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 USC § 6901, et seq., as amended, replaced or superseded and the regulations implementing same,

(2) is a hazardous substance as defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, 42 USC § 9601, et seq.,

(3) is material the disposal of which is regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 USC § 2601, et seq., as amended, replaced or superseded, and the regulations implementing same,

(4) is special nuclear or by-products material within the meaning of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
(5) is pathological, infectious or biological waste, (6) is treated as hazardous waste or as a hazardous
substance under applicable law,

(7) requires a hazardous waste or similar permit for its storage, treatment, incineration of disposal,

(8) may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness, or

(9) may pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported or disposed of, or otherwise damaged.

(v) Highway means the entire width between the boundary lines of every right-of-way or publicly maintained travel ways when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.

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(w) Incinerator means an enclosed device using controlled flame combustion, the primary purpose of which is to thermally break down solid waste.

(x) Multi-family dwelling means a building containing three (3) or more dwellings.

(y) Office means the Office of Recycling of the
Division.

(z) Operator means any person who accepts solid waste from a collector for transfer, storage, recycling, combustion, processing or disposal.

(aa) Performance bond means a security for financial loss caused by the act or default performance of a person or by uncontrollable conditions.

(bb) Person means any individual, partnership, co- partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, or any agency, department, or instrumentality of the Federal or local government, or any other legal representatives, agents or assigns.

(cc) Plan means the interim or final Solid Waste Management Plan (‘SWMP’) to be prepared and adopted by the Agency in accordance with the Administrative Adjudication Law.

(dd) Plasma torch heating technology means converting electrical energy into heat energy producing clean fuel gas and recyclable slag.

(ee) Plasma Remediation In-Situ Materials (‘PRISM’) means a plasma torch technology process that melts down and converts landfill material into slag and fuel gas.

(ff) Pollution means the condition caused by the presence in the environment of substances of such character and in such quantities that the quality of the environment is impaired or rendered offensive to life.

(gg) Processing means any method, system or other treatment designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any solid waste. This

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includes the neutralization of any hazardous waste; the rendering of any hazardous waste non-hazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage or reduced in volume; or any other activity or processing designed to change the physical form or chemical composition of hazardous waste so as to render it non- hazardous.

(hh) Recyclable materials includes the following materials discarded from households, businesses, commercial and industrial establishments, hotels, government, agricultural, landscaping, yard maintenance and military operations which may be reused or for which a market exists:

(1) aluminum means any product manufactured of aluminum or aluminum alloy;

(2) battery means any lead acid battery or dry cell battery discarded on Guam, independent of intended use;

(3) biomass means any large biomass source, such as trees, wood, grass, hedge cuttings, jungle growth, yard waste and sewage sludge;

(4) construction debris means the materials from building construction;

(5) corrugated cardboard means kraft, jute or test liner pulp which is made by combining two (2) or more webs of paper and formed or shaped into wrinkles or folds or into alternate ridges and grooves;

(6) demolition waste means the materials obtained from the demolishment or razing of buildings;

(7) glass means any product manufactured from a mixture of silicates, borates or phosphates;

(8) metal scrap means any metal, in whole or in parts, from buildings, equipment, machinery or vehicles;

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(9) newspaper means a publication which is distributed and contains news articles, opinions, features, and advertising and is printed on impermanent wood pulp materials;

(10) office paper means computer paper and white and colored ledger paper;

(11) used oil means any petroleum-based, mineral, or synthetic oil which through use, storage or handling has become unsuitable for its original purpose due to the presence of impurities or loss of original properties; and

(12) such other materials which the Department determines, from time to time, may be recycled.

(ii) Recycle or Recycling means the method by which recovered resources are converted for use as raw material or feedstock to make new products.

(jj) Recycling Officer means the head of the Office of
Recycling.

(kk) Resource recovery means the process of recovering recyclable materials or the recovery of energy from solid waste.

(ll) Resource Recovery Facility (‘RRF’) is a facility which recovers for sale or reuse of recyclable materials.

(mm) Reusing means the reintroduction of a commodity in the economic stream without any changes.

(nn) Sanitary landfill means an approved site where solid waste and ash are disposed using modern sanitary landfilling techniques in accordance with Federal and local regulations.

(oo) Sanitary landfilling means an engineered method of disposing of solid waste on land in accordance with Federal and local regulations in a manner that protects the environment by spreading the waste in thin layers, compacting it to the smallest practical volume, and covering it with approved material at the end of each working day.

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(pp) Separation means the systematic division of solid waste into designated components.

(qq) Solid waste means any garbage, refuse or sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded and/or spilled materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, mining, commercial, and agriculture operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under § 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (68 Stat. 880), or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 923) .

(rr) Solid waste management means the purposeful, systematic control of the generation, storage, collection, transportation, separation, processing and disposal of solid waste.

(ss) Solid waste management facilities means any facility, or any machinery, equipment, vehicles, structures or any part of accessories thereof installed or acquired for the primary purpose of: collection, transportation, storage, recycling, processing or disposal of solid waste, and shall include sanitary landfills, resource recovery facilities, or plasma torch.

(tt) Solid Waste Management Plan means a comprehensive plan and all amendments and revisions thereto for provisions of solid waste management throughout Guam.

(uu) Solid waste management practices means the actions to effectuate the generation, storage, collection, transportation, processing, recycling, incineration, plasma torch or resource recovery or disposal of solid waste.

(vv) Solid Waste Management System (‘SWMS’) means the entire system covered in the SWMP and designated by the Director for the storage, collection, generation,

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transportation, processing, recycling, incineration, plasma torch and disposal of solid waste within Guam.

(ww) Source separated waste means recyclable materials which are set aside by the generator for segregated collection and transport to solid waste management facilities.

(xx) Storage means the interim containment of solid waste in accordance with Federal and local regulations.

(yy) Transfer station shall mean any intermediate waste facility in which solid waste collected from any source is temporarily deposited and stored while awaiting transportation to another solid waste management facility.

(zz) Duplex means a residential building containing two (2) separate dwelling units either side by side or one above the other.

(aaa) Single Family Residence means a detached building designed for and/or occupied exclusively by one (1) family, or one (1) of two (2) dwelling units on a duplex.

SOURCE: Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-139:3 (Feb. 21, 1998). Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-272:1 (Oct. 2, 1998). Subsection (q) repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-309:2 (Dec. 18, 1998). Subsection (zz) added by P.L. 25-093:12 (Dec. 29, 1999). Subsection (aaa) added by P.L.
25-093:13. Subsection (t) repealed and reenacted by P.L. 28-011:2 and subsection (t)(1) added by P.L. 28-011:3 (Mar. 9, 2005).

2012 NOTE: In maintaining the general codification scheme of the GCA the Compiler changed the hierarchy of subsections beginning with “”Numbers”” to “”Lowercase Letters”” and subsections beginning with “”Lowercase Roman Numerals”” to “”Numbers”” in this section.

2011 NOTE: Public Law 24-139 was found to be invalid by the Guam Supreme Court in Pangelinan v. Gutierrez, 2000 Guam 11, thereby voiding the effects to this section by that public law. Public Law 24-272 was found to be invalid by Pangelinan v. Gutierrez, 2004 Guam 16. However, in San Miguel v. DPW, 2008 Guam 3, the Court reversed and found P.L. 24-272 to be valid.

§ 51103. Powers and Duties of the Agency and the
Department.

(a) The Agency shall have the authority under this Act and other laws of Guam, pursuant to the Administrative Adjudication Law, to:

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(1) prepare and adopt in accordance with the Administrative Adjudication Law an interim Solid Waste Management Plan, consistent with the provisions of this Act, within one hundred eighty (180) days of the effective date of this Act;

(2) prepare and adopt in accordance with the Administrative Adjudication Law a final Solid Waste Management Plan, consistent with the provisions of this Act, within three hundred (300) days of the effective date of this Act. The Plan shall be revised at least every five (5) years, or sooner as needed;

(3) administer Guam’s Solid Waste Management
Program pursuant to provisions of this Chapter;

(4) prepare, adopt, promulgate, modify, update, and repeal rules and regulations in cooperation with appropriate government agencies, industries and private parties, for the collection, transportation, storage and disposal of hazardous waste;

(5) prepare, adopt, promulgate, modify, update, repeal, and enforce rules and regulations setting environmental standards for collection, transportation, separation, processing, recycling, materials and resource recovery, incineration, plasma torch and disposal of solid waste in order to conserve the air, water, and land resources of Guam, protect the public health, prevent environmental pollution and public nuisances, and enable it and the Department to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Chapter and the Plan;

(6) establish the procedures for review and issuance of permits governing the design, operation, closure, and post- closure of solid waste management facilities, which procedures shall be consistent with the procedures used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the issuance of similar permits;

(7) enforce compliance with any of its rules and regulations issued pursuant to this Chapter and require the taking of such remedial measures for solid waste

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management or solid waste management practices as may be necessary or appropriate to implement or effectuate its responsibilities under this Chapter;

(8) prepare, adopt, promulgate, modify, update, repeal, and enforce such other rules and regulations as may be necessary to establish a hazardous waste program which meets the requirements of Section 3006 of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. § 6926, et seq.) and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto;

(9) prepare, issue, modify, remove and enforce orders for compliance with any of the provisions of this Chapter or of any rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto and requiring the taking of such remedial measures for solid waste management as may be necessary or appropriate to implement or effectuate the provisions and purposes of this Chapter;

(10) impose and collect penalties against any person for the violation of any of its rules, regulations or compliance orders issued under this Chapter;

(11) require a financial guarantee assuring that funds are available to pay for the design, construction, operation and closure of a solid waste landfill facility, for rendering post- closure at a solid waste landfill facility, for corrective action and to compensate third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by sudden and non-sudden accidents related to the operation of solid waste landfill facility.

(12) serve as the official government of Guam representative for all purposes of the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, (P.L. No. 91-512), or as subsequently amended, and for the purpose of such other local or Federal legislation as has been or may hereafter be enacted to assist in the management of solid waste;

(13) provide technical assistance to local and Federal agencies, and other persons, and cooperate with appropriate local agencies and private organizations in carrying out the duties under this Chapter;

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(14) encourage and recommend procedures for private financing to develop, design, construct and operate solid waste management system in accomplishing the desired objectives of this Chapter; and

(15) insure that the interest of existing permitted private entities actively engaged in solid waste management operations are duly and lawfully protected and are not unfairly jeopardized or removed.

(16) determine the applicability, type and sum required for posting a performance bond on solid waste management facilities that are not municipal solid waste landfills.

(b) [Repealed.]

(c) There is established within the Division of Solid Waste of the Department, the Office of Recycling and the position of Recycling Officer who shall head the Office. The Office shall be responsible for the following:

(1) establishing and managing in conjunction with the Plan a promotional program for recycling, composting and the recovery of resources, including recommendations on the size, character, location and ownership of any RRF or composting facility;

(2) evaluating and insuring adequate capacities within the solid waste management system for recycling;

(3) plan, organize, coordinate and pursue the following objectives:

(A) publish and disseminate guidebooks, newsletters and instruction manuals to promote recycling;

(B) in conjunction with the Mayors Council of Guam, conduct public outreach activities to promote recycling;

(C) establish a recycling demonstration project in at least six (6) selected villages throughout Guam, wherein compartmentalized containers will be located and serve as recycling drop-off centers for the

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community; the Department shall contract for the supply of the containers and their hauling for recycling or other disposal; all revenues generated by the sale of recyclable materials shall be paid to the Mayors and be used by the Mayors to support programs which further encourage recycling; moreover, individual accounts shall be established for each Mayor to record all costs and revenues in order to evidence the commercial feasibility, or lack thereof, of recycling;

(D) develop a recommended program for composting of biomass on government property;

(E) formulate and recommend other recycling demonstration projects and initiatives;

(F) identify economically priced products manufactured of recycled material which are usable by the government in the place of products manufactured of virgin material;

(G) study recycling techniques to determine the most cost-effective manner of collecting, processing, storing, marketing, transporting or reusing recyclable materials;

(H) establish a recycling telephone hotline serving to take inquiries and disseminate information on recycling;

(I) recommend the establishment or revision of administrative or procurement practices which will promote recycling;

(J) determine and report through the Director to the Guam Legislature the costs and benefits of establishing a system for source separated waste;

(K) recommend new legislation to facilitate recycling through planning, market research, source separated waste, surcharges, fees, operational subsidies, tax incentives and other similar means;

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(L) identify and promote businesses reusing or converting recyclable materials;

(M) advise and assist collectors on efficient techniques for recycling; and

(N) conduct media advertising, public opinion surveys, seminars, workshops and community relations campaigns to promote public awareness of the benefits and methods of recycling.

SOURCE: Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-139:4 (Feb. 21, 1998). Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-272:1 (Oct. 2, 1998). Subsection (a) (11) repealed and reenacted by P.L. 24-309:3 (Dec. 18, 1998). Subsection (a) (16) added by P.L. 24-309:4. Subsection (b) repealed by P.L. 31-
020:12 (Apr. 18, 2011), effective, 90 days from date of enactment pursuant to P.L. 31-020:13.

2012 NOTE: In maintaining the general codification scheme of the GCA the Compiler changed the hierarchy of subsections beginning with “”Lowercase Roman Numerals”” to “”Uppercase Letters”” in subsection (c)(3).

2011 NOTE: Public Law 24-139 was found to be invalid by the Guam Supreme Court in Pangelinan v. Gutierrez, 2000 Guam 11, thereby voiding the effects to this section by that public law. Public Law 24-272 was found to be invalid by Pangelinan v. Gutierrez, 2004 Guam 16. However, in San Miguel v. DPW, 2008 Guam 3, the Court reversed and found P.L. 24-272 to be valid.