The Legislature intends by §§ 34A-6-59 to 34A-6-92, inclusive, to establish programs and regulations that reduce the waste stream disposed of in landfills in this state and thus protect the public health, safety, and welfare of all South Dakotans, protect the environment, and return resources back to industry for reuse. The goal of the state is to reduce the amount of materials in the waste stream being landfilled. The amount of materials being landfilled shall be reduced using appropriate methods and technology through the practice of solid waste reduction, waste diversion, reuse, recycling, composting, and waste–to–energy. The goal of the state is to reduce the waste stream disposed in landfills by fifty percent by July 1, 2001. For the purposes of this section, the term, waste stream, means the disposal of solid waste as defined in § 34A-6-1.3.

The base year for establishing the amount of materials in the waste stream is the calendar year 1990. Total tonnage of solid waste landfilled in the calendar year 1990 is the basis for all waste reduction calculations. In the absence of scale data and cubic yardage data of waste materials landfilled, the base tonnage is calculated as eight–tenths of a ton per year per person, in residence, serviced by the landfill. Tonnage may be estimated by equating one cubic yard of solid waste received at the landfill gate to seven hundred pounds of solid waste. In determining the reduction level of the waste stream, it is assumed that each person in 1990 generated eight–tenths of a ton per year of municipal solid waste.

Any landfill that conducted waste reduction or recycling programs before the 1990 base calendar year and increased its ability to reduce waste stream volume may receive credit for prior recycled tonnage in the solid waste source reduction and recycling plan required by § 34A-6-74. Similarly, any landfill that has experienced or will experience a growth in its population served may submit justification for increased tonnage, even after waste reduction or recycling programs have been implemented.

Source: SL 1992, ch 254, § 22; SL 1998, ch 203, § 1.