(a) The purpose of this section is to allow for the combustion of wood waste without a solid waste facility permit and to allow facilities to use wood waste as an alternative fuel.

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-15-3

  • Director: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection or his or her designee. See West Virginia Code 22-1-2
  • Division: means the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-1-2
  • Energy recovery incinerator: means any solid waste facility at which solid wastes are incinerated with the intention of using the resulting energy for the generation of steam, electricity, or any other use not specified herein. See West Virginia Code 22-15-2
  • Incineration technologies: means any technology that uses controlled flame combustion to thermally break down solid waste, including refuse-derived fuel, to an ash residue that contains little or no combustible materials, regardless of whether the purpose is processing, disposal, electric or steam generation, or any other method by which solid waste is incinerated. See West Virginia Code 22-15-2
  • Open dump: means any solid waste disposal which does not have a permit under this article, or is in violation of state law, or where solid waste is disposed in a manner that does not protect the environment. See West Virginia Code 22-15-2
  • Solid waste: means any garbage, paper, litter, refuse, cans, bottles, waste processed for the express purpose of incineration. See West Virginia Code 22-15-2
  • Solid waste facility: means any system, facility, land, contiguous land, improvements on the land, structures, or other appurtenances or methods used for processing, recycling, or disposing of solid waste, including landfills, transfer stations, materials recovery facilities, mixed waste processing facilities, sewage sludge processing facilities, commercial composting facilities, and other such facilities not herein specified, but not including land upon which sewage sludge is applied in accordance with §. See West Virginia Code 22-15-2

(b) "Wood waste" means wood residues from logging operations, sawmills, wood product manufacturing, furniture making operations, recycling of wood products and other industrial processes, but does not include wood waste which contains hazardous constituents, including copper chromium arsenate, which would cause such wood waste to be regulated pursuant to article eighteen of this chapter.

(c) For purposes of section two of this article and section two, article four, chapter twenty-two-c of this code:

(1) Wood waste is not "solid waste" unless disposed of at a solid waste facility or an open dump;

(2) Wood waste is a material which may be used as an effective substitute for commercial products or raw material feedstock.

(d) The use of incineration technologies in an energy recovery incinerator for the purposes of combusting wood waste is not prohibited and no solid waste facility permit is required. The provisions of this section do not allow the combustion of wood waste without a source permit from the director if such permit is required by article five of this chapter or the rules promulgated under the provisions of said article five.

(e) The division may promulgate legislative rules, in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to effectuate the purposes of this section.