Proposed Changes to Compost Rules

Biodegradable (organic) municipal solid waste consumes landfill space and produces significant greenhouse gas emissions when landfilled. Instead of landfilling, composted organic material can be used as a soil amendment — a resource that can potentially displace some amount of petroleum-derived synthetic fertilizer and some best (management) practices for reducing stormwater runoff and surface water pollution.

The addition of a new section in chapter 7035 to address the combination of food and yard waste with the addition of bulking agents would remove an existing barrier to expanded composting of organics by clarifying requirements. The MPCA is considering amendments to address the regulation of the combination of food and yard waste with the addition of bulking agents.

Current Minnesota Rules and Statutes

Published on Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes website:

• Chapter 7035
• Minnesota Statute, Chapter 115

Tentative schedule

Notices

• Request for Comments — 26, July 2010, (35 SR 106)
• Request for Comments — 17, October 2011 (36 SR 441)

The intent of the RFC is to raise awareness that MPCA has initiated rulemaking to amend existing compost rules for a certain purpose. The RFC is required under the Administrative Procedures Act to notify interested and affected parties so they can begin participating as stakeholders in the rulemaking process. The timeline is determined by administrative law, but in general, rulemaking projects take 18 months to five years to complete. We expect this rulemaking to be completed within two years, given the fact that this rulemaking is to supplement existing rules rather than create a new program.

The goal of amending the compost rules is to create a new section specifically appropriate for facilities limited to certain source-separated organics (at this point, the emphasis is on facilities that will accept food waste and yard waste in appropriate proportions). Because of the nature of this material, MPCA anticipates this new section to set standards that are more strict than existing yard waste composting facility rules but less strict than solid waste composting facility rules. MPCA does not anticipate making changes to existing rules for yard waste composting and solid waste composting.

The RFC is only the first opportunity for you to get involved in the process.  Future opportunities include:

• Send the rule team members an e-mail before the Dual Notice is published, to share your thoughts or to be on the mailing list. E-mails work better than phone messages since they can be disseminated to all the rule staff in your own words, and be preserved for the record.
• Provide written comments to the MPCA after the formal publication of proposed rules and the Statement of Need and Reasonableness, followed by attendance at public hearings, if required.

Agendas and meeting notes

• Compost rule meeting minutes [w-swrule2-05]
  Note: This file contains all rulemaking related documents to date. The most current portions of the document will be located at the end.

Questions?

Technical questions in the following areas should be routed to:

• Rule content — Technical expert on engineering — Tony Bello, 651-757-2219,  Anthony.Bello@state.mn.us
• Rule content — Subject matter expert on operations — Ginny Black, 651-757-2233, ginny.black@state.mn.us
• Rule process questions — Yolanda Letnes, 651-757-2527, yolanda.letnes@state.mn.us