GA Proposal: Landfill Regulation Act

[Margaux]

Landfill Regulation Act

Category: Environmental

Industry Affected: All Businesses

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Cretox State

The World Assembly,

Understanding the importance of landfills in providing a cost-effective method for the disposal of non-compostable and non-recyclable solid waste,

Concerned by the potential environmental and health hazards of solid waste landfills, and

Wishing to provide a regulatory framework for the safe operation of solid waste landfills to mitigate such hazards, hereby:

Defines for the purposes of this resolution:

A "solid waste landfill" (SWL) as a location that receives nonhazardous solid waste for the purposes of long-term or permanent storage; and

"Leachate" as any liquid containing chemicals or particles originating from the solid waste stored in a SWL;

Prohibits the construction of SWLs in ecologically important areas or areas where their normal operations would cause significant danger to the wellbeing of nearby permanent residents;

Forbids the long-term storage of nonhazardous solid waste in a manner or a location where it can pose a significant threat to the surrounding environment or groundwater;

Requires that all SWLs:

Include effective physical barriers designed to protect the surrounding environment and groundwater from waste contained in them and leachate originating from them;

Include effective systems for the collection and removal of leachate for treatment and environmentally safe disposal; and

Are operated in such a way that minimizes potential environmental and health hazards resulting from their operations, within reason;

Mandates that member nations:

Ensure the regular testing of groundwater and other aquatic environments that could reasonably be affected by leachate in order to gauge the effectiveness of relevant existing SWL regulations and the need for further regulations; and

Establish, if such does not already exist, a state agency or similar organization with the responsibility of inspecting and regulating SWLs in accordance with this resolution and reviewing complaints regarding the operation of particular SWLs;

Clarifies that regulations implemented pursuant to this resolution must remain in effect after a SWL stops receiving additional waste material until such a time when said regulations are no longer effective or necessary in providing for the environmentally safe maintenance of the SWL site; and

Encourages member nations to promote methods of waste reduction to reduce their reliance on solid waste landfills as a form of waste management.

This is the discussion thread. To cast your vote, go HERE

[HumanSanity]

Was tied last night when I went to bed, voted Against on site when I woke up this morning

[Porflox]

On the NationStates website, more than 80 percent of islanders voted FOR the proposal. Also, I think we should add a link to the WA voting polls because most islanders probably don't know it exists

[HumanSanity]

Nov 2, 2020 8:57:48 GMT -5 Porflox said:

On the NationStates website, more than 80 percent of islanders voted FOR the proposal. Also, I think we should add a link to the WA voting polls because most islanders probably don't know it exists

Sorry for the delay in responding to this

In essence, we believe holding the poll off site is important for driving off site activity

The fact that it is not publicized extensively on site is definitely an area for improvement. I'll note that there are difficulties with this:
- if it is going to be added to the WFE directly, it takes up space which we're often reserving for other regional events and programs
- only a few people have permissions to update the WFE and it's unlikely that number will expand given the WFE's centrality to the region and the risks for regional security. Those people already have high workloads and adding to those workloads creates difficulty
- in the past, it has been put in a dispatch linked below the WFE - only one person can control that Dispatch and it'll take time and labor to upkeep

Now, don't take the above as "we're not doing it your idea is bad". I'll turn attention to streamlining our template and making the process easier in the next few days, but these are some of the obstacles we're navigating on this and I'd be open to input on how to improve it.