On March 24, 2006 the Governor signed into law Senate File 0038.  The bill calls for operating landfills to prepare Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) plans to be submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) by July 1, 2009.  The legislation also provides $1.3 million in financial assistance to local government entities preparing plans and includes financial incentives for Regional Waste Management plans.

For a complete list of the requirements visit SF0038 or the ISWM Letter.

With Solid Waste issues looming; the Wyoming Solid Waste and Recycling Association WSWRA approached the Governor with hopes of addressing these issues.  Governor Freudenthal responded by directing the DEQ to assemble a Citizen's Advisory Group.  This group studied landfill issues ranging from leaking landfills and inadequately monitored facilities to escalating operating costs, recycling and waste diversion woes.

Leaking landfills and numerous inadequately monitored facilities were identified as the largest underlying problems facing the solid waste community and so a bill was drafted to address these issues, as well as remediation and recycling problems.  The bill failed to get out of committee as it was deemed "too much too soon".  The general consensus was that more data was needed before decisions could be made regarding remediation and landfill issues.

Senate file 0038 was introduced and passed during the next legislative session. The bill provides money for monitoring wells to be installed and for funding landfill studies to create integrated solid waste management plans that will address a period of twenty years.

Through the legislation, communities that operate a landfill can receive up to 50% reimbursement towards the cost of compiling an ISWM plan.  By planning together to develop regional solutions for solid waste issues, landfills owners could receive up to 70% (two entities planning together) or up to 90% (three or more entities planning together) reimbursement towards the costs of their plan preparation.

ISWM planning has been shown throughout the country to be a valuable tool for many reasons, ranging from extending landfill life to economic benefits for a region.  Historically poor recycling rates in Wyoming will hopefully be one of the benefactors of this planning.

Once planning is completed and communities have had a chance to study them, sound economic decisions should be a driving factor for responsible landfill planning in the future.  A benefit of the planning could be the opportunity of smaller communities to ship waste to larger regional facilities resulting in more environmentally sound waste management practices while saving communities money through economies of scale.

With some communities shipping their waste long distances, diversion and recycling on a local level should be emphasized to minimize transportation costs.  Small recycling facilities could team with others to maximize revenues from commodities as well as share in transportation costs to markets.