1998 Minnesota Statutes

     115A.93 Licensing of solid waste collection. 

    Subdivision 1.    License required.  A person may not 
 collect mixed municipal solid waste for hire without a license 
 from the jurisdiction where the mixed municipal solid waste is 
 collected. 

    Subd. 2.    Licensing.  (a) Each city and town may issue 
 licenses for persons to collect mixed municipal solid waste for 
 hire within their jurisdictions.  

    (b) County boards shall by resolution adopt the licensing 
 authority of a city or town that does not issue licenses.  A 
 county may delegate its licensing authority to a consortium of 
 counties or to municipalities to license collection of mixed 
 municipal solid waste within the county.  

    Subd. 3.    License requirements; pricing based on volume 
 or weight.  (a) A licensing authority shall require licensees 
 to impose charges for collection of mixed municipal solid waste 
 that increase with the volume or weight of the waste collected.  

    (b) A licensing authority may impose requirements that are 
 consistent with the county's solid waste policies as a condition 
 of receiving and maintaining a license.  

    (c) A licensing authority shall prohibit mixed municipal 
 solid waste collectors from imposing a greater charge on 
 residents who recycle than on residents who do not recycle. 

    (d) The director may exempt a licensing authority from the 
 requirements of paragraph (a) if the county within which the 
 authority is located has an approved solid waste management plan 
 that concludes that variable rate pricing is not appropriate for 
 that jurisdiction because it is inconsistent with other 
 incentives and mechanisms implemented within the jurisdiction 
 that are more effective in attaining the goals of this chapter 
 to discourage on-site disposal, littering, and illegal dumping.  

    (e) In the interim between revisions to the county solid 
 waste management plan, the director may exempt a licensing 
 authority from the requirements of paragraph (a) if the director 
 makes the determination otherwise made by the plan in paragraph 
 (d) and finds that the licensing authority: 

    (1) operates or contracts for the operation of a 
 residential recycling program that collects more categories of 
 recyclable materials than required in section 115A.552; 

    (2) has a residential participation rate in its recycling 
 programs of at least 70 percent or in excess of the 
 participation rate for the county in which it is located, 
 whichever is greater; and 

    (3) is located in a county that has exceeded the recycling 
 goals in section 115A.551. 

 An exemption granted by the director in the interim between 
 revisions to the county solid waste management plan is only 
 effective until the county solid waste management plan is 
 revised. 

    Subd. 3a.    Volume requirement.  A licensing authority 
 that requires a pricing system based on volume instead of weight 
 under subdivision 3 shall determine a base unit size for an 
 average small quantity household generator and establish, or 
 require the licensee to establish, a multiple unit pricing 
 system that ensures that amounts of waste generated in excess of 
 the base unit amount are priced higher than the base unit price. 

    Subd. 4.    Date certain.  By January 1, 1993, each 
 county shall ensure that each city or town within the county 
 requires each mixed municipal solid waste collector that 
 provides curbside collection service in the city or town to 
 obtain a license under this section or the county shall directly 
 require and issue the licenses.  No person may collect mixed 
 municipal solid waste after January 1, 1993, without a license. 

    Subd. 5.    Customer data.  Customer lists provided to 
 counties or cities by solid waste collectors are private data on 
 individuals as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 12, with 
 regard to data on individuals, or nonpublic data as defined in 
 section 13.02, subdivision 9, with regard to data not on 
 individuals. 

    HIST: 1Sp1989 c 1 art 20 s 8; 1991 c 337 s 42,43; 1992 c 593 
 art 1 s 25,26; 1993 c 351 s 23; 1996 c 470 s 12