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Onondaga City Zoning Code

§ 285-44

Methane gas recovery and energy generation at closed sanitary landfills.

A. 
Special permit application. Any owner or lessee of property in the Town of Onondaga desiring to recover, produce or process methane gas at sanitary landfills, for the purpose of energy generation or otherwise, shall obtain a special permit therefor from the Town Board. In order to obtain such permit, the applicant shall file with the Town Clerk of the Town of Onondaga an application for such permit which shall set forth and include the following items, unless specifically waived for good cause by the Town Board:
(1) 
A detailed statement of proposed operations.
(2) 
Drawings and plans prepared and certified by a licensed professional engineer relating to the proposed construction and use of the premises, including the location, construction and dimensions of proposed buildings, the gas collection and energy generation systems and such related information as the Town Board may require.
(3) 
An attorney's opinion of title or title policy, in a form satisfactory to the Town's legal counsel, certifying the names of the record owners and mortgagees, if any.
(4) 
Copies of any permits which may be required from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation authorizing such operations upon the premises, together with all supporting papers submitted in support of such application to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
B. 
Permit fee; period of validity; nontransferability.
[Amended 5-2-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
(1) 
The applicant shall pay to the Town Clerk such sum as shall be set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for each permit proposed to be issued by the Town Board.
(2) 
The Town Board may issue a permit for a period of one year from the date said permit is granted. Said permit shall not be transferable without the express written permission of the Town Board, but may be renewed thereafter for successive periods of one year, upon payment of a renewal fee as shall be set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.
C. 
Standards for issuance of permit. The Town Board, as a condition for issuance of such permit, may require compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations, including but not limited to the New York State Environmental Conservation Law and rules and regulations heretofore or hereafter put into effect by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Town Board may also request compliance with such reasonable conditions as it may impose relating to the following:
(1) 
Prevention of air and water pollution.
(2) 
Noise reduction and control.
(3) 
Safety regulations for the protection of life, health or property.
(4) 
Construction and installation of natural and man-made buffers and screening materials.
(5) 
The termination of operations, including but not limited to the venting and burning of gases, the removal of equipment and restoration of the site.
(6) 
The keeping of records and recording procedures.
(7) 
The deposit of security and insurance policies related to methane gas recovery and energy generation operations, in the amounts prescribed by the Town Board.
(8) 
Periodic inspection and maintenance.
(9) 
Certifications by licensed professional engineers and other consultants.
D. 
Revocation or suspension of permit; penalties for offenses.
(1) 
If the Town Board of the Town of Onondaga shall find that any operation permitted hereunder is not being conducted in accordance with the conditions hereinbefore set forth and as established by the Town Board, a notice, in writing, shall be served upon the holder of the permit directing that the conditions be remedied within 10 days after the service of such notice. If such conditions are not corrected after the expiration of said ten-day period, the Town Board may cause a notice to be made, in writing, to the holder of said permit requiring the holder of the permit to appear before the Town Board at a time to be specified in such notice and show cause why such permit should not be revoked or suspended. The Town Board may, after hearing the testimony of witnesses and the holder of such permit, revoke or suspend such permit if the Town Board shall find that said operation is not being conducted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(2) 
In the event that such operation does not cease and desist within three days of such revocation or suspension, a penalty shall be assessed against the owner of the permit in the amount of $1,000 per day for each day such operation continues, without any waiver to the Town to enforce such suspension in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
E. 
Security for property management and monitoring of landfill.
(1) 
Recognizing that sanitary landfills are the depositories for solid waste and as such present actual and potential hazards to the environment, including but not limited to exposed waste material, noxious odors and contamination of surface waters and groundwaters, and that such landfills, when closed, must continue to be operated and monitored in a manner which assures that such environmental hazards are controlled and prevented to the maximum extent possible, no permit shall be issued hereunder unless the owner of the sanitary landfill upon which the methane gas recovery system is to be constructed deposits with the Town of Onondaga security as hereinafter described.
(2) 
Such security shall be in the form of cash, bank letter of credit, surety bond executed by one or more sureties satisfactory to the Town Board, or such other form of security as may be approved by the Town Board. The terms and provisions under which such security is held by the Town shall be subject to the approval of the Town Board and shall require that such security remain in full force and effect for as long as the permit issued hereunder, and any renewals thereof, is in effect.
(3) 
The Town Board shall determine the amount of such security based upon the size of the closed sanitary landfill, the method by which such landfill was closed, the nature and extent of the methods by which such landfill is to be managed and monitored, including the degree of anticipated testing, repair and maintenance of the landfill cover, and history of environmental problems experienced at the landfill.
(4) 
Such security shall be held by the Town of Onondaga upon the condition that the sanitary landfill be managed and monitored in accordance with all applicable federal, New York State, County of Onondaga and Town of Onondaga laws, ordinances, rules and regulations, including but not limited to the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to New York State Environmental Conservation Law. The terms and provisions under which such security is held shall provide that such security shall be forfeited in the event that the owner of the landfill fails to comply with such laws, ordinances, rules and regulations.
(5) 
The security required hereunder shall be in addition to the security which may be required pursuant to Subsection C(7) of this section, but may be waived or the amount thereof reduced by the Town Board in the event that the owner of the landfill has already deposited security with the Town of Onondaga pursuant to any other local law or ordinance of the Town regulating sanitary landfills.