Committee declares lead agency, adopts Tompkins County 2023–2032 solid waste plan

The Tompkins County Planning, Energy and Environmental Quality Committee on May 12 declared the county the lead agency for State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) on the Final Local Solid Waste Management Plan 2023–2032 and voted to adopt that final plan, actions committee staff said are required steps before submitting the plan to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for acceptance.

Kat (last name not specified), representing the Department of Recycling and Materials Management, explained the SEQR coordinated review and said the county sent lead‑agency notices and received no objections within the required timeline; the committee then moved a negative declaration under SEQR and approved the motion.

“April 9, we got SEQR process notice; as this plan is required by the DEC, we needed to do a coordinated review,” Kat said while describing the procedural steps needed to finalize the plan.

Why it matters: The plan is the county’s blueprint for waste reduction, reuse and recycling for the next decade and sets program priorities and strategies that county departments, municipalities and partners will implement. The plan includes programmatic goals, an implementation schedule, and approaches to expand waste‑reduction services.

Formal actions: The committee voted to: declare the county lead agency for SEQR (moved by Legislator Veronica, seconded by Legislator Rich) and adopt the Final Local Solid Waste Management Plan 2023–2032 (moved by Legislator Greg Mezey, seconded by Legislator Veronica). Both motions passed unanimously on voice votes; committee members reported three legislators present for the meeting and the committee recorded unanimous approval to advance the plan to the full legislature for final action and submission to the state.

Next steps: Committee members and staff said the resolution and final plan materials will be included in an Environmental Notice Bulletin submission and that the plan package will be filed with the state once the full legislature completes its approval.

Capital and operations notes: Department staff reviewed a capital payment summary tied to landfill infrastructure work at the Caswell site. Staff said planned work this year includes initial steps for a leachate system: cleaning piping, performing tightness testing on an approximately 8,000‑gallon leachate tank, and removing and disposing of sediment recovered in the cleaning process. Purchasing is reviewing bid materials for the project.

Deconstruction and extended producer responsibility: Committee members discussed bringing a nonbinding resolution supporting building deconstruction (component‑by‑component dismantling for reuse) and cited other New York municipalities that have adopted similar measures. Staff said the county is tracking deconstruction as a local circular‑economy strategy and could support pilot work or documentation for county facilities; extended producer responsibility and repair/deconstruction programs were cited as ways to reduce landfill volumes.

Plan goals and challenges: During discussion, a legislator noted the plan’s alignment with statewide goals — including an 85% reduction target for landfilling by 2050 — and asked whether that target is achievable. Staff said the state goal is included for alignment with an approvable plan and that implementation relies on a mix of local programs, regional policy changes (for example, extended producer responsibility) and market shifts.

Ending: The committee recorded unanimous votes to advance the plan and asked staff to continue the plan’s implementation steps and outreach. Committee members praised the department staff for their work compiling the plan and supporting materials.