DEP briefs council on solid-waste options; department to issue RFP for long-haul landfill bids and analyze environmental justice implications

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) briefed the full County Council on long-term municipal solid-waste options and said it will issue a request for proposals (RFP) in coming months seeking binding price and environmental data for long-haul landfill disposal. The briefing compared two near-term options for the county’s waste stream as the Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) contract approaches its April 1, 2031 end date: 1) transition to long-haul transport and out-of-county landfill capacity, or 2) negotiate a new long-term contract to continue operating the RRF with capital upgrades.

DEP presented the county-commissioned Arcadis alternatives analysis and said the consultant found technologies exist to increase diversion and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions but that adding advanced waste-processing technologies requires significant capital and time. DEP staff told council members the county faces a tradeoff: upgrading the RRF would require large fixed capital and operating payments that make it more expensive over time, while long-haul landfill disposal appears less costly in per-ton estimates and leaves the county more flexibility to add diversion and advanced-processing technologies later.

Why it matters: The RRF currently handles most of the county’s residual solid waste; the contract extension notice and projected need for capital maintenance have prompted the county to analyze alternatives that affect rates, environmental justice and operations. DEP told the council long-haul scenarios have lower estimated annual costs — roughly a $22-per-ton delta favoring long haul in the department’s conservative estimates — and that savings could free capital to invest in diversion, curbside organics and advanced processing.

Key details DEP outlined: - Timeline: DEP said procurement and implementation for a long-haul landfill contract likely requires about 12 months; an RRF extension with capital work could require about 30 months. Because of procurement and implementation lead times, DEP urged moving quickly to avoid deadline pressure as the April 2031 contract expiry approaches. - Costs and rates: DEP presented modeled rate impacts showing a transition-year spike if both systems run concurrently during a short overlap period, then lower long-term costs under long haul; the department described these as conservative estimates to be refined by RFP responses. - Environmental justice (EJ): DEP said the Arcadis analysis and EPA screening tools (EJSCREEN) can compare candidate host landfills on sociodemographic, health and environmental indicators. DEP staff said Arcadis reviewed roughly 10 regional landfills and found several with fewer EJ indicators above the national 50th percentile than the Old Dominion landfill that currently receives county ash. DEP said any RFP responses will identify proposed landfill sites and that the department will explicitly evaluate EJ impacts, transportation emissions and local permitting and capacity. - Operations and diversion: DEP emphasized the county could pair long haul with investment in diversion (curbside organics, advanced processing) in future planning; upgrading the RRF and simultaneously adding those technologies would be financially constrained by capital costs required to keep the RRF operating. - Transfer station and traffic: DEP confirmed the transfer station at Shady Grove would remain an operational hub in many scenarios and that a traffic study is underway to evaluate truck impacts for long-haul options.

Council reaction and next steps: Council members raised concerns about environmental justice, truck traffic, transfer-station capacity, the public-engagement timeline and how the county would evaluate proposals. DEP said it will issue the long-haul RFP in coming months and expects responses by December or January; DEP plans to return with those proposals and a briefing before the FY 2027 budget process so the council has procurement-based data to evaluate. DEP also confirmed the Maryland Department of the Environment does not require a prior Amendment to the county Solid Waste Management Plan to make the operational switch; the plan can be amended afterward on its regular schedule.

DEP emphasized the next phase is a data-driven procurement: the RFP will request per-ton costs, greenhouse-gas and air-emission estimates, landfill site details, transportation distances and capacity, and EJ screening data. The department recommended centering EJ and operational continuity and said the county must allow transition lead time to avoid being forced into a last-minute decision. No procurement award or final policy decision was made at the briefing; DEP sought council guidance and public engagement plans for subsequent steps.