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Whitman County adopts compost procurement ordinance to align with state organics law
Summary
After a public hearing, Whitman County adopted a compost procurement policy to comply with state organics requirements; staff cited current yard-waste practices, costs and a feasibility study that estimated an onsite composting facility at about $5 million and potential curbside costs of about $40/month for roughly 600 households.
Whitman County Commissioners voted March 16 to adopt a Compost Procurement Policy Ordinance intended to bring the county into compliance with state organics requirements. The hearing included a presentation from David Nails, the county’s landfill operations manager, explaining how the policy would guide county purchases of compost "when feasible" while allowing exceptions where procurement would be infeasible or more costly.
Nails told the board that Pullman’s current yard-waste program—collection, chipping and shipment to Clearwater Paper—has worked for more than 20 years and costs about $34.00 per ton; roughly 4,000 tons have been processed this year. He said state rules will require inclusion of food waste beginning in 2030, noting that managing food waste will require different processing. A county feasibility study for an onsite composting facility estimated roughly $5 million in current dollars. Nails also said areas outside Pullman, including nearby urban growth areas such as Albion, would require curbside organics collection to comply; staff estimated that would cost affected residents about $40 per month and currently would affect about 600 households.
County staff told commissioners they are pursuing a five-year waiver to extend compliance deadlines to 2035 to allow more time for planning and infrastructure. Nails added that if compost produced by the county were sold to the public, testing would be required to confirm safety for gardening and similar uses. Commissioner Tom Handy moved to adopt the ordinance and Commissioner Chad Whetzel seconded; the motion carried.
Why it matters: the ordinance sets procurement expectations now and frames follow-up decisions on collection, processing capacity and capital investment. The minutes record the policy adoption and the cost and timeline estimates discussed at the hearing; specific implementation steps and funding sources will need to be developed in subsequent meetings.
