November 13, 2000

Whereas the Draft Solid Waste Management Plan Modification was officially introduced to the City Council on October 31, 2000 and the City Council is required to act by November 30^th or forfeit their opportunity to influence DOS to design a responsible, long-term solid waste management plan that maximizes waste prevention, recycling and composting,

Whereas rejection of this Draft Solid Waste Management Plan Modification will not prevent the on-time closure of Fresh Kills,

Whereas the Borough-based Task Force Reports and the City Council Report all included extensive recommendations on waste prevention and recycling, which were ignored,

Whereas the public has submitted substantial comments regarding the inadequacies of the Draft Solid Waste Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which were ignored,

Whereas the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has submitted substantial comments regarding the inadequacies of the Draft Solid Waste Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which were ignored,

Whereas the Department of Sanitation acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by not making a single change made to the Draft Solid Waste Management Plan Modification in response to the comments provided by the Borough Reports, the public, or the State Department of Environmental Conservation,

Whereas the Department of Sanitation spent $3.2 million on consultant Science Applications International Corporation’s waste prevention research and reports and failed to include a single waste prevention recommendation from those reports in the Solid Waste Management Plan Modification,

Whereas the NYC Waste Prevention Coalition has recommended a five-year plan of programs, legislation, research, and other waste prevention initiatives for New York City,

  Whereas waste prevention costs a mere $27/ton compared to $95.50/ton for long-haul export plus $77/ton for avoided trash collection costs according to Department of Sanitation and Independent Budget Office figures the Waste Prevention Research Reports document tens of million of dollars in savings that could be accrued every year from implementing waste prevention programs and initiatives,

Whereas waste prevention, recycling and composting are waste management strategies that are within the City’s control and which should be expanded to reduce the risk of relying on disposal capacity in other jurisdictions which may become expensive or scarce,

Whereas many cities across the country have achieved over 50% waste prevention, recycling and composting, and New York City is far behind this due to poor planning and implementation of waste prevention, recycling, and composting initiatives locally,

Whereas moving and transporting large quantities of solid waste impacts New York City communities,