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Renewable Energy Facility 2

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1. What do I need to know about the Solid Waste Authority’s new Renewable Energy Facility 2?

Renewable Energy Facility 2 will be the cleanest, most advanced facility of its kind ever built, and certainly the cleanest solid waste disposal facility in the world!

Read more about the new facility.

2. Why is the Solid Waste Authority looking to use supplemental waste in our county?

The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County is in a unique position to lower our customer rates for up to 7 years, while adding an estimated $45 million economic boost to our county’s economy. Renewable Energy Facility 2 was permitted to process 1 million tons of material a year, which would allow for future growth. Given the county’s current population and waste generation, in the first year there is capacity for an estimated 200,000 tons of additional waste within this permitted capacity. So, in an effort to maximize the facility’s use and maximize revenue, the Solid Waste Authority is exploring the option to use supplemental waste from neighboring areas to fill this incoming waste deficiency.

3. Does the Solid Waste Authority have to use supplemental waste?

No. Financing for Renewable Energy Facility 2 was not dependent upon using supplemental waste. The decision for using supplemental waste is entirely optional.

4. When will the decision be made on using supplemental waste?

The ultimate decision of if the Solid Waste Authority will use supplemental waste to take advantage of the available capacity will be made by the SWA Board. This vote could happen in early 2015, after holding public meetings.

5. How much supplemental waste is the Solid Waste Authority proposing to use?

Using the current population estimates, the Solid Waste Authority is proposing to bring in an estimated 150,000 tons to 200,000 tons of waste in 2015 to have Renewable Energy Facility 2 run at capacity. As the population of Palm Beach County grows, the amount of supplemental waste used will be less each year.

6. What kind of supplemental waste will be processed?

There are several types of wastes being explored for import. Read more about considered supplemental wastes.

7. How much can the Solid Waste Authority charge for the supplemental waste, and how much will you make?

The marketplace for the disposal of this waste is competitive, so what we charge will depend on a few factors. Learn more about supplemental waste revenue.

8. Why would you charge less for using supplemental waste than you charge Palm Beach County residents?

Those delivering supplemental waste are receiving the benefit of only one element of the Solid Waste Authority’s integrated solid waste management system, and not the entire system that serves our residents and businesses. The rates these companies may pay need only to exceed the additional cost of that one component of our system to generate positive cash flow and lower our residents’ rates.

The integrated solid waste management system includes many services that benefit residents, both directly and indirectly. These include home chemical and recycling centers, the landfill, recycling facilities, renewable energy facilities, transfer stations, and yard waste processing facilities. These facilities are all operated in accordance with significant Federal and State regulations, and are subject to extensive monitoring and reporting. The rates our county residents and businesses pay reflect the cost of the entire system.

In using supplemental waste, we are providing limited access to our system for waste delivered directly to the Renewable Energy Facility 2, and only for a limited time.

9. What is the benefit to the residents and businesses of Palm Beach County?

The benefit to Palm Beach County residents is estimated to be up to a $10 decrease in their solid waste assessment the first year. Then a smaller decrease in the subsequent years until 2022, when the need to use supplemental waste isn’t there. The economic boost to the county is estimated at $45 million over that same time period.

10. The Solid Waste Authority’s mission statement only addresses waste from Palm Beach County. Does the Authority have the right to accept waste from outside the County?

Yes. Nothing in the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Act or any other legislation prohibits us from either importing or exporting solid waste. However, our priority is properly and efficiently disposing of Palm Beach County waste. This specific supplemental waste use opportunity is unique and will end at a certain time.

11. What will be the traffic impact on this part of North Jog Road for using supplemental waste?

The Renewable Energy Facility 2 was approved to take 1 million tons of material a year, and the associated traffic impact was considered as part of the overall approval process. Assuming we will use 200,000 tons of supplemental waste per year, based on 312 working days and 22 tons per load, using supplemental waste would add an additional 30 loads or 60 daily trips to the current average for fiscal year 2013 of 482 daily trips. Total traffic on this part of North Jog Road during this same time without using supplemental waste is estimated at 6,350 from all sources. Thus, the total number of trips, including the addition of 60 supplemental waste trips, would be 6,410.

Once the Renewable Energy Facility 2 is at capacity, estimated in 2022, the traffic on this part of North Jog Road will include these 60 additional daily trips, whether we use supplemental waste now or not, and that traffic will be well within the ultimate road design capacity.

12. Will there be a significant traffic impact?

No. The traffic studies for the permitting of Renewable Energy Facility 2 were based on its operating at 1 million tons a year. Using supplemental waste doesn’t increase the traffic above what was used in the traffic analyses nor what would have come to the landfill had the Renewable Energy Facility 2 not been constructed.

Right now, we receive almost 500 loads, or 1,000 trips per day. Palm Beach County Traffic Division projects more than 6,300 trips per day on Jog Road in 2015 from all residential and commercial traffic, and Jog Road is designed to handle this traffic. The additional 30 loads (or 60 trips) will have no discernible traffic impact.

13. What about the noise from these additional trucks?

Solid Waste Authority facilities on this part of North Jog Road receive almost 500 loads, or 1,000 trips, per day right now. Palm Beach County Traffic Division estimates a total of more than 6,300 trips per day on Jog Road in 2015 from all residential and commercial traffic. An additional 30 loads or 60 trips should have no discernible noise impact, as these trips will be received during daylight hours and when the other background noise is at a peak.

14. Have you conducted a noise study to determine the impact of the Renewable Energy project and what impact will the increased waste deliveries have?

Yes. The Solid Waste Authority had to conduct a noise study to get permit approvals for Renewable Energy Facility 2. The study addressed both noise from the facility and from usual traffic. The traffic noise was based on the facility operating at full capacity.

In addition, our contract with the facility operator contains a specific performance guarantee related to noise that they are required to meet. The decision to use supplemental waste until the facility is at capacity on Palm Beach County waste will have no impact on the noise generated by the facility, which will be operating whether or not we use supplemental waste.

15. Won’t using supplemental waste have a negative impact on neighboring community property values?

No. All of the Solid Waste Authority facilities will be operating with or without this temporary use of supplemental waste. The Renewable Energy Facility 2 will just be taking waste tonnage, for a short period of time, from a different originating source to meet the facility’s permitted capacity.

The Solid Waste Authority already receives and processes approximately 1.7 million tons of waste per year. The additional waste represents a small amount (up to 200,000 tons initially and declining over time) when compared to what we already receive.

This use of supplemental waste opportunity is temporary. The material will be delivered directly to Renewable Energy Facility 2 and not the landfill. Ultimately, with Palm Beach County’s estimated population growth, the Solid Waste Authority will be receiving the same amount of material from Palm Beach County residents after 2022, but not at a cost savings to residents.

16. What about carbon emissions? What is the impact of using supplemental waste on carbon emissions?

The EPA recognizes that renewable energy facilities, like Renewable Energy Facility 2, are net greenhouse gas reducers, and accomplish this in several ways. Learn more about facility emissions.

17. Has the Solid Waste Authority performed an air quality analysis related to the project?

Yes. The Solid Waste Authority was required to do extensive air quality modeling as part of the permitting process for Renewable Energy Facility 2. As National Ambient Air Quality Standards apply to Palm Beach County, we had to demonstrate that Renewable Energy Facility 2 would not cause a deterioration of the air quality. All of the modeling results are public record, and can be examined or copied by contacting the SWA or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

18. What air quality controls will be used at Renewable Energy Facility 2?

As the EPA has specific emissions limits for facilities that combust waste to produce energy, the Solid Waste Authority is incorporating the most modern and most sophisticated air pollution control systems of any facility of its kind in the world! All of the emission levels from the Renewable Energy Facility 2 will be below the Federal standards. In fact, the performance of the emissions control equipment is guaranteed by the manufacturers and by the facility operator.

Air emissions from the facility are monitored in a number of ways. Renewable Energy Facility 2 has a number of Continuous Emissions Monitors (CEM), required by our permits, which sample and analyze air quality on a continuous basis. In addition, there are quarterly and annual emission tests required to demonstrate the performance of the emissions control equipment and Renewable Energy Facility 2’s compliance with emissions standards. All of this information will be recorded and reported to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

The Solid Waste Authority permits also require us to self-report to FDEP if there is any upset condition or performance that impacts emissions. There is a potential for significant penalties for exceeding emission limits and failing to report them, both as fines and penalties. If permit requirements are deliberately violated, there are potential civil or criminal penalties for Solid Waste Authority managers individually.

19. Will using supplemental waste, as the Solid Waste Authority proposes, contribute to increased pollution?

No. The amount of supplemental waste the SWA will receive is consistent with the amount of waste originally planned for and approved/permitted, and will not cause the SWA to exceed the emissions limits in our permits.

20. If Renewable Energy Facility 2 will produce ash, won’t using supplemental waste reduce the life of the Solid Waste Authority’s landfill?

Based on our current projections, the decision to use supplemental waste may reduce the life of the landfill by approximately 3 months, from a final depletion in May 2046 to February 2046. Given that this is well into the future, and recognizing the inability to predict with any certainty the changes in future disposal technologies, this impact is deemed immaterial.

In addition, there is university-sponsored research under way investigating the potential for reuse of most or all of the ash that we currently landfill, just like ash from coal-fired power plants is used in the manufacturing of concrete. If this research proves successful, the life of the Solid Waste Authority’s landfill may be dramatically extended, bringing us closer to the potential of 0 landfill by 2046.

21. What is the impact on recycling?

The Solid Waste Authority expects the recycling rate to increase. Even if the imported material has already been through a recycling process, Renewable Energy Facility 2 will have extensive metals recovery systems that will remove any residual metals from the ash prior to it being placed in the landfill.

In addition, the State of Florida counts waste delivered to a Renewable Energy facility towards the state’s 75% Recycling goal, and the state provides one ton of recycling credit for each megawatt hour of energy produced.

22. When will the use of supplemental waste stop?

The use of supplemental waste will stop when Renewable Energy Facility 2 is operating at capacity, processing 1 million tons of waste per year generated by Palm Beach County residents and businesses. This is estimated to be the year 2022, based on current population growth estimates.