Guide to the Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation Citizens Solid Waste Management Advisory Board Records of the Director , 1974-1995

(bulk 1985-1992)

Rhode Island State Archives
Rhode Island State Archives
337 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-222-2353
Fax: 401-222-3199
email: statearchives@sos.ri.gov

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation Citizens Solid Waste Management Advisory Board Records of the Director
Date range:	1974-1995, (bulk 1985-1992)
Creator:	Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation
Extent:	7.2 cubic feet other
Abstract:	The Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation Citizens Solid Waste Management Advisory Board Records of the Director consists primarily of correspondence, clippings, reports, brochures, programs, meeting notes, meeting notices and agendas, magazine articles, speeches and notes, and copies of legislation.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Rhode Island State Archives
Collection number:	2001-55

Scope & content

The Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation Citizens Solid Waste Management Advisory Board Records of the Director consists of correspondence to the chairperson, copies of correspondence to/from, clippings, copies of clippings, reports, copies of reports and report drafts, brochures, programs, meeting notes (original), meeting notices and agendas (copies and original), magazine articles (copies), speeches and notes, and copies of legislation.

Covers the following topics/events/subjects

• Moratorium on new incinerators, 1991-1992 (A result of the state’s failure to implement 1986 “Flow control” legislation, requiring maximum levels of source reductions, recycling, composting, and other alternatives before incinerators may be built - Clean Waters Action News/Spring 1991)
• Proposal for incinerator/resource recovery plant in Quonset, 1992
• Purchase of Silvestri Landfill in Johnston by the Solid Waste Management Corporation, 1985
• Formation of the Solid Waste Management Corporation and Citizen Advisory Board, 1974
• Startup of Statewide municipal and commercial Mandatory Recycling Program in Rhode Island, 1986
• RFP re: recycling
• Material Recycling Facility Opening, 1989
• Work of Citizen Action Groups (Ecology Action for Rhode Island, League of Women Voters etc.) prior to the formation of the Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation and Citizen Advisory Board
• Blount Waste Plant and Agreement to build the state’s first trash to electricity incinerator at Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park, North Kingstown, January 1987.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation
• Blount International, Inc.

Subject Topics

• Refuse and refuse disposal.
• Integrated solid waste management
• Refuse disposal industry
• Sanitary landfills
• Sewage disposal
• Landfill gases
• Hazardous waste sites.
• Resource recovery facilities
• Fills (Earthwork)

Subject Topics

• Government, Politics and Law
• Rhode Island/Local Interest

Document Types

• reports
• plans (reports)
• minutes

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1. Reports and Plans, 1978-1993
• Series 2. RISWMC Minutes, 1976-1995
• Series 3. Citizen Advisory Board Minutes/Seminars, 1973-1993
• Series 4. Solid Waste and Recycling, 1978-1996
• Series 5. Solid Waste User Fee System, 1986-1991
• Series 6. Siting an Incinerator at Quonset, 1985-1995

Historical note

The Citizens Solid Waste Management Advisory Board was created in 1974 per Chapter 176 whose purpose was to give advice to the corporation (Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation) concerning rules and regulations and legislation affecting solid waste management, resource recovery, and recycling; to study the effects of existing recovery and recycling programs; to report its findings annually to the Governor and to recommend to the corporation, special studies and projects which it feels are needed to further economic solid waste management, resource, recovery, and recycling.

In 1973 the Governor’s Environmental Task Force’s Study of Solid Waste was formed to examine the approach of other states in solid waste management and identify the step which are essential to the development of a comprehensive, long-range Solid Waste Program.

Members of the Citizens Advisory Board had prior involvement in the early 70’s in the Recycling Committee of Ecology Action. This group reviewed recommendations of the 1969 Governor’s Task Force on Solid Waste. The subsequent legislation mandated planning but provided no funds or a coordinator to achieve it. In 1971, the Conservation Foundation awarded Rhode Island the first funds made available through EPA to demonstrate what citizen action could accomplish in the field of solid waste. The Steering Committee on Solid Waste was formed which included members of the original the Recycling Committee of Ecology Action and key public officials and representative of other concerned groups. The resulting studies of sub-committee/task forces formed within the Committee to study various topics were presented at a statewide solid waste conference on April 10. 1973.

In July 1973 EPA provided a small ($25,000) matching grant to Rhode Island to prepare a solid waste management framework plan. EPA also provided support to the Statewide Planning Program, which was acting as staff for the Governor’s Environmental Task Force, by commissioning Gordian Associates to prepare five position papers as a basis for work on the plan.

The Solid Waste Management Plan was completed in December 1973. Funding was sought through a referendum in November 1974 and the General Assembly passed legislation to create a Solid Waste Management Corporation and Advisory Board, and to establish a solid waste management facilities licensing program within the Health Department.

On September 30, 1974 the Solid Waste Management Corporation and Advisory Board was appointed and proceeded to seek funding through the referendum. Subsequently the bond issue failed before the voters. Grant funding was obtained from the EPA in August of 1975 and August 1976. A second bond issue failed in November 1976 but the 1977 legislature approved a five-year state loan of $500,000 to the Corporation. Other funding for the Corporation was subsidized from a thirty cents per capita surcharge on municipalities that contract with the Corporation for interim disposal arrangements.

In January of 1976, CE McGuire was selected by the Corporation to act as solid waste management consultants and to evaluate alternatives for resource recovery in Rhode Island. McGuire was also to assist in the preparation of a RFP for the procurement of a resource recovery system for the state.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	No special restrictions unless otherwise specified.
Use of the materials:	Copyright is in the public domain unless otherwise specified. We reserve the right to restrict reproduction of materials due to preservation concerns.
Preferred citation:	Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation Citizens Solid Waste Management Advisory Board Records of the Director, 2001-55, Rhode Island State Archives.
Contact information:	Rhode Island State Archives Rhode Island State Archives 337 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903 Tel: 401-222-2353 Fax: 401-222-3199 email: statearchives@sos.ri.gov

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Transferred from Peggy Sharpe, , Chairman of the Citizens’ Solid Waste Management Advisory Board, 30 Pojac Point, North Kingstown, R.I. 02852 on April 26, 2001.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Kate Telford.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Kate Telford 2009 April 17
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

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