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HomeMy WebLinkAboutordinance.council.21-24ORDINANCE 110.21 SERIES OF 2024 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO9 AMENDING TITLE 29 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD A NEW CHAPTER ENTITLED "CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS DIVERSION" TO INCLUDE PROVISIONS RESTRICTING THE DISPOSAL OF RECOVERABLE CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS AS TRASH. WHEREAS, the City Council for the City of Aspen has a duty to protect the environment and the health of its citizens and visitors; and WHEREAS, as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2021, natural resource extraction and processing account for approximately half of global greenhouse gas emissions, and WHEREAS, the United Nations Environmental Program reports, "the buildings and construction sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for a staggering 37% of global emissions", and WHEREAS, the City of Aspen (the "City") recognizes climate change is driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gas in our atmosphere as a result of human activity; and WHEREAS, the City committed to the Race to Zero campaign, requiring the City to publicly endorse the following principles: • Recognize the global climate emergency. • Commit to keeping global heating below the 1.5° Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement. • Commit to putting inclusive climate action at the center of all urban decision -making, to create thriving and equitable communities for everyone. • Invite our partners — political leaders, CEOs, trade unions, investors, and civil society — to join us in recognizing the global climate emergency and help us deliver on science -based action to overcome it; and WHEREAS, City Council passed Resolution #002, Series of 2022 that established science -based targets for reducing community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 63% by 2030 and 100% by 2050 along with diverting 70% of total landfill materials by 2050, based upon 2017 levels; and WHEREAS, the 2020 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory estimated the landfilling of materials accounted for 16% of Aspen's total emissions in 2020; and WHEREAS, construction and demolition debris account for 53% of the total materials landfilled at the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center; and WHEREAS, according to the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center, over half of the landfilled construction and demolition debris generated in Aspen could have been locally recycled, reused, or recirculated back into the economy for reprocessing into new goods or materials; and WHEREAS, in 2021, Pitkin County Solid Waste Center adopted a construction and demolition diversion ordinance that has demonstrated success in recovering building materials, seeing an average 66% debris diversion per project; and WHEREAS, Pitkin County Solid Waste Center has the ability to recover certain construction and demolition materials for recycling or reuse; and WHEREAS, City Council recognizes voluntary participation in the diversion of building materials will not meet the City's waste reduction or GHG reduction goals, and regulating construction and demolition debris is integral to reducing Aspen's landfilled waste, and supporting the longevity of the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center; and WHEREAS, it is desired by City Council, to amend Title 29, Engineering Standards, of the Aspen Municipal Code to add a new chapter, Construction And Demolition Debris Diversion, to regulate the disposal of recoverable construction and demolition debris as landfill trash; and WHEREAS, in addition to adding a new chapter to Title 29, Engineering Standards, the City Engineer requests that City Council repeal and replace the appeal procedures set forth Ein Section 29.01.120 with the appeals procedures proposed as Section 29.02.110 to further define the standard of review applicable to appeals from the decisions of the City Engineer; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens, residents, and visitors of Aspen will be served by this Ordinance, which will provide the necessary updates to the Code to regulate the disposal of recoverable construction and demolition debris as landfill trash and require the handling of materials in an environmentally sustainable and recoverable manner. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO0 Section lo. Title 29 of the Municipal Code of the City of Aspen is hereby amended by the addition of a new Chapter which Chapter shall read as follows: Chapter 29.02 Construction and Demolition Debris Diversion Sec. 29.02.010 —Purpose The purpose of this Chapter is to conserve landfill operations and capacity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the City of Aspen's adopted carbon goals, through the prevention of landfill disposal of recoverable materials by requiring all locally salvageable materials be recycled, repurposed, or rehomed. Sec. 29.02.020. -Definitions As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall be defined as follows: C&D Diversion Approval is an approval issued by the City Engineer, or their designee, when all documents, reports, and plans required by this Chapter have been submitted as part of a permit application and deemed complete by the City Engineering Department. Construction and Demolition Debris (C&D) is solid waste generated by or resulting from construction or demolition -related activities including, but not limited to, building, construction, deconstruction, demolition, improvement, reconstruction, remodeling, renovation, repair, or site clean-up. Construction Mitigation Disturbance Square Footage means the combined square footage of the building work area in addition to all the soil disturbance area as demonstrated in a City of Aspen permit application for construction, development, redevelopment, modifications and additions to existing developments undertaken within the City of Aspen. Construction Management Plan (CMP) means the Construction Management Plan associated with a building permit approved pursuant to the Construction Management Plan Requirements of Sec. 29.01.030. - Adoption of construction management plan requirements. Diversion Recovery Plan (DRP) means the Diversion Recovery Plan submitted in the City's designated waste tracking software. This plan requires the applicant to estimate the total tons of debris generated from the project, materials anticipated for recovery, the means by which the materials will be transferred to a local recycling facility, and facilities intended to accept the Recoverable Materials. The DRP is approved prior to permit issuance by the City Engineer, or designee. Diversion Compliance Deposit is a deposit from the permit applicant prior to permit issuance, made to the City of Aspen, calculated by applying the following equation. Diversion Compliance Deposit = (Construction Mitigation Square Footage X 0.05 tons/sq ft) X (Social Cost of Carbon for C&D Materials*) Diversion Reports is a diversion status report submitted by the permittee through the City's waste tracking software for the City Engineer, or their designee. A Report is required to be filed prior to Building Inspections and prior to Final Building Inspections. The Diversion Report must include receipts or other documentation showing the amount of Recoverable diverted or salvaged, the means by which the material was diverted or salvaged, and the amount of material deposited in the landfill. The final Diversion Report will be used by City of Aspen staff to determine if the permittee met the requirements of this Chapter. Locally available recycling or recovery facilities is a recycling and recovery facilities located within the region of Aspen, as deemed by the City Engineer, or their designee, where the environmental benefit of recovering, recycling, or rehoming is not voided by the emissions impact of transportation over extended distances. The Pitkin County Solid Waste Center accepts all Recoverable Materials listed in this Chapter for recycling or reuse. Recoverable Management Practice means a practice approved by the City that prevents Recoverable Materials from end -of --life disposal through the reuse or recycling of said materials. Examples of practices include recycling of divertible materials, donation or rehoming of goods, and reuse of materials onsite for building and construction purposes. Recoverable Materials Diversion Acknowledgement Form is a form signed prior to permit issuance acknowledging the diversion requirements and consequences of failure to meet these requirements, as stated in this Chapter. Recoverable Materials means construction and demolition debris for which there is a local option to reuse, recycle, or otherwise divert such debris from the landfill. Recoverable Materials includes all materials that the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center accepts for recycling and reuse. Social Cost of Carbon for C&D Materials is a dollar estimate of the economic damages caused by emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from landfilling one ton of Unsorted Load. This cost is set forth in section 2.12.051. - Engineering Department fees and amended from time to time to reflect financial changes in environmental accounting. Trash means substances designated for end -of --life disposal in a landfill, or other end -of --life disposal practice, from which the substances can never be recovered. Recoverable Materials are not trash. Unsorted Load means the comingling of at least ten percent (10%) of Recoverable Material in any one load of trash designated for end -of --life disposal in a landfill. City of Aspen permitted projects with more than 2,000 square feet of Construction Mitigation Square Footage must separate all Recoverable Materials generated by construction and demolition activity from the trash. Recoverable Materials are to be separated by material type and designated for recycling, repurposing, reuse, or any other alternative Recoverable Management Practice approved by the City. 29.02.040 -Recoverable Materials List a) The Recoverable Materials List identifies materials for which there is a local option to reuse, recycleI or otherwise divert from the landfill. These materials are required CO be separated from the trash and repurposed. This list may be amended from time to time by the City Engineer, or their designee, to adjust for changes in local recycling and reuse marketplaces. The Recoverable Materials List is developed in consultation with the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center and shall be available for public inspection at the Community Development Department, the Engineering Department, and on the City of Aspen's website. Projects may divert these materials to any Locally available recycling facility in addition to the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center for diversion. b) Recoverable Materials include but are not limited to: 1. Concrete 2. Corrugated Cardboard 3. Porcelain 4. Metal Appliances 5. Asphalt 6. Rock and Dirt 7. Metal 8. Single Stream Recyclables 9. Organics 10. Untreated (no stain, paint, or chemical treatment) lumber and pallets 11. Any other materials for which the City has determined there to be a local recycling or reuse marketplace. 29.02.050 -Exemptions The following are exempt from the provisions of this Chapter: a) To the extent a Recoverable Material tests positive for asbestos, as determined by a state certified asbestos inspector, it shall be exempt from the requirements of this Chapter. Upon removal of all asbestos contaminated materials, the remaining Recoverable Materials are expected to follow the requirements of this Chapter. b) Projects unable to meet the minimum diversion requirements of this Chapter due to an absence of Recoverable Materials may ask the City Engineer, or their designee, for an exemption to the minimum requirements of this code upon demonstration to the satisfaction of the City Engineer, or their designee that no Locally available recycling or recovery facilities exist for the materials generated from the project's construction activity. c) Right -of --Way Permits: Projects permitted for alterations in the public right -of --way as determined by the City Engineer shall be exempt from the requirements of this Chapter. 29.02.060 -Right-of--Way Usage The City Engineering Department may, in its sole discretion, allow properties to locate containers used for gathering and storing Recoverable Materials pursuant to this section within public right -of --way where feasible, if the permittee can demonstrate that the containers cannot be reasonably stored on the property where development is permitted. The City Engineer, or their designee, may waive the encroachment permit fee for containers used solely for the purposes of separation, storing, and diverting Recoverable Material. If at any time such container is placed in the right of way pursuant to this section and is not being used for purposes of diverting Recoverable Materials, the permittee will be responsible to pay the Encroachment Fees, per square footage of the container's footprint pursuant to Sec. 2.12.051. 29.02.070 - C&D Approval Process For all construction and demolition activities subject to the diversion requirements set forth, herein, the following items must be submitted to the City: a) At permit submittal, the applicant shall submit a Diversion Recovery Plan (DRP) in the City's designated waste tracking software. Incomplete or insufficient DPRs may be deemed incomplete by the City Engineer or their designee. Permits for any development on a parcel requiring a DRP will not be issued until a C&D Approval is granted by the City Engineer, or their designee. b) Issuance Fees: Upon C&D Approval and prior to permit issuance, the applicant shall submit a refundable Diversion Compliance Deposit to the City of Aspen. The refundable Diversion Compliance Deposit shall be calculated by applying the following equation. Diversion Compliance Deposit = (Construction Mitigation Square Footage X 0.05 tons/sq ft) X (Social Cost of Carbon for C&D Materials*) * Set forth in the Standard Fee Schedule of Chapter 2.12.051 c) Prior to permit issuance, the applicant must sign a Recoverable Materials Diversion Acknowledgement Form. 29.02.080 -Diversion Reporting Requirements a) The permittee or their designated project manager shall use the City's waste tracking software to track and submit tickets and receipts for the disposal and diversion of debris, on an ongoing basis, until the project is complete. b) The permittee or their designated project manager is responsible for retaining and submitting all receipts and related documentation accounting for the disposal and diversion of C&D debris generated from the project. This includes tracking debris generated from work conducted by sub -contractors. c) Prior to Building Inspection: The City Engineer, or their designee, will review the projects account in the City's waste tracking software for submissions and recordings of receipts related to disposal and diversion of debris. Building Inspections will not take place until an up to date Diversion Report is approved by the City Engineer, or their designee. d) Prior to Final Building Inspection: The permittee or their designated project manager must submit their finalized Diversion Report in the City's waste tracking software for review and approval by the City Engineer, or their designee, before a Final Building Inspection may occur. 29.02.090 -Penalties and Enforcement a) Municipal Court Penalties. Any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall be subject to prosecution in Municipal Court and upon conviction may be punished by a fine, imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment, as set forth in Section 1.04.180 of this Code. Each day any violation of this Chapter occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense. b) Stop Work Orders. Whenever construction or other work being performed fails to comply with the requirements of this Chapter, the City Engineer, or their designee, shall order the work stopped by notice in writing served upon any person engaged in the doing or causing of such violation. It shall be unlawful for any person to fail or refuse to obey such an order. Each day that one so notified, or any other person who can reasonably be expected to be informed of the notice, fails to comply with the order shall constitute a separate offense. The City Engineer, or their designee, may withhold all deposits assessed to the permittee if the project has been subject to a Stop Work Order. c) Unsorted Load Fee. Any Unsorted Load disposed of in a landfill by a permittee, or their designee, shall be assessed an administrative fee, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the City Engineer's Construction Mitigation Plan manual, based upon the total weight of the Unsorted Load by the City Engineer, or their designee. The fee shall be determined by multiplying the Social Cost of Carbon for C&D Materials by the total tonnage of the Unsorted Load. 1. For example, the penalty for an Unsorted Load containing 10 tons of debris will be calculated by multiplying the debris tonnage by the Social Cost of Carbon, as listed in Sec. 2.12.051. - Engineering Department fees. 2. 10 tons X $495 Social Cost of Carbon for C&D Materials = $4,950 unsorted load fee 3. Upon receipt of notice of a fee assessment issued for an Unsorted Load, the permittee shall have thirty (30) days to pay the fee. Failure to pay an Unsorted Load Fee shall be considered a violation of this Chapter. 4. All Unsorted Load fees shall be used by the City for the purposes of environmental health and sustainability initiatives. d) The City shall not issue a Certificate of Occupancy to the project if the permittee has outstanding Unsorted Load fees or outstanding fines assessed due to a violation of this Chapter. 29.02.100 Diversion Compliance Deposit Return a) Permittees will be eligible for a refund of their Diversion Compliance Deposit if they have diverted a minimum of 50% of the project's total tonnage as reported in the Diversion Recovery Plan. Permittees that divert less than 50% of the project's total tonnage as determined by the Diversion Reports will not be eligible for a refund of their Diversion Compliance Deposit. In addition to diverting 50% of the project's total tonnage, to receive a refund of the Diversion Compliance Deposit the permittee must meet the following criteria. 1. The submission of a final Diversion Report which shall include submission of tickets, receipts, or other means of proof, that the diversion of recoverable materials listed in their initial Diversion Recovery Plan has been satisfied. 2. The permittee has paid all fees and fines assessed pursuant to this Chapter. 3. The records of the City Engineer demonstrate that the permittee did not receive any stop work orders for violations of this Chapter. 4. Undocumented Diversion Amounts: Upon request of a permittee, the City Engineer, may at their discretion, consider evidence of diversion by other means not listed in this Chapter and not identified in the Diversion Recovery Plan, which demonstrate the quantity of material diverted and recovery practice utilized. 5. The City Engineer, at their discretion, may authorize the refund of the Diversion Compliance Deposit if a permittee demonstrates that noncompliance was due to circumstances outside of their control. b) Permittees aggrieved by a decision of the City Engineer under this section may appeal the decision pursuant to the procedures set forth in this Chapter. 29.02.110 -Appeal Procedures a) Initiation. An applicant or permittee aggrieved by an order, requirement, decision, or determination of the City Engineer pursuant to this Title may appeal the decision of the City Engineer to the Administrative Hearing Officer by filing a notice of appeal with the City Engineer. The notice of appeal shall be filed with the City Engineer within fourteen (14) days of the date of the order, requirement, decision or determination being appealed. The notice of appeal shall state in detail the action appealed, the grounds for the appeal and the relief sought. Failure to file such notice of appeal within the prescribed time shall constitute a waiver of any rights under this Title to appeal any order, requirements, decision or determination. b) Effect of filing an appeal. The filing of a notice of appeal shall stay any proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the City Engineer certifies in writing to the Administrative Hearing Officer that a stay poses an imminent peril to life or property, in which case the appeal shall not stay further proceedings. The Administrative Hearing Officer may review such certification and grant or deny a stay of proceedings. c) Fee. At the time of perfecting an appeal pursuant to this section, the appellant shall be required to pay an appeal fee of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) which fee may be returned to the appellant at the discretion of the Administrative Hearing Officer if the order, requirements, decision or determination of the City Engineer is reversed or modified. d) Tiing. The Admini mstrative Hearing Officer authorized to hear the appeal shall consider the appeal within thirty (3 0) days of the date of filing the notice of appeal or as soon thereafter as is practical under the circumstances. e) Standard of Review. Unless otherwise specifically stated in this Title, the Administrative Hearing Officer authorized to hear the appeal shall decide the appeal based solely upon the written decision and record established by the administrative body from which the appeal is taken. A decision or determination shall not be reversed or modified unless there is a finding that there was a denial of due process, or the administrative body has exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion. f) Action by Administrative Hearing Officer. The Administrative Hearing Officer may reverse, affirm or modify the decision or determination appealed from and, if the decision is modified, shall be deemed to have all the powers of the City Engineer. The decision shall be approved by written resolution. All appeals shall be public meetings. The Administrative Hearing Officer's decision shall be submitted to both the City Engineer and the appellant in writing. Section 2 Section 2.12.051 of the Aspen Municipal Code shall be amended to include the following fee for the Social Cost of Carbon as follows: Construction and Demolition Debris Diversion Fees and Penalties Social Cost of Carbon for C&D Materials (per $495 ton) Section 3: Section 29.01.120 of the Aspen Municipal Code is hereby repealed. Section 4: Section 29.01.070(e) of the Aspen Municipal Code shall be amended to read as follows: 0 Appeals. An applicant may appeal a variance decision pursuant to Section 29.02.110, Appeals. Section 5: Any scrivener's errors contained in the code amendments herein, including but not limited to mislabeled subsections or titles, may be corrected administratively following adoption of the Ordinance. Section 6: This ordinance shall not affect any existing litigation and shall not operate as an abatement of any action or proceeding now pending under or by virtue of the resolutions or ordinances repealed or amended as herein provided, and the same shall be conducted and concluded under such prior resolutions or ordinances. Section 7: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional in a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof. INTRODUCED AND READ, as provided by law, by the City Council of the City of Aspen on the 17�' day of December 2024. ATTEST: Mooef &*+46 Nicole Henning, City Clerk FINALLY, adopted, passed and approved this Nicole Henning, City C�k APPROVED AS TO FORM: es R. True, City Attorney Torre, Mayor day of January , 2025. Torre, Mayor