From and after October 9, 1993, the owner of a sanitary landfill shall establish a fee, or a surcharge on existing fees or other appropriate revenue-producing mechanism, to ensure the availability of financial resources for the proper closure of the sanitary landfill and post-closure monitoring and remediation. However, the disposal of solid waste by persons on their own property, as described in Section 17-17-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is exempt from this section.
The revenue-producing mechanism must produce revenue at a rate sufficient to generate funds to meet state and federal landfill closure and post-closure requirements.
The revenue shall be deposited in an interest-bearing escrow account to be held and administered by the owner. The owner shall file with the department an annual audit of the account. The audit shall be conducted by a certified public accountant and shall be filed no later than December 31 of each year. Failure to collect or report such revenue is a noncriminal violation, punishable by a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) for each offense. The owner may make expenditures from the account and its accumulated interest only for the purpose of landfill closure and post-closure requirements. If such expenditures do not deplete the fund to the detriment of eventual closure and post-closure requirements, any monies remaining in the account after paying for proper and complete closure and all post-closure requirements, as determined by the commission, shall be returned to the owner.
The revenue generated under this section and any accumulated interest thereon may be applied to the repayment of any loan or the payment of, or pledged as security for, the payment of revenue bonds issued in whole or in part for the purpose of complying with state and federal landfill closure and post-closure requirements. Such application or pledge may be made directly in the proceedings authorizing such bonds or in an agreement with an insurer of bonds to assure such insurer of additional security therefor.