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Chapter I: Introduction Background and History Solid waste management planning and implementation in the metropolitan area is largely governed by statutes specific to the seven - county Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Required by Minnesota statute, the solid waste planning process has comprised a periodic revision of the regional solid waste policy plan (Minn. Stat. §473.149), followed by a revision of county solid waste master plans to implement the regional policy plan (Minn. Stat. §473.803) since the 1980s. Regional solid -waste planning was under the direction of the Metropolitan Council until 1994, when it shifted to the non - regulatory Office of Environmental Assistance (OEA), which was folded into the regulatory Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in the mid- 2000s. The Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Policy Plan (Policy Plan) was developed and revised by the Metropolitan Council during the 1980s and 1991, by the OEA in 1997 and 2003, and most recently by the MPCA, which approved a revised Policy Plan in April 2011. The planning horizon for the Policy Plan and county master plans is 20 years, with revisions occurring about every 6 years. Certain items are required to be stated in 6 -year increments. Per Minnesota statute, county master plans and revisions to the plans are to be submitted to MPCA for approval within a specified time frame. As such, during the past two decades the master plans were submitted in the year following the completion of the Policy Plan revisions: 1992, 1998, 2004 and 2010. For this round of revisions, Ramsey County is required to submit a revised Master Plan by April 2, 2012. Since 1992, county master plans have included a regional component, developed in a coordinated fashion through the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board ( SWMCB), such that parts of each county master plan have been regional in nature, and parts have been county- specific. In both 1998 and 2004, a regional master plan for SWMCB member counties was developed that consisted of the common regional elements, and each county's master plan was then written to be consistent with and serve to adopt the regional plan. Why is the Master Plan Important? As described above, Ramsey County has had a series of solid waste master plans dating back to the early 1980s. These plans have guided changes in solid waste management from being a system dependent on land disposal to one that integrates a variety of management strategies and performs at one of the highest levels in the nation. These plans have served as guidance to the counties, municipalities, the waste industry, and others as decisions are made about waste management. The master plans have come to be respected as setting clear policy direction for solid waste management, and provide a level of stability to a very dynamic system. A historical example of this stability is found in the development of curbside recycling. In the early 1990s curbside recycling was in its infancy, and there was skepticism about its value and longevity. Ramsey County's master plans established clear policy direction, directing that municipalities would be responsible for collection of recyclables, that it is an expectation that such service become institutionalized, that long term funding sources for recycling be developed, and that certain goals had to be met. This direction established the clear role for curbside recycling, and was the basis for the service being a permanent fixture in the system. Ramsey County Solid Waste Master Plan 2011 -2030 Page 12 Approved by the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners on 3120112