76-532. Yard clipping composting facilities.

The owner/operator registers the site as a composting facility with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Only yard clippings shall be composted at such facilities. Yard clippings containing invasive species, or diseased or infested materials shall not be accepted at the composting facility. Noncompostable materials shall be prohibited. Examples of noncompostable materials include, but are not limited to, plastic, glass, textiles, rubber, metal, ceramics, styrofoam, and painted, laminated, or treated wood.

Yard clipping composting facilities shall be prohibited from receiving materials in plastic bags. The owner/operator shall describe the types of containers in which yard clippings will be accepted and the source of incoming yard clippings.

The management or storage of yard clippings, compost, and residuals occurs in an area that is not in the one-hundred-year floodplain and is the following distance from each of the following features:

Does not result in more than 5,000 cubic yards of yard clippings, compost and residuals present on any acre of property at the site, exclusive of access roads, service areas, parking areas and required buffer zones.

Does not result in an accumulation of yard clippings for a period of over three years.

Results in finished compost with not more than 1% by weight of foreign matter that will remain on a four-millimeter screen.

If yard clippings are collected in bags other than paper bags, debag the yard clippings by the end of each business day.

Prevent the pooling of water by maintaining proper slopes and grades.

Properly manage stormwater runoff.

Does not attract or harbor rodents or other vectors.

The owner or operator maintains and makes available to the Township all of the following:

A composting facility shall not be allowed in a protected or regulated wetland. A Level 3 wetland assessment shall be made prior to site plan and special land use approval. If a wetland resource(s) is identified, a Level 3 assessment will be required.

The maximum height of all windrows or any other material being stored on site shall not exceed a total height of eight feet.

The decomposition process shall be properly managed and maintained in an aerobic condition to prevent all unnecessary odors.

The site shall be level and well-drained. Ponded water shall not be permitted to collect on a yard clippings composting site. A plan for collection, retention and drainage of stormwater shall be provided for review and approval. The Planning Commission shall require that the plan provide a settling basin/detention pond and vegetation filtration of runoff prior to discharge off site. Vegetation filtration shall be accomplished by use of a fifty-foot-wide perimeter strip of grass, or a similar measure.

The area being actively utilized for composting shall be provided with an engineered pad consisting of clay or other impermeable lining to a depth as determined by the design engineer and acceptable to the Township Engineer to ensure that contamination or leaching into the ground and groundwater is eliminated or minimized to the greatest extent possible.

The entire site utilized for composting operations shall be screened and buffered by means of a six-foot-high berm with a four-foot-wide flat crown. Further, such berm shall be planted with a double row of evergreens six feet to eight feet in height at planting. Each row of trees shall not exceed a spacing of 15 feet on center. These rows shall be offset by eight feet. In no case shall the trees be planted lower than three feet on the height of the berm.

The owner/operator shall submit a composting facilitation operations plan (CFOP) for the facility that demonstrates compliance with this chapter and other applicable regulations. The CFOP shall describe or provide information pertaining to the following: site design considerations, including material flow and other procedures; the location of different activity areas (e.g., receiving, windrows, curing, disposing of waste materials found in income materials; volume limits and where the operator will send material if site limitations are achieved, typical carbon to nitrogen ratios for expected materials and how the materials will be mixed to maintain reasonable ratios for successful composting; planned processing activities from receipt at the gate through the end user of the finished compost; the frequency with which the yard clippings will be rotated; the steps that will be taken to maintain yard clippings at the appropriate moisture content and temperature; the means by which the temperature and moisture of the compost piles will be measured; the steps that will be taken to ensure that the decomposition process will be properly managed and maintained in an aerobic condition; the monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting program that will be maintained; the length of time for which yard waste will remain on the site; product quality standards and testing for pathogens; the owner/operator's staffing plan and how many people will be working on-site throughout the year; the operating staff's qualifications and what training is planned for both operations and safety; and a plan for how the owner/operator will troubleshoot typical composting difficulties, such as litter control, odor, inappropriate temperature, dust, noise, flies and pests, and neighborhood complaints. The CFOP must be amended to reflect changes in operation and be available to the Township upon request.

The CFOP shall include provisions for emergency response and shall coordinate with the Township Fire Department to ensure that firefighting equipment is available at the site and that personnel have been trained in firefighting procedures. Water equipment, such as water trucks, hydrants and hoses, or backpack spray units, is required for wetting organic material and for firefighting purposes. Sufficient quantities of water, noncombustible soil, and earthmoving/excavating equipment or the equivalent shall be maintained on site for purposes of fire extinguishing.

A description of the direction of prevailing winds and how the wind conditions will affect operations shall be submitted. Pile turnings shall be timed to coincide with favorable wind conditions. The owner/operator shall not permit offensive odors to escape the boundaries of the yard clippings composting facility and/or interfere with the enjoyment of adjacent properties. The owner/operator shall submit a set of low-odor operating protocols and an odor response management plan that shall be employed in the event that the owner/operator or Township receives odor complaints during operation.

All buffer areas shall be maintained as vegetative strips to facilitate the filtration of pollutants.

The owner/applicant shall provide a study of the impact that truck traffic associated with the facility will have on public roadways, including a description of the volume of truck traffic that will be generated, with truck traffic estimates during peak and off-peak times; the type and quantity of incoming vehicles by season; the trucks' projected routes; the current condition of affected roadways and the impact that truck traffic is projected to have on their condition; and a plan for mitigating the impacts of truck traffic on area roadways.

Because of the level of truck traffic typically associated with a yard waste composting facility, direct access to a paved public roadway designated as a major thoroughfare in the Township's adopted Master Plan and capable of carrying Class A loadings on a year-round basis is required.

An area for truck stacking and staging shall be provided. The staging of trucks on the exterior of the site shall be prohibited. The area designated for truck staging shall be located in such a manner as to not impact adjacent residences. Based on the location of the operation and the proximity to residential land use, the Planning Commission may place restrictions on the hours of operation for the staging and filling of trucks.

All site access roads, drives, roads for maneuvering lanes internal to the site, and areas for employee parking shall be paved with asphalt or concrete. The thickness of such roads and maneuvering lanes shall be acceptable to the Township Engineer to ensure emergency access. A minimum of five parking spaces shall be provided on site.

The owner/operator shall provide sufficient equipment on-site to properly manage the composting process. At a minimum, this shall include a front-end loader or similar machinery for loading, unloading, turning, and aeration operations; a shredder for reducing new material to a smaller particle size for faster decomposition; a source of water or watering trucks; and a screen to improve the quality and marketability of the final product.

Storage of finished compost on site is limited to 12 months of production.

A restroom facility sufficient in size to accommodate the facility's staff and an office providing space for administrative functions shall be constructed on site.

The owner/operator shall provide plans showing all equipment maintenance and storage areas. Plans shall show the location of all fuel storage facilities and shall detail primary and secondary containment for all hazardous materials, including product-tight containers for primary containment.

The hours of operation shall be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. No operations are permitted on holidays.

The operator shall establish a procedure and mechanism for proper disposal of nonyard wastes at an approved sanitary landfill. Further, all nonorganic material, such as debris and litter, shall be contained on site so as to not scatter or blow off the premises.

Access to the site shall be controlled to prevent unauthorized dumping during nonbusiness hours. The entire site being actively used for the storage or processing of compost shall be fenced. The fence shall be no higher than eight feet in height and shall be vinyl coated or the equivalent. Such fence shall be placed behind the landscape berm required by this chapter. Further, access point(s) to the site shall be controlled by gates to prevent unauthorized entrance. Finally, the use of barbed, razor or electrified fencing shall be prohibited.

In the event that the Township retains the services of an independent compost engineer to evaluate the site plan and CFOP, the owner/operator shall pay for and comply with the conditions of the compost engineer's review. These conditions shall be included as conditions of special land use approval.

The owner/operator shall submit proof of insurance for the proposed operation as a part of site plan and special land use review and shall provide proof of ongoing insurance as a part of each yearly license renewal. Such proof shall be kept on file in the Clerk's office or other designated area. Such insurance shall insure the owner/operator, employees and/or agents or representatives, and the Township as an additional insured for general comprehensive liability in an amount of at least $1,000,000 per person and $2,000,000 per occurrence. Further, the applicant shall also provide an umbrella policy under the same terms, no less than $2,000,000 above that previously described. These policies shall have no pollution liability exclusions.

The owner/operator shall provide a name, address, and phone number of the person responsible for operation of the site and who is also responsible for correcting all operational problems that may result in complaints being made to the Township.

The owner/operator understands and agrees that failure to maintain and operate the site in accordance with this section and any additional conditions shall constitute grounds for revocation of the special land use permit by the Planning Commission.

Township officials and/or consultants engaged by the Township shall be permitted entry to a yard clipping composting facility for inspection purposes during normal operating hours to determine compliance with this chapter and other applicable regulations. No person shall impede reasonable inspection of a composting facility by Township officials and/or consultants engaged by the Township.

The owner/operator shall submit a bond in an amount established by resolution of the Township Board to guarantee clean up and restoration of the site.

Copies of all state applications, registrations, reports and permits, where required, shall be provided to the Planning Commission as part of the application package.

A semiannual inspection for rodents shall be performed by a licensed pest control company. Copies of the report shall be transmitted to the Township. If rodents are detected, appropriate measures shall be taken to capture or exterminate the rodents in an environmentally safe manner.

A semiannual test shall be performed to ensure that on-site soils and surface waters leaving the site are not contaminated by a concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, phenols, pesticides and/or herbicides. Soil samples shall be taken from the windrow area and the settling basin/detention pond and surface water samples shall be taken at the outlet from the detention pond.

A farm composting yard clippings pursuant to MCLA 324.11521(3) and in accordance with generally accepted agricultural and management practices under the Michigan Right to Farm Act is exempt from this section.

A site plan meeting the requirements of Article VII of the Township Zoning Ordinance.