News

From the Desk of  Jim Golden, V.P., HSA Golden

Another legislative session has passed. With it, another piece of solid waste and recycling legislation was passed which will impact those of us in the business of waste management. The legislation to which I’m referring is Senator Lee Constantine’s original Senate Bill 570, which passed as House Bill 7243 during the last week of the legislative session (i.e., the last week of April 2010). If the Governor signs this legislation, it takes effect July 1, 2010.

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Here are the highlights (in my opinion) of what is contained in this legislation:

1. Sets a VOLUNTARY 75% recycling goal for Florida to be achieved by 2020.

2. Allows previously banned yard waste to be landfilled in Class I (lined) landfills, IF the landfill is equipped to recover gas AND arranges for the reuse of the gas.

3. Requires liners at all new Construction & Demolition Debris (C&D) landfills (currently permitted cells are exempt). New expansions may be exempt if it can be demonstrated that groundwater will not be impacted.

4. All non-source separated C&D materials must be processed before being disposed (where economically feasible); this can be done at a permitted C&D facility.

5. Creates a Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) within Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

6. Eliminates the Innovative Recycling Grants program.

7. Allows energy production from Waste to Energy plants to be counted as part of the 75% recycling goal, as long as the county/city in which the plant(s) are located has a program designed to recycle at least 40% of its municipal solid waste by means other than combustion or gasification.

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#3 (above) states that the bill “requires liners at all C&D landfills.” This is NOT accurate; in the last few days of the legislative session, the strict liner requirement was amended. Language about this issue was apparently stripped from HB 7243, amended, and then inserted in Senate Bill (SB) 550. The following is the specific language about C&D liners now found in SB 550 (Section 47, Paragraph (b) of subsection (9) of section 403.707, Florida Statutes), which is amended to read:

“The department shall require liners and leachate collection systems at individual disposal units and lateral expansions of existing disposal units that have not received a department permit authorizing construction or operation prior to July 1, 2010, unless the owner or operator demonstrates, based upon the types of waste received, the methods for controlling types of waste disposed of, the proximity of the groundwater and surface water, and the results of the hydrogeological and geotechnical investigations, that the facility is not expected to result in violations of the groundwater standards and criteria if built without a liner.”

With regard to Waste to Energy (WTE) Recycling Credits (refer to #7 above), the FDEP would determine the methodology(ies) to be used for determining how much recycling credit would be awarded for burning municipal solid waste. However, language was inserted into the bill during the last few days of the legislative session that already provides such a methodology. The following is that language:

“In order to promote the production of renewable energy from solid waste, each megawatt-hour produced by a renewable energy facility using solid waste as a fuel shall count as one ton of recycled material and shall be applied toward meeting the recycling goals set forth in this section. If a county creating renewable energy from solid waste implements and maintains a program to recycle at least 50 percent of municipal solid waste by a means other than creating renewable energy, that county shall count two tons of recycled material for each megawatt-hour produced. If waste originates from a county other than the county in which the renewable energy facility resides, the originating county shall receive such recycling credit. Any county that has a debt service payment related to its waste-to-energy facility shall receive one ton of recycled materials credit for each ton of solid waste processed at the facility. Any byproduct resulting from the creation of renewable energy does not count as waste.”

I have been informed from several sources that utilizing the accounting system set up by the above language may result in recycling numbers that exceed a 100% recycling rate. I’m sure that this issue will receive more attention after July 1 when the legislation takes effect (again, assuming that the Governor signs the bill into law).

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I’m certain that all of us will learn more about the potential and real impacts of this legislation in the following months. We need to closely watch FDEP’s subsequent rulemaking hearings – they must take place within six months of this legislation – to make sure that our interests are voiced, and that the rules accurately reflect these bills.

Since 2007, HSA Golden has been working with Benge Development Corporation to redevelop the former Vigoro fertilizer plant along U.S. Highway 17 in Winter Haven, Florida. HSA Golden performed extensive reviews of historical and recent environmental data and facilitated the Brownfield Area designation process for the site. Upcoming tasks include detailed soil and groundwater assessment work.

Details of the Brownfields designation can be found HERE.

HSA Golden has been retained by Green Gas International to perform carbon credit feasibility studies for up to eight palm oil mills within the Fedepalma Sectoral CDM Umbrella Project in Colombia, South America.

The project involves evaluations of mill operational conditions, review of palm oil mill effluent (POME) data, and interviews with mill operators. The objective of the studies is to rank the sites based on: (1)  accessibility to existing anaerobic lagoons; (2) site operation readiness; (3) POME effluent specifications; and (4) digester retention time.

Orlando Business Journal
Mary Cristobal
July 24-30, 2009

HSA Golden expands into the carbon cap-and-trade international market

Peter Barts, a triathlete and president of HSA Golden — an Orlando-based environmental engineering consultancy — is used to enduring long runs.

This year, he’s celebrating another long run: HSA Golden’s 20th anniversary.

Founded by Philip Hilderbrand in 1989, then-named HSA Technical Services was bought by Barts in 2000. At that time, the company’s net revenue was about $900,000.

Three years later, Barts partnered with Jim Golden, changed the company’s name to HSA Golden and grew revenue to $1.2 million.

Despite its changes during the past 20 years, one thing that’s remained the same for HSA Golden is its key to success: building a good reputation clients trust and doing cost-effective work, Barts said.

“Our customers typically will come with a need or problem. If we fix the problem, then they refer us to someone else,” he said, noting about 80 percent of the firm’s work is from referrals.

HSA Golden offers a variety of services, including environmental resource permitting, foundation design, designing and permitting golf courses, designing and installation of industrial waste treatment systems, landfill investigations, air quality testing and permitting, remedial system design, and real estate and land development.

Barts’ most recently completed project was a 23-year-old cleanup job in Volusia County he started in 1988 when he first entered the field.

Looking forward, Barts wants to expand the firm’s consulting practice internationally through the carbon cap-and-trade market. HSA Golden will work with international clients in their facilities and also assist with project design documents and carbon credit calculations.

If the Obama administration successfully integrates the U.S. in the cap-and-trade market, then carbon credits will increase dramatically, said Barts, whose 2010 revenue goal is about $4.5 million — if things go according to plan with the international expansion.

HSA Golden also retained its consultancy with the Kennedy Space Center, and the company landed a $30 million brownfields redevelopment project in Winter Haven that involves assessment and cleanup of fertilization plants and other facilities.

Regardless of how much it expands its services, Barts sees the company remaining client-focused and small with 25 to 50 employees.

“We’re not looking to take over the world,” he said. “We want to do what we do very well and keep our reputation and quality of our work.”

Read more: An eye on the future – Orlando Business Journal