The Metropolitan King County Council continued preparations for the eventual closure of the Cedar Hills Landfill with t`heir approval today of guidelines for development of the county’s solid waste export plan.

“In less than a decade, we will be closing the last solid waste landfill in King County,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson, Chair of the Council’s Regional Policy Committee. “By working across jurisdictional boundaries we have turned an issue that was a source of friction into a blueprint for regional cooperation. This legislation ensures that all of the stakeholders at both the local and regional level will have a final say in how we will dispose of solid waste.”

King County operates one of the largest publicly-owned solid waste management systems in the state, serving residents and businesses in unincorporated King County and 37 of the County’s 39 cities. Cedar Hills — the county’s only landfill — is expected to reach capacity in 2012, and the county has chosen to export its solid waste to Eastern Washington or Eastern Oregon once Cedar Hills closes. The Council’s Regional Policy Committee and Natural Resources and Utilities Committee have been working with suburban city officials and the County Executive to develop a dependable and cost-effective waste export system.

Today’s ordinance creates the guidelines that will be used to draft the final solid waste export plan, including a timeline for plan development, and participation from all stakeholders through creation of a permanent forum for comprehensive city review of solid waste management plans and policies. Cities will appoint their own officials to advise the County Executive and County Council in all matters relating to solid waste management, and will actively participate in the plan’s development. Any proposals that come out of this forum would be submitted to the County Council for discussion and evaluation.

“This plan is a model of how a regional partnership should work,” said Ferguson. “This could have become a contentious issue, but working on a cooperative level with our suburban partners allowed us to create a framework that will have us ready when it’s time for Cedar Hills to close.”

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system and type in “2004-0125”