Community Outreach and Engagement:
Host Municipality Inspectors
Role of the Host Municipality Inspector
The Host Municipality Inspector (HMI) position enables municipalities to oversee waste management activities at municipal waste landfills, resource recovery facilities, and hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal facilities permitted under the Solid Waste Management Act. The primary role of the Host Municipality Inspector is to evaluate the facility’s compliance with federal, state and local environmental regulations.
The HMI’s position is also an opportunity to:
- Provide a more efficient and effective resource to address local issues;
- Provide an additional and unbiased source of information about activities at the waste management facility; and
- Develop a more sustained and positive relationship between the municipality, regulatory agencies and the waste handling facility.
Click here to download further information on the Role of the Host Municipality Inspector, provided by the PA Department of Environmental Protection. To download the DEP’s PowerPoint presentation on this subject, please click here.
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Authority of the Host Municipal Inspector & Achieving Results
A certified Host Municipality Inspector has some of the same authority as the PA DEP: to enter a facility to conduct an inspection, to collect samples, and to inspect facility records. The HMI’s authority to inspect records extends only to those records required by the PA DEP. In the inspector’s primary role as evaluator of the facility’s compliance with environmental regulations, the inspector has limited enforcement authority. The Host Municipality Inspector’s enforcement options are more limited than those of the PA DEP.
It is important that the Inspector take care to avoid overstepping authority provided to them. Host Municipality Inspectors are authorized to review only reports and records required by the PA DEP. Therefore, they do not have authority to request that the facility provide confidential business information (i.e., financial reports required by the Internal Revenue Service).
To download further information on this subject, click here. To download the PowerPoint presentation the DEP uses for their training class, click here.
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Benefits of Host Municipal Inspectors
Host municipality inspectors help ensure that a facility complies with regulatory requirements and minimizes facility impacts. Inspectors interface with the public and represent local interests. Host municipality inspectors provide the community with an independent evaluation, local source of information/expertise, and a voice with the waste operation concerning the host municipality's priorities. Host inspectors can provide informed recommendations to help maximize benefits for the municipality. Inspetors have assisted in protecting the environment, helped resolve citizen complaints, addressed local concerns, and educated the community.
To download the draft of a fact sheet on the benefits of HMI, click here.
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