CHARLESTON — Tipping fees West Virginians pay to dump garbage at landfills could drop nearly $2 a ton if all such facilities combined collect 570,000 tons in a quarter in a Senate bill approved Wednesday.

But opponents complained it would attract massive loads of out-of-state garbage and impose a hardship on landfills in West Virginia.

Sen. Randy White, D-Webster, sought to raise the bar to 600,000 tons as the required amount of refuse taken in before the tipping fees were reduced but was rebuffed in his amendment. In current practice, he estimated landfills are getting about 540,000 tons.

“So you’re for more trash?” Sen. Mike Oliverio, D-Monongalia, asked.

Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, one of seven senators voting against the measure, pointed to concerns voiced by Bill Patton, director of the Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority in Beckley, over the impact that reduced fees would have.

Some scorned the measure as the “McDowell County Bill,” since only its landfill has the capacity for now to collect enough trash to attain the 570,000-ton threshold.

But Sen. John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell, disliked that moniker, saying the intent was to provide an opportunity for all West Virginians to see a break in the amount of per ton tipping fees they are charged.

“We have a lot of border counties that are sending their garbage out of state,” Fanning said.

“Therefore, they don’t qualify for recycling grants. We’re trying to give an opportunity here to reduce the tipping fees.”

Another opponent, Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, strongly criticized the measure before it cleared on a 26-7 tally, saying it would only invite out-of-staters to pour more trash into West Virginia landfills.

“That’s the kind of business we don’t want to attract,” Unger said.

His voice rising, Unger declared, “It’s unfortunate we have come this far. We have a situation now that we’re trying to encourage out-of-staters to come into our state because we’re so desperate, so desperate, for economic development.”

Unger suggested the Eastern Panhandle strongly opposes the concept, adding, “We’re not ‘open for trash.’ We don’t want the trash.”

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Among other bills the Senate approved was one that alters the existing ban on discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling so that it only means a structure not owned by the shooter.

“If you want to do some target shooting in the back yard or out behind the barn, you can,” Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, explained.

Another bill would exempt employees of Adult and Children’s Protective Services from civil liability for actions taken while performing their jobs.

If the same individual serves as both transportation secretary and highways commissioner, the salary would be set at $120,000 in another bill.

Senators also agreed to approve the third installment of a pay raise for the Department of Public Safety and bring conservation officers’ salary in line with state troopers in two other bills.

In a crime victims bill approved, the Senate raised from $6,000 to $7,000 the amount of funeral or cremation expenses they are entitled to collect. Death benefits would jump from $35,000 to $50,000.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com