PAYT Projects and Grants

N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance
EPA Climate Change Action Plan Grant Program - N.C. PAYT/Climate Change Project

Executive Summary
The N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance will advance the practice of PAYT through individualized, direct implementation assistance to 10 qualified North Carolina communities. In addition, this project will deliver: 1) an in-depth guidance document to assist other communities in converting to PAYT; 2) a listserv and Web site serving both North and South Carolina; and 3) a document that analyzes how PAYT affects communities in the Carolinas and answers questions surrounding PAYT in rural states. DPPEA will be able to calculate directly all greenhouse gas offsets resulting from this project through an existing local government reporting process, and anticipates sustained post-project financial and technical support for communities seeking to convert to PAYT.

Project Team

Project Manager -Waste Management Analyst, DPPEA, position vacant - Contact Scott Mouw
Tel:  (919)715-6512

Manager of Implementing Unit – Scott B. Mouw – Section Chief, Community and Business Assistance Section, DPPEA
Tel:  (919) 715-6512

Mailing Address:
DPPEA
1639 MAIL SERVICE CENTER
RALEIGH NC 27699-1639
Fax:(919) 715-6794

Project Goals

1. Increase the awareness of waste reduction as a viable technique for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and integrate waste reduction in the state’s Climate Change Action Plan
This project will seek to integrate climate change mitigation with waste reduction and broadly promote PAYT not only as a mechanism for waste reduction, but also as a method to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. Through coordinated effort with Appalachian State University, DPPEA expects to tie waste reduction to the state’s Climate Change Action Plan as it is developed. Furthermore, this project will quantify the greenhouse gas offsets achieved through the implementation of PAYT in 10 North Carolina communities.

2. Promote the use of PAYT in North Carolina; assist 10 communities with implementing PAYT
Through direct technical assistance and the distribution of up to $10,000 in individual grants, DPPEA expects that 10 North Carolina communities will implement PAYT. Twenty communities have already expressed interest in implementing a PAYT program. Based on the average size of these communities, DPPEA expects to increase the population served by PAYT programs in North Carolina by more than 450,000 (an increase from 12 percent of the state’s population to 18 percent).

Given North Carolina’s rural nature, most innovations and program improvements in North Carolina are modeled after other communities in the state. The addition of 10 new PAYT communities will provide a significant increase in examples for other communities in the state to follow. To assist these communities in the future, DPPEA expects to continue to fund the implementation of PAYT through its annual Solid Waste Reduction Assistance Grants.

To further improve waste reduction in North Carolina, DPPEA will encourage project communities to add backyard composting programs and expand the number of materials collected in their recycling programs. These additions will help maximize the efficiency of the PAYT systems, both in terms of waste reduction and greenhouse gas offsets.

3. Develop an active information exchange and dissemination mechanism that will advance the use of PAYT in the Carolinas
Although the concept of PAYT is simple, many questions face communities interested in implementing such a system. For this reason, one deliverable of the project will be a listserv where individuals interested in PAYT or who are already operating a PAYT program can post questions to their peers. Given the similar level of interest and demographics in North and South Carolina, the listserv will be targeted to both states. The use of the listserv should help improve existing programs as well as simplify the implementation process for new PAYT communities.

Questions posted to the listserv and responses given will be posted on a PAYT Web site that will also be developed for this project. The Web site, to be housed within DPPEA’s existing Web site, will provide a host of information and resources available to potential and existing PAYT communities. Similar to the listserv, the Web site’s focus will go beyond North Carolina and include South Carolina as well. The Web site will include links to other sources of information on PAYT (including EPA’s PAYT site), an introduction to PAYT, facts about existing projects and communities in the Carolinas that are using PAYT, and leads to grants and tools available (such as EPA’s “WARM” model).

4. Provide guidance documents and analysis on implementing PAYT in rural areas and provide answers to the questions that commonly surround PAYT in rural areas.
To ensure the advancement of PAYT in North Carolina, DPPEA will develop a guidance document based on the experience obtained and the findings of this project. The guidance document will be a step-by-step tool to help local governments establish PAYT systems. DPPEA expects to print 250 copies of this document and to make it available to local governments interested in PAYT. DPPEA is hopeful that this document will create a new level of interest in PAYT in the state.

In conjunction with the guidance document, DPPEA will produce a case study-type analysis that will answer some of the questions that commonly arise with PAYT in rural areas. Much of the research that is available in the United States pertains to implementing PAYT in suburban or more urbanized areas - often resulting in a lack of clear answers for rural areas. It is anticipated that the document will touch on overall changes in systems costs, illegal disposal, outflow of materials (into other counties), realistic expectations for rural communities implementing PAYT and other issues that arise during the project. Since approximately half of North Carolina’s population lives in unincorporated areas, it is expected that the analysis combined with the guidance document will prove extremely valuable for communities interested in PAYT. DPPEA will print 250 copies of this document.

For more information or to inquire about becoming a project community, please contact Scott Mouw (919) 715-6512, scott.mouw@ncmail.net.