Dear Burlington County,

This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:

1) Documentation of Burlington County’s most recent tipping fee rate schedule/solid waste disposal fees.

2) Documentation of any policy outlining from who or where Burlington county will accept waste from outside of the county to be disposed of within Burlington county.

3) Any spreadsheet or database tracking the tonnage of waste brought to each municipal waste transfer, recycling, composting, processing, or disposal facility (including landfills and incinerators) within Burlington county, with fields sufficient to show the monthly tonnage (or annual if monthly is not available), waste type, and origin (state, county or municipality, in as much detail as is available) from the earliest data available in a spreadsheet or database format through the most recent data available. Also, any spreadsheets identifying each aforementioned facility with their owner, operator, address, county, municipality, permit number, facility type, and other non-confidential related information that may be stored in such a system identifying these facilities.

For purposes of this request, the term "records" means information of any kind, including, but not limited to, documents (handwritten, typed, electronic or otherwise produced, reproduced, or stored), letters, e-mails, text messages, facsimiles, memoranda, correspondence, notes, databases, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, maps, forms, minutes of meetings, electronic and magnetic recordings, and any other compilation of data from which information can be obtained, no matter the media upon which it is stored or whether communications took place on public or private electronic devices or phone or email accounts.

If the Municipality believes the records exist that are responsive to this request, but those records or portions of those records are believed to be exempt from disclosure, please identify the records that are being withheld. Please state the basis for the denial for each record being withheld including statute, regulation or court decision. Please cite that law or case, including the specific section or sections you rely upon, in your written response. In addition, please provide the nonexempt portion of the records.

If the Municipality does not possess or control these records but knows or believes that another entity does, please forward this request to the appropriate person and inform me that you have done so.

N.J.S.A.47:1A-5(d) states: "A custodian shall permit access to a government record and provide a copy thereof in the medium requested if the public agency maintains the record in that medium. If the public agency does not maintain the record in the medium requested, the custodian shall either convert the record to the medium requested or provide a copy in some other meaningful medium." Pursuant to 47:1A-5(d), please provide the records in searchable, commonly-available electronic formats, such as text or HTML formatted emails, PDF files, CSV spreadsheets, or Microsoft Office formats. Files already in any of these formats are requested to be provided in their native formats for ease of use and for minimal burden on Municipality staff. Please know that electronic records that are printed and scanned, making them unsearchable will be deemed a denial of this request and will leave the Municipality subject to legal appeal.

I ask that the fees be waived in accordance with N.J.S.A.47:1A-5(b) which states: “Access to electronic records and non-printed materials shall be provided free of charge.”

Please provide these records here. If files are unusually large, please consult me to arrange the least-cost method for transmitting the files. I will only accept paper copies of files that do not exist in readable electronic formats.

Please respond within 7 business days per N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i). Please transmit the materials to me as they become available, rather than wait for all records to become available to dispense. If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact me.

Finally, please confirm receipt of this Open Public Records Act request.

Yours faithfully,

Vanessa Levy