§ 2053-c. Rockland county solid waste management authority. 1. Upon
compliance with the requirements of subdivision seven of this section, a
corporation known as the Rockland county solid waste management
authority shall be deemed to have been created hereby for the public
purposes and charged with the duties and having the powers provided in
this title. The authority shall be a body corporate and politic
constituting a public benefit corporation. In order to be more
consistent with the authority's goals, mission and objectives, the
authority shall also be known as Rockland Green and/or RG Cares.

2. The authority shall consist of seventeen members. Eight members
shall be members of the county legislature. Five of the eight
legislative members shall be appointed by the chairman of the county
legislature and three shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
county legislature, subject in each case to confirmation by a majority
of the county legislature. No such appointment shall be effective unless
there shall be, among the legislative members of the authority, a
resident of each of the five towns in the county. Residency shall be
determined as of the effective date of appointment, and subsequent
changes in residency shall not effect the validity of the appointment or
the authority of the legislative member to serve in the authority. Each
of the legislative members of the authority initially appointed and
certified to the secretary of state shall serve for a term ending on
January fifteen, nineteen hundred ninety-four. Subsequent appointments
of legislative members of the authority shall be made in the same manner
and for terms of two years. All legislative members shall continue to
hold office until their successors are appointed and qualify. Vacancies
occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled in the
same manner, respectively, for the unexpired term. Members may be
removed from office for the same reasons and in the same manner as
provided by law for the removal of officers of the county. Appointments
to fill expired and unexpired terms shall be made within sixty days upon
receipt of notification by the chairman of the board of supervisors that
a vacancy exists.

3. Five members of the authority shall consist, ex officio, of the
supervisors of the five towns in the county. The term of each town
supervisor serving ex officio as a member of the authority shall
coincide with such member's term of elective office. No person shall be
both an appointed member from the county legislature and a town
supervisor serving ex officio as a member of the authority. Two members
of the authority shall be appointed by and shall serve at the pleasure
of the county executive of the county. Two members shall be mayors of
villages contained within the county of Rockland and shall be appointed
by the county legislature upon the recommendation of the Rockland county
conference of mayors. The term of each mayor serving as a member of the
authority shall coincide with such member's term of elective office, not
to exceed two years. No such mayor shall be selected from a village that
has failed to sign the intermunicipal recyclables management agreement.
Such mayors are to be selected from different towns within Rockland
county, and for the purposes of determining which town a mayor is
determined to be from, if the jurisdiction of the municipality in which
a mayor presides spans more than one town, that mayor shall not be
restricted from appointment because one portion of his jurisdiction is
coterminous with that of another mayor chosen as a member of the
authority. Any member of the authority, whether appointed or serving ex
officio, may be removed from office by a vote of ten members of the
authority for gross neglect of duty, misconduct, maladministration or
malfeasance in office, including the unexcused failure to attend three
consecutive regular meetings of the authority.

4. The members of the authority shall receive no compensation for
their services but shall be reimbursed for all of their actual and
necessary expenses incurred in connection with the carrying out of the
purposes of this title. The powers of the authority shall be vested in
and be exercised by the governing body at a meeting duly called and held
where a quorum of eight members is present. No action shall be taken
except by the favorable vote of at least eight members. The officers of
the authority shall consist of a chairman, a vice-chairman and a
treasurer who shall be members of the authority, and a secretary who
need not be a member of the authority. The officers of the authority
shall be selected by the authority and shall serve in such capacities at
the pleasure of the authority. In addition to such officers, the
authority may appoint and at its pleasure remove an executive director,
attorney and engineer, which positions shall be in the exempt class of
the civil service, and such additional officers and employees as it may
deem necessary, and may determine and fix their qualifications, duties
and compensation, subject to the provisions of the civil service law.
The authority may delegate to one or more of its members, officers,
agents or employees any such powers as it may deem proper. The authority
may also contract for expert professional services. The treasurer shall
execute a bond conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of
his or her office, the amount and sufficiency of which shall be approved
by the governing body and the premium for which shall be paid by the
authority.

5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of any general, special
or local law, ordinance, resolution or charter, no officer, member or
employee of the state, any municipality or any public benefit
corporation shall forfeit his or her office or employment by reason of
his or her acceptance of appointment as a member, officer, agent or
employee of the authority, nor shall service as a member, officer, agent
or employee of the authority be deemed incompatible or in conflict with
such office, membership or employment. The members and employees of the
authority shall be subject to all requirements of state and county law
pertaining to ethics and financial disclosure to which members of the
county legislature and employees of the county, respectively, are
subject.

6. In addition to any powers granted to it by law, the county
legislature may appropriate by resolution with the concurrence of the
county executive sums of money to defray project costs or any other
costs and expenses of the authority to be incurred prior to the first
issuance of bonds. Subject to rights of bondholders, the county
legislature with the concurrence of the county executive may determine
if the moneys so appropriated shall be subject to repayment by the
authority to the county and, in such eventuality, the manner and
schedule for such repayment.

7. (a) The county shall file on or before the twelve month anniversary
of the date on which this title shall have become a law, in the office
of the secretary of state, a resolution of the county legislature
adopted following a public hearing approving the creation of the
authority, together with a certificate approved by the county
legislature and signed by the county executive setting forth: (1) the
name of the authority; (2) the names of the initial members; and (3) the
effective date of this title. The authority shall be perpetual in
duration, except that if such resolution and certificate are not filed
with the secretary of state on or before such date, then the power of
the legislature of the county to approve the creation of the authority
shall thereupon lapse, the authority shall not be deemed to have been
created hereby and shall not exist or be deemed to have existed, and the
provisions of this title shall no longer have any force or effect.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the
authority and its corporate existence shall continue until terminated by
law; provided, however, that no such law shall take effect so long as
the authority shall have bonds or other obligations outstanding unless
adequate provision has been made for the payment or satisfaction
thereof. Upon termination of the existence of the authority, all of the
rights and properties of the authority then remaining shall pass to and
vest in the county.

8. It is hereby determined that the authority and the carrying out of
its powers and duties are in all respects for the benefit of the people
of the county and the state for the improvement of their health, welfare
and prosperity and that such purposes are public purposes and that the
authority is and will be performing an essential governmental function
in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by this title.

9. In exercising the powers conferred upon it by this title, the
authority shall at all times act in accordance with, and be in
compliance with, the provisions of the solid waste management plan.