Senator Elliott proposes the following amendment (LC-4003.AHB0005S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:

SECTION 1. SECTION 5 of Act 1543 of 1968, as last amended by Act 761 of 1971, is further amended to read:

SECTION 5. (A) The commission may negotiate and contract with individuals or business, commercial and industrial establishments not within the district to provide refuse, garbage and trash collecting services to such parties upon terms and conditions agreeable to the parties, but shall not render services outside of the district at rates less than rates being paid for comparable services by individuals or business, commercial and industrial establishments within the district. After June 30, 2026, the commission shall not provide refuse, garbage, or trash collecting services outside of the geographic boundaries of the district. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the commission may continue to provide refuse, garbage, or trash collecting and disposal services outside the boundaries of the district after June 30, 2026, to such municipalities and other political subdivisions as it was currently serving pursuant to intergovernmental agreement as of January 1, 2025.
 (B) The commission may:
  (1) develop approximately fifty acres of the approximately 152 acre site that is owned by the district along Highway 124 near the Saluda River; provided that no portion of such site may be operated at any time as a landfill as defined and regulated by the Department of Environmental Service pursuant to S.C. Code of Regulation 61-107.19, and provided further that, if a waste transfer station is constructed on the developed portion of the site it will not be expanded thereafter upon the undeveloped portion of such site and the forgoing must be reflected in a restrictive covenant on the property; and
  (2) only operate a waste transfer station for waste collected within the geographic boundaries of the district and from such municipalities and other political subdivisions as it may continue to serve as provided for in subsection (A).

SECTION 2. SECTION 6 of Act 1543 of 1968, as last amended by Act 761 of 1971, is further amended to read:

SECTION 6. The commission shall be authorized to annex to the district any area in which a majority sixty-six percent (66%) of the freeholders by petition in writing request that they be taken into the district. Each petition must have attached to it a survey or plat showing the area to be taken into the district. A hearing by the commission regarding the acceptance or rejection of the petition shall be held after at least one week's notice thereof is given by publishing same in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, stating the time, place and purpose of the hearing, and clearly defining the area under consideration may be taken into the district upon approval of a majority of the members of the commission.

SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.