The solid waste management board is a governmental instrumentality of the state and a body corporate. The exercise by the board of the powers conferred on it by this article and the carrying out of its purposes and duties are essential governmental functions and are for a public purpose.

The board is composed of seven members. The secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and the director of the Division of Environmental Protection, or their designees, are members ex officio of the board. The other five members of the board are appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for terms of one, two, three, four and five years, respectively. Two appointees shall be persons having at least three years of professional experience in solid waste management, civil engineering or regional planning and three appointees shall be representatives of the general public. The successor of each such appointed member shall be appointed for a term of five years in the same manner the original appointments were made and so that the representation on the board as set forth in this section is preserved, except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his or her predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of such term. Each board member serves until the appointment and qualification of his or her successor.

No more than three of the appointed board members may at any one time be from the same congressional district or belong to the same political party. No appointed board member may be an officer or employee of the United States or this state. Appointed board members may be reappointed to serve additional terms. All members of the board shall be citizens of the state. Each appointed member of the board, before entering upon his or her duties, shall comply with the requirements of article one, chapter six of this code and give bond in the sum of $25,000. Appointed members may be removed from the board only for the same causes as elective state officers may be removed.

Annually the board shall elect one of its appointed members as chair, another as vice chair and appoint a secretary-treasurer, who need not be a member of the board. Four members of the board are a quorum and the affirmative vote of four members is necessary for any action taken by vote of the board. No vacancy in the membership of the board impairs the rights of a quorum by such vote to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the board. The person appointed as secretary-treasurer shall give bond in the sum of $50,000. If a board member is appointed as secretary-treasurer, he or she shall give bond in the sum of $25,000 in addition to the bond required in the preceding paragraph.

The ex officio members of the board shall not receive any compensation for serving as a board member. Each of the five appointed members of the board shall be paid the same compensation, and each member of the board shall be paid the expense reimbursement, as is paid to members of the Legislature for their interim duties as recommended by the citizens legislative compensation commission and authorized by law for each day or portion thereof engaged in the discharge of official duties. All such compensation and expenses incurred by board members are payable solely from funds of the board or from funds appropriated for such purpose by the Legislature and no liability or obligation shall be incurred by the board beyond the extent to which moneys are available from funds of the board or from such appropriation.

The board shall meet at least four times annually and at any time upon the call of its chair or upon the request in writing to the chair of four board members.

The board shall appoint a director as its chief executive officer. The director shall have successfully completed an undergraduate education and, in addition, shall have two years of professional experience in solid waste management, civil engineering, public administration or regional planning.