HB 836 – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
08/03
HOUSE BILL 836
AN ACT prohibiting wastewater treatment plants from excluding towns for septage treatment and disposal services.
SPONSORS: Rep. Beaulieu, Hills 17; Rep. S. Merrick, Coos 2; Rep. Marshall Quandt, Rock 13; Rep. Spang, Straf 7; Rep. Foster, Hills 4; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill redefines septage and sludge and adds definitions for industrial paper mill sludge and land application.
This bill repeals the definitions for biosolids and short paper fiber.
This bill authorizes towns to regulate the application of treated sewage sludge.
This bill prohibits wastewater treatment plants from refusing to accept septage from certain towns.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-0599
08/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT prohibiting wastewater treatment plants from excluding towns for septage treatment and disposal services.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Septage; Definition. Amend RSA 485-A:2, IX-a to read as follows:
IX-a. “Septage” means material removed from septic tanks, cesspools, holding tanks, or other sewage treatment storage units, excluding sewage sludge from public treatment works and industrial waste and any other treated sewage sludge. Septage includes solids and filtrates derived from septage that meet pathogen reduction requirements and vector attraction reduction requirements under 40 C.F. R. sections 503.32-503.33.
2 Sludge; Definition. RSA 485-A:2, XI-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
XI-a. “Treated sewage sludge” means sludge that is regulated under 40 C.F.R. parts 501 and 503, and that meets the requirements in rules adopted by the department under RSA 485-A:6. Treated sewage sludge includes treated municipal sludge that can be legally land applied, sludge that meets class A pathogen and vector attraction reduction requirements according to 40 C.F.R. sections 503.32(a)(3) and 503.33(b)(1-8), and sludge that meets class B pathogen and vector attraction reduction requirements according to 40 C.F.R. sections 503.32(b) and 503.33(b)(1-11), and compost derived from sewage sludge or biosolids.
3 Industrial Paper Mill Sludge; Definition. RSA 485-A:2, XXIII is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
XXIII. “Industrial paper mill sludge” means any treated sewage sludge derived from a pulp or papermill wastewater treatment facility. Industrial paper mill sludge includes short paper fiber.
4 New Paragraph; Land Application; Definition. Amend RSA 485-A:2 by inserting after paragraph XXIII the following new paragraph:
XXIV. “Land application” means the placement of treated sewage sludge on the ground surface by methods that include but are not limited to incorporation, injection, stockpiling and topdressing.
5 New Subdivision; Wastewater Treatment Plant Septage Receiving Policies. Amend RSA 485-A by inserting after section 57 the following new subdivision:
Wastewater Treatment Plant Septage Receiving Policies
485-A:58 Adopting Sludge and Septage Ordinances. Cities and towns may regulate the stockpiling and land application of treated sewage sludge and septage by adopting or amending zoning ordinances, health ordinances, or land use regulations.
485-A:59 Exclusionary Septage Receiving Policies Prohibited. A wastewater treatment plant shall not refuse to accept septage from a city or town solely because that city or town has adopted a sludge or septage ordinance, or both, pursuant to RSA 485-A:58. This prohibition shall apply whether or not the city or town ordinance is more strict than the treated sewage sludge and septage management rules adopted by the department.
485-A:60 Increased Tipping Fee Surcharge for Septage Disposal Prohibited. A wastewater treatment plant shall not impose a tipping fee surcharge on a city or town for disposing of that city or town’s septage solely because that city or town has adopted a treated sewage sludge or septage ordinance, or both, pursuant to RSA 485-A:58. This prohibition shall apply whether or not the city or town ordinance is more strict than the treated sewage sludge and septage management rules adopted by the department.
6 Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:5-d to read as follows:
485-A:5-d Land Application of Treated Sewage Sludge. Treated sewage sludge [or biosolids] which [are] is to be land applied in New Hampshire shall not exceed the maximum concentrations for specific chemical contaminants contained in the rules of the department, or the rules or regulations of the state in which the treated sewage sludge was generated, whichever are more stringent.
7 Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:8, III to read as follows:
III. The waters in temporary partial use areas established under paragraph II shall be free from slick, odors, turbidity, treated sewage sludge deposits, and surface-floating solids of unreasonable kind or quantity, shall contain not less than 5 parts per million of dissolved oxygen; shall have a hydrogen ion concentration within the range of pH 6.0 to 9.0 except when due to natural causes; and shall be free from chemicals and other materials and conditions inimical to aquatic life or the maintenance of aquatic life. These criteria shall apply during combined sewer overflow discharges and up to 3 days following cessation of said discharge. At all other times the standards and uses specified in paragraph II shall apply.
8 Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:30, I to read as follows:
I. Any person submitting plans and specifications for a subdivision of land shall pay to the department a fee of $150 per lot. Said fee shall be for reviewing such plans and specifications and making site inspections. Any person submitting plans and specifications for sewage or waste disposal systems shall pay to the department a fee of $140 for each system. Said fee shall be for reviewing such plans and specifications, making site inspections, the administration of treated sewage sludge and septage management programs, and for establishing a system for electronic permitting for waste disposal systems, subdivision plans, and for permits and approvals under the department’s land regulation authority. The fees required by this paragraph shall be paid at the time said plans and specifications are submitted and shall be deposited with the treasurer as unrestricted revenue. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “lot” shall not include tent sites or travel trailer sites in recreational parks which are operated on a seasonal basis for not more than 9 months per year.
9 Sludge and Biosolids. Amend RSA 485-A:4, XVI-c to read as follows:
XVI-c.(a) To design and implement a program for state or independent third party sampling and testing of treated sewage sludge [or biosolids] materials that are intended for land application. The department shall design the sampling methodology, in consultation with university of New Hampshire statisticians and treated sewage sludge [and biosolid] experts, to provide a statistical evaluation of the contaminant levels contained in treated sewage sludge [or biosolids]. The department shall concentrate its testing on those contaminants that pose greater risks to public health and the environment due to their toxicity, potential availability, concentration levels, or concentration uncertainty. The department shall maintain a database of testing results and prepare, in consultation with university of New Hampshire statisticians and treated sewage sludge [and biosolids] experts, and make available to the public and the general court, an annual report by November 1 of each year which analyses the compiled test results, including data from prior years, as appropriate. The analysis shall detail contaminant concentrations on both a statewide and generator level and shall indicate the statistical degree of certainty in the results of the analysis. The department shall attempt to present the report in terms that are understandable to the layperson including practical examples such as the probability that any given load of untested treated sewage sludge exceeds a contaminant standard.
(b) The department shall establish a fee of $500, to be paid by treated sewage sludge quality certificate holders by January 1 of each year. The fee shall be deposited in a special, nonlapsing sampling and analysis of treated sewage sludge [or biosolids] samples fund, for exclusive use by the department to implement the program established in subparagraph (a).
10 Sludge and Biosolids. Amend RSA 485-A:4, XVI-d to read as follows:
XVI-d. To conduct on-site inspections of treated sewage sludge [or biosolids] application sites to monitor adherence to all state and federal requirements for such activity.
11 Sludge. Amend RSA 149-M:4, XXII to read as follows:
XXII. “Solid waste” means any matter consisting of putrescible material, refuse, residue from an air pollution control facility, and other discarded or abandoned material. It includes solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities. For purposes of this chapter, it does not include hazardous waste as defined in RSA 147-A:2; solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows; cut or uprooted tree stumps buried on-site with local approval if required, provided that such burial locations are not located within 75 feet of any drinking water supply; municipal and industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under section 402 of the federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended; source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; or septage or treated sewage sludge as defined in RSA 485-A:2, IX-a and XI-a.
12 Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:5-c to read as follows:
485-A:5-c Notice of Septage or Treated Sewage Sludge Spreading.
I. No person shall spread septage or treated sewage sludge as defined in RSA 485-A:2 before providing all property owners abutting the spreading site with written notice of the intended date and location of the spreading. Such notice shall be provided by publishing a notice at least 14 days before the intended date of the first spreading of septage or treated sewage sludge each year in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or city.
II. The notice shall include the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the following:
(a) The applicant, if applicable.
(b) The generator of the treated sewage sludge, if applicable.
(c) The person responsible for managing the activities on-site, if different from the applicant under subparagraph (a).
(d) The landowner, if not given under subparagraph (a) or (c).
III. A copy of such notice shall be posted continually on the entrances to the site beginning 3 days prior to the application and ending 3 days after the application.
13 Sludge. Amend RSA 6:12, I(b)(62) to read as follows:
(62) Money received under RSA 485-A:4, XVI-c, which shall be deposited in the sampling and analysis of treated sewage sludge [or biosolids] samples fund.
14 Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:2, XVI-a to read as follows:
XVI-a. “Wastewater treatment plant” means the treatment facility or group of treatment devices which treats domestic or combined domestic and industrial wastewater through alteration, alone or in combination, of the physical, chemical, or bacteriological quality of the wastewater and which dewaters and handles treated sewage sludge removed from the wastewater.
15 Sludge and Biosolids. Amend RSA 485-A:2, XIX to read as follows:
XIX. “Wastewater facilities” means the structures, equipment, and processes required to collect, convey, and treat domestic and industrial wastes, and dispose of the effluent and treated sewage sludge.
16 Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:4, XVI-b to read as follows:
XVI-b. To regulate the removal, transportation, and disposal of treated sewage sludge through administration of a permit system. As a condition of any permit issued under this chapter, the department may require payment of a reasonable fee, established by rules adopted under RSA 485-A:6, X-a. Funds collected under this paragraph shall be deposited with the treasurer as unrestricted revenue.
17 New Paragraph; Industrial Paper Mill Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:4 by inserting after paragraph XVIII the following new paragraph:
XIX. To regulate the removal, transportation, and disposal of industrial paper mill sludge as defined in 485-A:2, XXIII.
18 Repeal. RSA 485-A:2, XXII relative to the definition of biosolids, is repealed.
19 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.