Revision: Dec. 28, 2022, 10:30 a.m.
2023 SESSION
23-0725.0
08/10
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to landfill siting.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill establishes additional requirements for siting of landfills as permitted by the department of environmental services.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0725.0
08/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT relative to landfill siting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Permit Required; New Landfills. Amend RSA 149-M:9 by inserting after paragraph XV the following new paragraph:
XVI.(a) Applicants for new landfill permit shall demonstrate that the landfill shall be sited, designed, constructed, operated, and closed to meet the following standards:
(1) Landfills shall not contaminate groundwater outside the solid waste boundary;
(2) Time of travel to sensitive receptors from the bottom of the landfill and leachate pond liner systems shall be greater than 5 years. Time of travel to sensitive receptors from leachate storage structures and pump stations shall be greater than 3 years;
(A) The applicant, at the applicant’s expense, shall hire an independent hydrogeologist to estimate, based upon adequate and representative on-site field testing, the maximum seepage velocity of groundwater in both surficial geological deposits and in bedrock. The maximum seepage velocity shall be the highest rate measured at any test site in the disposal area. The 5-year distance-of-travel estimate shall be calculated by multiplying the maximum seepage velocity, in units of feet per year, by 5 (years).
(B) Sensitive receptors means public and private water supply aquifers and wellhead protection zones; public and private drinking water supplies; significant groundwater aquifers and primary sand and gravel recharge areas; sand and gravel deposits; and any perennial river, lake, or coastal water of New Hampshire, as defined in RSA 483-B:4, XVI.
(C) The department may establish rules under RSA to allow for the use of project improvement allowances that may enable a project to meet a minimum 5-year setback, even if it is located less than 5 years from a surface water body. One or more allowances of one additional year each may be added to the calculated travel time, based on specific additional control technology, monitoring programs, or funding guarantees that the Department believes may increase the effective safety of the project. In no case shall any project receive more than 3 additional years added to its calculated travel time.
(3) Contaminant releases from the area within the solid waste boundary shall not pose an unreasonable threat to sensitive receptors; and
(4) At facilities where groundwater monitoring is anticipated or is being conducted, the disturbance of soil material shall not affect the ability to monitor water quality at the facility site.
(b) To protect public health, safety, and the environment, the locations listed below are not suitable for siting new landfills. Variances from these siting prohibitions shall not be granted:
(1) The area within the solid waste boundary shall not lie over or be within 300 feet of a significant sand and gravel aquifer.
(2) The area within the solid waste boundary shall not lie over or be within 300 feet of a significant sand and gravel aquifer;
(3) The area within the solid waste boundary shall be located on soils with sufficient fines and clay-size particles to minimize leachate infiltration. Every measurement made of in-situ soils within the property shall have an undisturbed hydraulic conductivity less than or equal to 1 x 10-5 cm/sec.
(c) The following siting criteria shall apply to siting new landfills unless the applicant or licensee receives a variance in accordance with rules adopted under subparagraph XVIII(b):
(1) The following setbacks shall be maintained:
(A) A minimum 300-foot set-back between the solid waste boundary and all public roads;
(B) A minimum 300-foot set-back between the solid waste boundary and the property boundary;
(C) A minimum 1,000-foot set-back between the solid waste boundary and the nearest residence not owned by the applicant at the time the application is filed with the department;
(D) A minimum 100-foot setback between the solid waste boundary and stratified sand and gravel deposits that are capable of providing sufficient water for domestic use or are a contaminant migration pathway to a significant groundwater aquifer, a significant sand and gravel aquifer, a fractured bedrock aquifer, or a surface water body;
(E) A minimum 100-foot setback between the waste handling area and classified surface water; and
(F) A minimum 1,000-foot setback between the solid waste boundary and any water supply spring when the preliminary information report is filed with the department.
(G) A minimum 1,000-foot setback between the solid waste boundary and any water supply well not owned by the applicant when the preliminary information report is filed with the department.
(2) The landfill and leachate storage ponds shall be located so that site characterization, detection, and assessment monitoring can be conducted.
(3) The waste handling area shall not be located on a 100-year flood plain.
(4) A waste handling area shall not overlie an unstable area.
(5) The facility site shall not be located in, on, or over a significant wildlife habitat, as this term is defined in RSA 674:21.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.