New Hampshire SB 536: relative to the solid waste facility site evaluation committee.

Bill Text

SB 536-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2026 SESSION

 26-2154

 08/09

SENATE BILL 536-FN

AN ACT relative to the solid waste facility site evaluation committee.

SPONSORS: Sen. Rochefort, Dist 1; Sen. Fenton, Dist 10; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. McGough, Dist 11; Sen. Gannon, Dist 23; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5

COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources

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ANALYSIS

 This bill establishes the solid waste facility site evaluation committee.

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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 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

 26-2154

 08/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT relative to the solid waste facility site evaluation committee.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 New Subdivision; Solid Waste Site Evaluation Committee. Amend RSA 149-M by inserting after section 64 the following new subdivision: 

Solid Waste Site Evaluation Committee

 149-M:65 Declaration of Purpose. 

 I. The legislature and the executive branch recognize that the selection of sites for major solid waste disposal facilities may have significant statewide, regional and local impacts that are not fully evaluated through existing regulatory review. 

 II. Accordingly, the general court finds that it is in the public interest to establish a procedure to evaluate the local, regional and statewide benefits and burdens of a new major solid waste facility that are not captured by existing regulatory reviews, including noise, odor, aesthetics, local and regional economic impacts, property value impacts, nature and source of waste, need, impacts on tourism, recreation and traffic, and other similar impacts. 

 III. Furthermore, the general court recognizes there is a compelling state interest in maintaining adequate, reasonably priced, and environmentally protective disposal capacity for solid waste generated in New Hampshire.

 IV. The general court prefers that new landfill capacity be developed in expansions of existing permitted landfills or brownfield sites instead of on greenfield sites.

 149-M:66 Definitions. In this subdivision:

 I. “Acceptance” means a determination by the committee that it finds that the application is complete and ready for consideration. 

 II. “Administrator” means the administrator of the site evaluation committee established pursuant to RSA 162-H:3-a.

 III. “Affected municipality” means any municipality or unincorporated place in which any part of a major solid waste disposal facility is proposed to be located and any municipality or unincorporated place from which any part of the proposed major solid waste disposal facility will be visible or audible, including off-site traffic impacts.

 IV. “Certificate” means the document issued by the committee, containing such terms and conditions as the committee deems appropriate, that authorizes the applicant to proceed with the proposed site and facility.

 V. “Commence construction” means any clearing of the land, excavation or other substantial action that would result in long-term impacts to the site of the proposed facility, but does not include land surveying, optioning or acquiring land or rights in land, changes desirable for temporary use of the land for public recreational uses, necessary subsurface explorations to determine hydrogeologic and soil conditions, work required as part of an application to any federal, state, or local authority, or other preconstruction monitoring or testing to establish background information related to the suitability of the site for the proposed use.

 VI. “Committee” means the solid waste evaluation committee established by this chapter.

 VII. “Department” means the department of environmental services.

 VIII. “Major solid waste disposal facility” means a location, system, or physical structure for the collection, separation, storage, transfer, processing, treatment, or disposal of solid waste with a proposed waste acceptance rate greater than 100,000 tons per year. "Major solid waste disposal facility" does not include a facility designed to manage food waste in accordance with RSA 149-M:27, V(b)(1)-(5), or any facility proposed to be constructed by a New Hampshire municipal government. 

 IX. “Filing” means the date on which the application is first submitted to the committee.

 X. “Person” means any individual, group, firm, partnership, corporation, cooperative, municipality, political subdivision, government agency, or other organizati