Opinion: Progress not perfection in landfill siting legislation

By FRANCES E. HARLAN

Published: 04-26-2023 6:00 AM

Frances E. Harlan is an engineer and a lifelong resident of New Hampshire.

Landfill siting is complicated. It needs to take into account many factors, including political, technical, economic, and ethical considerations. For example, technical factors may include site soil conditions and topography, geologic and hydrogeologic conditions, climatological conditions, and surface water hydrology. Economic considerations may include available land area and purchase price, haul distances, and local taxes. Ethical considerations may include environmental justice issues such as local racial, ethnic, education, and age demographics. People often look to the regulatory structure to assemble all of these disparate pieces into a coherent strategy for siting a landfill, which is generally considered a locally undesirable land use.

The NH Legislature sets the tone on expectations for regulations and regulatory agencies. To date, the legislature has set the tone that landfills are a necessary part of an integrated solid waste management system — failure to site needed waste management facilities will compromise our ability to meet basic public health, safety and environmental protection standards.

New Hampshire’s solid waste regulations attempt to bring all of these competing demands together, in keeping with the legislature’s instructions. A simple list of New Hampshire’s landfill siting requirements includes more than 25 distinct line items with over 35 references to state and federal laws and rules.

The state’s Department of Environmental Services, or DES, has repeatedly stated that its solid waste program is understaffed, in part due to budget cuts: a budget set by the legislature. This tells us that DES probably has not had the opportunity to take a critical look at its landfill siting regulations in many years, likely since before the 2008 recession that resulted in many layoffs.

Regardless, DES is going through the process of updating its rules right now. DES held a public input session on landfill requirements in March and asked for public input on what needs updating. As stated during that session, DES will start the formal rulemaking process for the landfill requirements later this year, when the public will have additional opportunities to comment on proposed rule changes. The landfill rules are set to expire in July 2024.

The timing is ideal for the passage of a bill like SB 61, a bill that will actually help DES do its job.

Let’s give the department a chance to make updates and changes to its regulations before we go telling them precisely what to write. SB 61 provides necessary guidance and funding for DES to move forward with updates to the landfill siting requirements that are grounded in public health, safety and environmental protection goals. If DES does a bad job updating its rules, then we can circle back to a bill like HB 56, which was very prescriptive and overwhelmingly opposed by the engineering and scientific community.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Pembroke School Board mulls major cuts to next year’s budget
Bow power plant to add solar and batteries; coal use to end by 2028
In Concord address, Sununu rules out future presidential run, calls for marijuana legalization
Will new legislative garage behind State House ease downtown parking?
On the trail: Kuster not seeking re-election this year
Despite tough market, New Hampshire housing optimistic about policy and production

Let’s help the department do better by passing SB 61. It’s not perfect, but if we waited for perfection, we would never make any progress.

]]>