SB 180-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
03/06/2025 0507s
5Jun2025... 1748h
5Jun2025... 2474h
2025 SESSION
25-0990
02/05
SENATE BILL 180-FN
SPONSORS: Sen. Rochefort, Dist 1; Rep. Durkin, Coos 1; Rep. S. King, Coos 4; Rep. A. Davis, Coos 2; Rep. Ouellet, Coos 3; Rep. Tierney, Coos 1
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill designates Coos County as a distressed place-based economy and requires commissioners of state agencies to consult with county commissioners before making regulatory decisions that would affect Coos County.
The bill also requires the department to modify rules to avoid significant harms to human health and the environment, and changes the enabling statute of the department of environmental services solid waste division to require the department to consider health and the environment when making future rules.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/06/2025 0507s
5Jun2025... 1748h
5Jun2025... 2474h 25-0990
02/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Legislative Intent. Traditional one-size-fits-all government services systemically disadvantage various sections of the population or economically distressed rural regions. Coos County has repeatedly endured significant economic losses and has faced comparatively greater financial impacts and higher unemployment than other counties in the state. Therefore, in an attempt to foster greater economic sustainability for its interdependent industries and to stimulate economic growth in Coos County, the general court recognizes Coos County is a place-based economy that requires collaborative and tailored regulatory decision-making. Local governments and businesses will see greater success when departments use public-private partnerships to utilize shared knowledge, strengths, and resources to drive solutions. Greater effort is needed to view local governmental jurisdictions as partners to allow for more efficient use of resources and enforcement and avoid inconsistent directives with regional economic conditions.
2 New Chapter; Coos County Established as Distressed Place-Based Economy. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 162-T the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 162-U
COOS COUNTY ESTABLISHED AS DISTRESSED PLACE-BASED ECONOMY
162-U:1 Definitions. In this chapter:
I. "Place-based economy" means a tailored economic development response that uses a region's unique characteristics to create and sustain growth. The goal is to improve the quality of life and economic vitality by building on its limited strengths and assets.
II. "Distressed" means an area that has a high rate of poverty, unemployment, or outmigration and is the most severely and persistently economically distressed and underdeveloped.
162-U:2 Regulatory Principle for Department Commissioners. Commissioners of state departments shall include county government input for any Coos County decisions impacting its place-based economy. Collaborative regulatory approaches with existing regional economic objectives shall minimize unintended economic impacts. To protect the health, safety, and economic welfare of Coos' interdependent place-based economy, agencies shall seek to achieve statutory goals as effectively and efficiently as possible without imposing unnecessary burdens on local governments. Failure to recognize differences in the scale and resources of these entities adversely affects competition in the marketplace, discourages innovation, and restricts productivity improvements to the economic landscape.
3 Repeal. RSA 162-U, relative to the designation of Coos County as a distressed place-based economy, is repealed.
4 Statement of Purpose. The general court finds that protecting the health and safety of New Hampshire citizens, drinking water sources, and our environment, including drinking water wells, perennial rivers, lakes, and coastal waters, from contamination is of utmost public interest. Therefore, based on legislative intent informed by public and expert testimony from New Hampshire citizens and key stakeholders, the department of environmental services’ 800 rules for proposed new landfills are found to be insufficiently protective in certain sections. The following provisions provide the department with direction, policy changes, and purpose in rulemaking.
5 New Subparagraph; Waste Management Rules. Amend RSA 149-M:7 by inserting after paragraph XV the following new paragraph:
XV-a. Relative to the safe management of solid waste. Such rules shall promote the hierarchy established under RSA 149-M:3, and shall develop and enforce siting, design, operation, and closure requirements.
6 New Paragraphs; Groundwater Protection. Amend RSA 149-M:9 by inserting after paragraph XV the following new paragraphs:
XVI. No permit shall be issued by any division of the department for the siting of a new landfill if any part of the actual solid waste disposal area is proposed to be located sufficiently close to any existing drinking water well, perennial river, lake, or coastal water of New Hampshire, as defined in RSA 483-B:4, XVI, such that groundwater on the landfill site would be able to reach the water body within 5 years of migrating off-site due to any leak, spill, or other failure.
XVII.(a) The department shall establish a site-specific setback distance for any proposed new landfill from any drinking water wells, perennial river, lake, or coastal water of New Hampshire, as defined in RSA 483-B:4, XVI. The setback distance shall be sufficient to prevent any contaminated groundwater at any part of the landfill footprint or leachate storage or piping infrastructure from reaching any existing drinking water wells, perennial river, lake, or coastal water of New Hampshire within 5 years. The setback distance shall be calculated as follows:
(1) The applicant shall hire a hydrogeologist who has never worked with or been contracted through a third party with any applicant’s current or previous projects, at the applicant's expense, to estimate based upon adequate and representative on-site field testing of both the landfill footprint and leachate storage or piping infrastructure, the estimated velocity of groundwater in both surficial geological deposits and bedrock. The velocity shall be estimated by calculating the 95th percentile upper confidence limit of the mean measured rate, using the formula recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency at EPA 600-R-97/006.
(2) The 5-year distance-of-travel estimate shall be calculated by multiplying the velocity, in units of feet per year, by 5.
(3) The setback from any existing drinking water well, perennial river, lake, or coastal water of New Hampshire shall be the greater of the 5-year distance-of-travel estimate calculated in subparagraph (2) or 1,500 feet.
(b) No permit shall be issued by any division of the department for the siting of a new landfill that fails to conform to the setback distance as calculated using the method set forth in subparagraph (a).
(c) In this section, "new landfill" excludes any expansion or modification of any landfill facilities on any site where, as of January 1, 2025, a RCRA Subtitle D landfill exists that has received all permits necessary to operate at present and is currently operating under such permits at the time it files an application to expand.
(d) In this section, "site" means a single parcel or adjacent parcels, owned in its entirety by a landfill operator or its affiliates as of January 1, 2025, including a site where one or more public utility easements traverse the site.
XVIII. The department shall not issue a permit for a new landfill or landfill expansion unless the applicant conducts subsurface investigations in sufficient numbers and locations to properly describe the surficial stratigraphy and the bedrock beneath and adjacent to the proposed solid waste boundary, at least to the depth of any aquifers currently used to provide drinking water to residents. Pump tests shall be conducted at selected locations as needed to evaluate aquifer yield and connectivity of bedrock fractures using the department's database of the location and depth of private drinking water wells.
XIX. All landfill facilities shall have at least one employee or contracted personnel at the site 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, beginning from the date the landfill begins accepting waste and continuing until final closure.
XX. No permit shall be granted for a landfill unless undisturbed in-situ soils for 20 feet immediately beneath the footprint and underneath all leachate storage and transfer infrastructure have a maximum saturated hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10^-4 centimeters per second(cm/sec) or less. If the above in-situ soils do not meet the maximum hydraulic conductivity criterion of 1 x 10^-4 cm/sec, no amount of imported soil can overcome such deficiency, and the tract shall be deemed impermissible for use as a landfill.
XXI. No permit shall be granted for a landfill unless the subgrade below the liner consists of soil with a saturated hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10^-4 cm/sec or less.
XXII. All references to number-year storm events regarding solid waste landfill permitting requirements in relation to design, maintenance, leachate management, etc., shall have the value of a 100-year storm with a 50 percent margin of safety.
XXIII. The department shall incorporate the "Ford Act" found at 40 C.F.R. 258 into landfill permitting requirements, specifically the provision limiting the construction or establishment of municipal solid waste landfills within 6 miles of certain smaller public airports.
7 Permit Denial. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 149-M:9, IX to read as follows:
IX. The department [may] shall deny a permit application under this section to a person if any of the following applies:
8 Rulemaking. The introductory paragraph of RSA 149-M:7 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
The commissioner shall have the responsibility and authority to adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, that are necessary to protect the public health and the environment with an ample margin of safety relative to this chapter, including rules relative to:
I. Sections 1 -2 of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
II. Section 3 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2045.
III. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.
25-0990
Revised 2/4/25
SB 180-FN FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT designating Coos county as a distressed place-based economy.
FISCAL IMPACT: This bill does not provide funding, nor does it authorize new positions.
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Estimated State Impact | ||||||
| FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | ||
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | None | |||||
Expenditures* | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | ||||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund, Highway Fund, and Various Agency Funds | |||||
Appropriations* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
*Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill | ||||||
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Estimated Political Subdivision Impact | ||||||
| FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | ||
County Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable | ||||
County Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | ||||
Local Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable | ||||
Local Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | ||||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill designates Coos County as a distressed place-based economy and requires commissioners of state agencies to consult with county commissioners before making regulatory decisions that would affect Coos County.
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) asserts that the bill will lead to indeterminable expenditures due to the variable number of rules that may be modified. Furthermore, DAS anticipates that staff time required for the adoption of administrative rules will likely double, given that all DAS rules are applicable statewide. Additional staff time will be necessary for researching suitable partners in Coos County and gathering their feedback. DAS rules are primarily crafted to ensure state compliance with federal laws and regulations. To adhere to the bill's requirements, DAS would need to engage with county governments before implementing any changes.
The Department of Environmental Services (DES) has indicated that this bill would require the Department to seek input from the Coos County government for regulatory decisions. Furthermore, the bill would require DES to assess interdependent economies and economic development plans in Coos County prior to making any regulatory decisions. This necessitates additional staffing, as the current staffing lacks the expertise to interpret these economic development plans in their regulatory decision-making process. The impact depends on how "regulatory action" is defined. DES estimates an increase in expenditures ranging from more than $500,000 to $1,000,000 if the bill applies solely to permit applications. If the definition of regulatory actions is broader, the fiscal impact may exceed $1,000,000.
The Department of Transportation states that this bill would increase Highway Fund costs associated with the possible need to hire a consultant for analysis, as well as delays in the approval or denial process for permit applications due to the following increased efforts. The permits with an economic impact include driveways, utility trenches and utility poles, snowmobiles, and OHRVs. The DOT would have to coordinate with Coos County for meetings, site visits, administrative work, as well as analysis of interdependent and/or economic development plans, and lastly to ensure decisions are compatible between agencies. The increase in expenditures is indeterminable.
The Fish and Game Department states that the fiscal impact of this bill is indeterminable as it lacks sufficient language, guidance, and definitions to determine how this would change Department operations. With the broad language, the Department assumes the tasks required would necessitate additional staff time. Therefore anticipating that the fiscal impact could amount to anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000 per year. Nonetheless, this projection is highly contingent on the extent of regulations and decisions made, as well as how mitigation is defined.
The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources cannot predict how much the bill will cost because they don’t know if or what regulatory changes might need to be made in Coos County, and thus can't calculate those potential expenses.
It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2025.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Administrative Services, Department of Environmental Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, and Fish and Game Department