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HB 1478-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
11Mar2026... 0975h
2026 SESSION
26-2908
08/05
HOUSE BILL
1478-FN
AN ACT
requiring the department of environmental services to revise the rules for proposed new landfills.
SPONSORS: Rep. Potenza, Straf. 19; Rep. J. Aron, Sull. 4; Rep. Barbour, Hills. 35; Rep. Burroughs, Carr. 2; Rep. N. Germana, Ches. 15; Rep. Gruber, Ches. 16; Rep. S. King, Coos 4; Sen. Fenton, Dist 10; Sen. Ricciardi, Dist 9; Sen. Rochefort, Dist 1
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
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ANALYSIS
The bill 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11Mar2026... 0975h 26-2908
08/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six
AN ACT
requiring the department of environmental services to revise the rules for proposed new landfills.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 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.
2 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.
3 New Paragraphs; Groundwater Protection. Amend RSA 149-M:9 by inserting after paragraph XV the following new paragraphs:
XVI. No solid waste 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 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 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. No permit shall be granted for a new 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.
XX. No permit shall be granted for a new landfill unless the subgrade below the liner consists of soil with a saturated hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10^-4 cm/sec or less.
XXI. All references to number-year storm events regarding new landfill permitting requirements in relation to design, construction, and leachate management shall have the minimum value of a 50-year storm margin of safety.
4 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:
5 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:
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBA
26-2908
3/31/26
HB 1478-FN-
FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT # 2026-0975h)
AN ACT
requiring the department of environmental services to revise the rules for proposed new landfills.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Estimated Political Subdivision Impact
FY 2026
FY 2027
FY 2028
FY 2029
Local Revenue
$0
$0
$0
$0
Local Expenditures
$0
Indeterminable $10,000 to $100,000
Indeterminable $10,000 to $100,000
Indeterminable $10,000 to $100,000
METHODOLOGY:
This bill requires the Department of Environmental Services to revise its landfill siting and groundwater protection rules for proposed new landfills, including new setback, groundwater travel-time, subsurface investigation, and hydraulic conductivity requirements.
The Department of Environmental Services (DES) states this bill will result in an increase in local expenditures. The impact varies depending on whether a municipality currently owns a landfill and whether it chooses to expand an existing landfill or propose a new one.
Municipalities that own a non-RCRA Subtitle D landfill and seek to expand it may incur additional costs ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 in any year such expansion occurs due to expanded subsurface investigations required under the bill.
Municipalities that do not currently own a landfill but seek to site a new one may incur one-time costs ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 for expanded subsurface investigations and groundwater analysis.
Additionally, the Department states there is no additional cost to the State as existing staff will absorb any work required to update rules within its current budget.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Environmental Services