establishing a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new landfills.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Nicholas Germana (D), Kelley Potenza (R), Seth King (R), David Rochefort (r), Linda Haskins (D), Linda Massimilla (d)
Last action: 2026-01-07
Official status: SENATE
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill was killed on January 7, 2026, and therefore did not become law.

Stop Building New Landfills

This bill stops new landfills from being built in New Hampshire for a certain period.

What This Bill Does

Creates a rule that no new permits will be given to build or run new landfills in the state of New Hampshire.
Allows the department to accept and review applications but not approve them until more information is available.
Doesn't stop existing landfills from expanding or being improved if they were already allowed before December 1, 2022.

Who It Names or Affects

People who want to build new landfills in New Hampshire
The Department of Environmental Services

Terms To Know

Moratorium: A temporary stop on something, like building new landfills.
Permit: An official permission to do a specific activity, such as building a landfill.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how long the moratorium will last.
It only stops new landfills from being built but allows existing ones to expand or improve.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

2025-0465H

Amendment #2025-0465h : AA VV 03/20/2025 HJ 9 P. 11

Plain English: Amendment #2025-0465h : AA VV 03/20/2025 HJ 9 P. 11 1

The official amendment file could not be read automatically during the last sync, so only the official amendment metadata is shown right now.

Bill History

2026-01-07 S
Inexpedient to Legislate, MA, VV === BILL KILLED ===; 01/07/2026; SJ 1
2025-11-04 S
Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate, 01/07/2026, Vote 4-1, CC; SC 46
2025-05-15 S
Rereferred to Committee, MA, VV; 05/15/2025; SJ 13
2025-05-13 S
Committee Report: Rereferred to Committee, 05/15/2025, Vote 4-1, CC; SC 21A
2025-04-08 S
Hearing: 04/15/2025, Room 103, SH, 09:00 am; SC 17
2025-03-24 S
Introduced 03/20/2025 and Referred to Energy and Natural Resources; SJ 9
2025-03-20 H
Amendment #2025-0465h : AA VV 03/20/2025 HJ 9 P. 11
2025-03-20 H
Ought to Pass with Amendment 2025-0465h: MA VV 03/20/2025 HJ 9 P. 11
2025-03-07 H
Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2025-0465h 03/04/2025 (Vote 13-1; CC)
2025-02-20 H
Full Committee Work Session: 03/04/2025 09:30 am LOB 301-303
2025-02-20 H
Executive Session: 03/04/2025 11:20 am LOB 301-303
2025-02-12 H
Full Committee Work Session: 02/18/2025 09:30 am LOB 301-303
2025-02-12 H
Executive Session: 02/18/2025 10:45 am LOB 301-303
2025-02-07 H
Subcommittee Work Session: 02/11/2025 09:00 am LOB 301-303
2025-02-05 H
Full Committee Work Session: 02/11/2025 10:00 am LOB 301-303
2025-01-29 H
Full Committee Work Session: 02/04/2025 09:30 am LOB 301-303
2025-01-22 H
Public Hearing: 01/28/2025 02:00 pm LOB 301-303
2025-01-06 H
Introduced 01/08/2025 and referred to Environment and Agriculture HJ 2 P. 8

Official Summary Text

establishing a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new landfills.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB 171 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

20Mar2025... 0465h
2025 SESSION
25-0149
08/06

HOUSE BILL
171

AN ACT
establishing a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new landfills.

SPONSORS: Rep. N. Germana, Ches. 15; Rep. Potenza, Straf. 19; Rep. Haskins, Rock. 11; Rep. S. King, Coos 4

COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture

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ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new landfills.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.
20Mar2025... 0465h 25-0149
08/06

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five

AN ACT
establishing a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new landfills.

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

1 New Section; Moratorium; Study by the Department of Environmental Services. Amend RSA 149-M by inserting after section 9 the following new section:
149-M:9-a Moratorium on Issuance of Permits for New Landfill.
I. Notwithstanding RSA 149-M:9, the department shall not issue any permit to construct or operate a new landfill facility in New Hampshire under RSA 149-M:9. The department may accept applications, evaluate them for completeness, and request more information to make an application complete, but shall not proceed to further evaluation or process any applications, notwithstanding RSA 541-A:29, in order that any evaluation of need, benefit, harm, or appropriateness of the site proposed will await the development of new regulations, data, technologies, and policies.
II. Nothing in paragraph I shall be construed to prohibit the expansion or modification of any landfill facilities on any site on which, as of December 1, 2022, a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D landfill exists that has been permitted in accordance with RSA 149-M:9.
III. In this section, the term “site” means a single parcel or adjacent parcels, owned in their entirety by a landfill operator or its affiliates as of December 1, 2022, including a site where one or more public utility easements traverse the site.

2 Repeal. RSA 149-M:9-a, relative to a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new landfills in New Hampshire, is repealed.

3 Effective Date.
I. Section 2 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2028.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.