Two bills addressing the import of out-of-state trash are heading to the House of Representatives with a positive recommendation, offering a solution toward alleviating the strain on the state’s landfill capacity. New Hampshire receives nearly half of its trash from neighboring states such as Massachusetts and Connecticut, making it New England’s dumping ground. According to a report from the state’s environment department, in 2020, more than 900,000 tons of solid waste were dumped in three commercial landfills.
During the executive session, the Environment and Agriculture Committee narrowly backed House Bill 1145, which seeks to prohibit private ownership of landfills, with a narrow 11-9 majority, despite facing a motion against the bill before the final decision. Under the proposed legislation, the state would maintain ownership of any new landfills, but still allow private waste management companies to operate the solid waste facilities under contracted agreements.
Representative Barbara Comtois from Center Barnstead, one of the bill’s opponents, argued that existing statutes already allow the state to open, manage and regulate the waste intake. “We have municipalities that have their own landfills and do prohibit trash from out of state and can dictate currently what is taken in and then we have Cooperative State places that have that also so there is nothing prohibiting the publicly owned landfills now,” said Comtois. “So if a county or municipality thinks that this is an important issue, they can take this up on their own without legislation.”