South Acworth Republican Rep. Judy Aron warned House members that amendments to the last landfill siting bill remaining this legislative session would likely cement its death by the Senate or the governor’s veto pen. They listened, striking down a proposed floor amendment by Rep. Kelley Potenza, a Rochester Republican, and voting “ought to pass” on Senate Bill 61 as presented by the House Environment and Agriculture Committee.
The bill, which now heads back to the Senate for its final vote, would direct the Department of Environmental Services to hire an outside consultant and embark on a rulemaking process to revise setbacks for new landfill proposals. It would also put a two-year abeyance into effect for any new landfill applications. But it wasn’t the bill environmental advocates were hoping for. The House previously passed a more site-specific bill, House Bill 56, but it was killed in the Senate.
An amendment introduced by Potenza sought to correct some “critical red flags” in the “inherently flawed bill,” she said, even though state agency officials had warned that any changes could result in a veto from Gov. Chris Sununu, just as he did last year on a related bill.