Bill Text: NH HB1766 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended

New Hampshire House Bill 1766 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Requiring the department of environmental services to report to the general court regarding bedrock testing and perfluorochemical contamination in the Seacoast area and at other landfills and hazardous waste sites.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)

Status: (Passed) 2018-06-26 - Signed by Governor Sununu 06/25/2018; Chapter 306; Eff. 7/1/2018 [HB1766 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2018-HB1766-Amended.html

HB 1766-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

04/26/2018 1630s

2018 SESSION

18-2503

08/04

HOUSE BILL 1766-FN

AN ACT requiring the department of environmental services to report to the general court regarding bedrock testing and perfluorochemical contamination in the Seacoast area and at other landfills and hazardous waste sites.

SPONSORS: Rep. Messmer, Rock. 24; Rep. Cushing, Rock. 21; Rep. Bean, Rock. 21; Rep. Edgar, Rock. 21; Rep. T. Le, Rock. 31; Rep. P. Gordon, Rock. 29; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21

COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture

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

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill requires the department of environmental services to report to the general court regarding perfluorinated chemical contamination at the Seacoast and at landfills and other hazardous waste sites.

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

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

04/26/2018 1630s 18-2503

08/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eighteen

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

1 Findings. The general court acknowledges the public concern regarding the issue of water quality in the Seacoast area and at areas of environmental interest all over the state. The general court further finds that in view of bedrock testing due to begin in the Seacoast area during the summer of 2018, and in view of the impending first ever study of per and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) exposure, the general court shall be informed, on a regular basis, of contaminant monitoring and contaminant migration, and advised regarding new research on contaminant exposure and any developments in remediation technology.

2 Department of Environmental Services; Reports Required.

I. The department of environmental services shall submit an initial report to the general court by December 1, 2018, and shall submit interim reports every 6-months thereafter, on the results of monitoring, testing, and any other analysis or data relative to perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) levels at statewide sites that it has identified as sources of those contaminants. The reports shall include preliminary results from bedrock testing conducted at the Coakley Landfill site beginning in the summer of 2018. The department shall submit interim reports on the bedrock testing by July 1, 2019 and December 1, 2019, and a final report within 6 months of when such testing is completed. Other Seacoast area sites shall include, but not be limited to, the Pease International Trade port and its vicinity, the Hampton Landfill, the Coakley Landfill, the Rye Breakfast Hill Landfill, the Rye Grove Landfill, the Garland Well and nearby well sites, the former Cibor Airport, the Hampton Airport, and other municipal and commercial operations within the Seacoast area deemed relevant by the department. The department shall also include in such reports the PFOS and PFOA levels at any landfill, hazardous waste, and other sites statewide where it currently requires testing.

II. Copies of the reports required in paragraph I shall be submitted to:

(a) The president of the senate.

(b) The speaker of the house of representatives.

(c) The chairman of the senate energy and natural resources committee, or the successor committee with jurisdiction over energy and natural resource issues.

(d) The chairman of the house resources, recreation, and development committee, or the successor committee with jurisdiction over energy and natural resource issues.

(e) The joint legislative fiscal committee of the general court.

3 Senate and House of Representatives Committees; Duties. The senate energy and natural resources committee and the house resources, recreation and development committee, or their successor committees as specified in section 2, paragraph II of this act, shall collect and evaluate the reports required in section 2 of this act along with any other reports, data, and information the committees deem relevant. The committees shall solicit information from commissions and informed citizens in southeastern New Hampshire and shall solicit information from the United States Environmental Protection Agency regarding the reports required in section 2.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.

LBAO

18-2503

11/21/17

HB 1766-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to remediating the Coakley Landfill in Greenland.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None


	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022
Appropriation	$0	$0	$0	$0
Revenue	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Expenditures	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Funding Source:	[ ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ X ] Other

LOCAL:
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase

METHODOLOGY:

This bill would require the Department of Environmental Services to compel the parties responsible for the dumping of hazardous waste at the Coakley Landfill Superfund Site to implement a ground water extraction and treatment remedy, identified as Remedy MM-4 in the May 24, 1994 Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for the Coakley Site, within one year of the effective date of this bill.

The Department of Environmental Services indicates under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, (CERCLA) once a federally approved Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) has been initiated at a site, no potentially responsible party may undertake remedial action at the site unless authorized by the EPA. The primary contaminants of concern that are known to be present above the applicable federal and state standards at the site include arsenic, manganese, 1,4-dioxane and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFCs). The remedial option MM-4 from 1994 did not consider the presence of 1,4-dioxane and PFCs. The seacoast communities of Portsmouth, Newington, and North Hampton contributed municipal waste to the Coakley Site and each community is party to a consent decree established for cleanup of the Site. The current share each municipality pays for response costs associated with the Site are: Portsmouth 53.6%, Newington 5.5%, and North Hampton 4.0%. Therefore, 63.1% of the response costs to implement Remedy MM-4 would be covered by local municipalities. In order to estimate the current implementation cost of Remedy MM-4, the Department used the 1993 cost estimate and applied an inflation rate of 3% per year as follows:

The 1993 capital cost of $1,438,000 was brought to 2017 dollars by assuming a 3% annual inflation rate over 24 years resulting in a capital cost of $2,923,000 rounded to $3,000,000. $3,000,000 spread over 30 years at an annual rate of 3% would result in payments of $153,060 per year, 63.1% of which would be the local municipalities’ share of capital costs or $96,580.
Annual operations and maintenance costs are assumed to be $200,000/year, based on the Department’s experience with similar treatment system costs at Superfund Sites. 63.1% of $200,000 or $126,200 would be the estimated local municipalities’ share of annual operations and maintenance costs.
The Department estimates the recoverable annual State oversight costs would be $100,000 per year based on NHDES experience with similar Superfund Sites. The municipal share of oversight cost at 63.1% would equal $63,100. These costs would be recovered from the local governments through the existing cooperative agreement with EPA or the consent decree with the potentially responsible parties.
The total annual cost to local governments associated with the proposed legislation is estimated at up to $285,880 ($96,580+$126,200+$63,100) per year. The remaining 36.9% of the remedial option MM4 Remedy implementation and oversight costs, ($167,180) would be assumed by the non-local government members of the Coakley Landfill Group (CLG).

The Department assumes the additional annual state oversight costs would either be covered by EPA grants or recovered from the CLG or a combination of EPA funding and cost recovery from the CLG.

Additional costs to local government associated with the surface water and fish assessment required by the legislation are indeterminable because the CLG has not been required to prepare a work scope and budget for this assessment work. Further, the EPA and the Department have been participating in discussions with the CLG concerning implementation of a surface water and fish impact assessment and it is unclear whether this bill would result in additional costs since this work is already under consideration.

The Department of Justice indicates, in the event the Department of Environmental Service's orders to the responsible parties were not complied with, the Department of Justice would be required to take enforcement action. The Department of Justice states this could be done with the Department's existing budget.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Environmental Services and Department of Justice