SB 218-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
1999 SESSION
SENATE BILL 218-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT regulating the land application of sewage sludge.
SPONSORS: Sen. Wheeler, Dist 21; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Disnard, Dist 8; Sen. Russman, Dist 19; Sen. Cohen, Dist 24; Rep. B. Hall, Hills 20; Rep. Owen, Merr 6
This bill establishes:
I. Notice requirements for persons who land apply sludge.
II. Record keeping requirements for haulers of sludge.
III. A prohibition on wastewater treatment plants from excluding towns that regulate sludge disposal within their borders.
IV. Limitations to land application of sludge including sludge containing dioxins.
V. Requirements for persons or facilities acquiring sludge quality certification requirements.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
99-0951
08/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine
AN ACT regulating the land application of sewage sludge.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraphs; Notice of Septage or Sludge Spreading. Amend RSA 485-A:5-c by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraphs:
IV. If the proposed land application area is in a residential area, or if residential, commercial, or institutional buildings are located within 200 feet of the proposed land application area, written notice of such application shall be submitted in person to all persons owning property and other persons using commercial, institutional or residential buildings within the application area or 200 feet of the intended treatment area at least 14 days but not more than 60 days before the commencement of the proposed sludge land application. The notice shall contain the following information:
(a) Description of the treatment area sufficient to inform people who may be in the vicinity.
(b) Name of the person who contracted for the application or such person's representative or the applicator, and the address and telephone number to contact for more specific information about the intended application.
(c) Intended purpose of the sludge application.
(d) Date or reasonable range of dates on which such application is proposed to take place.
(e) Telephone number of the New Hampshire department of environmental services, division of water.
V. For absentee property owners, notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address listed in the town tax record shall be sufficient notice.
VI. Any person who land applies sludge that is not low metal, or who owns land on which such sludge is land applied, shall record in the registry of deeds a notice which shall contain:
(a) The date on which the department issued the sludge quality certificate pursuant to which the sludge was land applied and the expiration date of said sludge quality certificate.
(b) The name and address of each facility from which the sludge was obtained.
(c) Each facility that land applies sludge that is not low metal shall, in addition to the requirements of subparagraphs (a) and (b), include in such record the content of the sludge as stated in the most recent analysis thereof and the dates on which such analysis was conducted.
2 Land Application of Sludge. Amend RSA 485-A:5-d to read as follows:
485-A:5-d Land Application of Sludge
I. Sludge or biosolids which are to be land applied in New Hampshire shall not exceed the maximum concentrations for specific chemical contaminants contained in the rules of the department, or the rules or regulations of the state in which the sludge was generated, whichever are more stringent.
II. Sludge that is applied to land used for grazing animals or land upon which one or more forage crops grow or are intended to be grown shall not contain more than 10 parts per million of molybdenum.
III. Sludge shall not be land applied to forestland, as defined in RSA 227-G:2, VIII, or in newly clearcut areas.
IV. Solid waste or hazardous waste, as these are defined in RSA 149-M and 147-A, respectively, shall not be disposed of in the form of sludge in a site or facility permitted by the department's sludge management rules.
V. A soil pH reading of between 6.5 and 7.0 shall be maintained for such soil during land application activities and for 5 years after the last application to such land.
VI. A minimum buffer distance shall be maintained between land applied sludge and surface waters of the state, as defined in RSA 485-A:2, XIV. The minimum buffer distance shall be 250 feet from the high water mark.
VII. A minimum distance of 3 feet shall be maintained between bedrock and the lowest point of land application of sludge.
VIII. Sludge shall not be stockpiled or land applied on 100 year flood plains. Stockpiles may be placed on sites that are not flood plains up to and including 30 days before any planting or seeding. Sludge shall not be stockpiled where there is less than 4 feet of unsaturated soil between the lowest point of such storage and the maximum high groundwater table.
IX. Sludge shall not be applied to agricultural land which has a slope greater than 8 percent.
3 New Sections; Sludge Quality Certification Requirements. Amend RSA 485-A by inserting after section 5-d the following new sections:
485-A:5-e Sludge Quality Certification Requirements.
I. All publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) who land apply sludge shall list all industrial waste water contributors and chemical constituents of their waste water.
II. As of January 1, 2001, the following maximum metal concentrations shall be required by any wastewater treatment facility if such facility shall be issued a sludge quality certification by the department:
(a) If the sludge is to be certified as a low-metals sludge, the following maximum concentrations, expressed as the total concentration on a dry weight basis:
(1) For arsenic, 10 mg/kg.
(2) For cadmium, 10 mg/kg.
(3) For chromium, 160 mg/kg.
(4) For copper, 1000 mg/kg.
(5) For lead, 270 mg/kg.
(6) For mercury, 7 mg/kg.
(7) For molybdenum, 18 mg/kg.
(8) For nickel, 98 mg/kg.
(9) For selenium, 18 mg/kg.
(10) For zinc, 1780 mg/kg.
(b) For all other sludge, the following maximum concentrations shall apply, expressed as the total concentration on a dry weight basis:
(1) For arsenic, 32 mg/kg.
(2) For cadmium, 14 mg/kg.
(3) For chromium, 1000 mg/kg.
(4) For copper, 1500 mg/kg.
(5) For lead, 300 mg/kg.
(6) For mercury, 10 mg/kg.
(7) For molybdenum, 35 mg/kg.
(8) For nickel, 200 mg/kg.
(9) For selenium, 28 mg/kg.
(10) For zinc, 2500 mg/kg.
(11) For polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 1.0 mg/kg.
(12) For dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans, 10 ng/kg TEQ for 2,3,7,8 TCDD and 2,3,7,8 TCDF; and 27 ng/kg for all congeners determined by EPA method 1613 using the 1989 toxic equivalency factors.
III. Each water treatment facility holding a sludge certification shall have sludge from its treatment facility analyzed annually for constituents as required by rules adopted by the commissioner, and shall submit such test results to the department annually.
IV. Sludge quality certifications shall expire 2 years from the date of issuance.
V. University of New Hampshire cooperative extension services best management practices with regard to agronomic application rates of sludge shall be adhered to by any person who land applies sludge.
485-A:5-f Sludge Containing Dioxins. The following limitations shall apply to the land application of sludge containing dioxins, in addition to all other rules and laws applying to the land application of sewage sludge:
I. Animals shall not be grazed on land on which sludge containing dioxins has been applied until 12 months after the last application of such sludge.
II. Sludge and residuals containing PCDDs and PCDFs shall not be applied to land on which crops for human consumption are grown. In this paragraph, crops for human consumption means all vegetable and fruit crops that are consumed by humans.
III. No pasturing of livestock and fowl whose products are consumed by humans shall occur on fields that receive sludge or residuals containing PCDDs and PCDFs.
IV. The restrictions in this section on pasturing of livestock or fowl whose products are consumed by humans and growing crops and fruits intended for human consumption shall apply to subsequent purchasers of the land utilization site. It shall be the responsibility of the utilization site licensee, landowner, or any subsequent landowner to notify any purchaser of such land that sludge or residuals containing PCDDs and PCDFs have been applied to that site and that subsequent owners are subject to use restrictions under this regulation.
V. When filing an application for sludge and residuals utilization with the department, the applicant shall submit a copy of a statement signed by the landowner and, if different, the operator of the site, that specifically acknowledges the presence and concentrations of PCDDs and PCDFs in the material to be spread, and the ability and willingness of the landowner to comply with all rules and laws governing the land application of sludge containing PCDDs and PCDFs.
485-A:5-g Required Record Keeping for Land Application of Sludge.
I. Each sludge hauler permit holder shall record the following information, on a form provided by the department, for each load of sludge:
(a) The date the sludge is transported from the generator's site or facility.
(b) The generator's name, address, and telephone number.
(c) The quantity of sludge, in wet tons.
(d) The type of sludge, such as domestic or industrial.
(e) The name, address, and telephone number of the hauler permit holder and driver of the motorized vehicle.
(f) The name, address, and telephone number of the sites, facilities, solid waste facilities, or wastewater treatment facilities to which the sludge is to be delivered.
(g) The date delivered to the sites or facilities.
II. The information required in paragraph I shall be maintained in the motorized unit used to transport the sludge when the sludge is being transported.
III. Records required under this section shall be maintained on a permanent basis.
485-A:5-h Exclusion of Use by Towns that Regulate Prohibited. No wastewater treatment plant shall exclude a town from using its facility solely for the reason that the town exercises its rights under applicable state laws to regulate sludge disposal within its borders.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
99-0951
2/23/99
SB 218-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT regulating the land application of sewage sludge.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Environmental Services stated this bill will decrease state restricted revenue by $11,000 in FY 2000 and each year thereafter. Local expenditures will increase by $1,160,800 in FY 2000, by $1,219,400 in FY 2001, by $1,280,900 in FY 2002 and by $1,345,500 in FY 2003. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or state and county expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department assumed this bill will take effect July 1, 1999, and that due to the increased cost of sludge analysis, additional site and setback restrictions, and additional site management constraints, this bill would effectively eliminate land application of Class B sludge from the 17 New Hampshire municipalities who follow this practice, as well as from the 5 out-of-state facilities which currently bring sludge into New Hampshire, and the sludge would be landfilled. State restricted revenue and local expenditures will decrease by $11,000 (22 municipalities x $500) as the random inspection and testing fee will no longer be paid. The increased cost, calculated in June of 1998, of disposal at landfills over land application is $60 per wet ton. Based on a 1996 survey, the total amount of sludge being land applied is approximately 18,600 wet tons. Tipping fees will increase by 5% per year.