HB 1382-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2001 SESSION
08/09
HOUSE BILL 1382-FN
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill revises requirements for restoring excavation sites.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
01-2262
08/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One
AN ACT revising requirements for restoring excavation sites.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Excavation Restoration. RSA 155-E:5 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
155-E:5 Restoration. Within 12 months after the expiration date in the permit therefor or the completion of the excavation, whichever first occurs, the owner of the excavated land shall restore, or cause to be restored, the area affected by the excavation to meet each of the following minimum conditions:
I. Except for exposed rock ledge, said area shall be covered with vegetation suitable to prevent erosion and with soils suitable to sustain such vegetation;
II. Debris resulting from the excavation shall be buried or removed;
III. All slopes shall be graded to natural repose for the type of soil of which they are composed; and
IV. The elimination of any standing bodies of water created in the excavation project as may constitute a hazard to health and safety unless the regulator specifies different restoration.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
01-2262
Revised 10/12/01
HB 1382 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT revising requirements for restoring excavation sites.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Revenue Administration and the New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill may have an indeterminable fiscal impact on local revenue and expenditures. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Revenue Administration states this bill appears to relax the reclamation requirements for excavated areas. Pursuant to the provisions of RSA 72-B:12, excavated areas that have not been reclaimed are exempt from property tax and are subject to an excavation activity tax. The revenue generated from the excavation activity tax is paid to the municipality. The relaxation of the reclamation requirements may reduce the revenues received by the town by allowing more area to be deemed reclaimed with minimal effort on the part of the landowner. The Department is unable to determine the exact fiscal impact of this bill on local revenue or expenditures at this time.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states municipalities play two roles in the reclamation of excavations. In one role, local officials are the regulators of the excavations, which gives them the responsibility to require that excavation sites are properly restored to either state or local standards, whichever are more stringent. In the other role, if municipalities have engaged in excavation activities, they would be required to undertake restoration activities. For municipalities in the role as regulator, this legislation does not appear to cause a financial impact, although it is not clear if there is any financial impact from the removal of the paragraph in the existing statute (RSA 155-E:5, V) which deals with excavations covered by the Department of Environmental Services' permits. For municipalities which are engaged in excavation activities, they would be required at the completion of the excavation to restore the area pursuant to the provisions of RSA 155-E:5. The Association states language in this legislation appears to add some requirements while removing others, making it difficult to determine if there would be additional costs to reclamation under the new standards.