TITLE X
PUBLIC HEALTH

CHAPTER 147-A
HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT

Section 147-A:4

    147-A:4 Operator Permits. –
The department shall administer and enforce the hazardous waste operator permit program.
I. Any person constructing, substantially altering, or operating a hazardous waste facility or disposing of hazardous waste on or after July 1, 1980, shall first obtain a permit from the department, unless conditionally exempted by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 147-A:3, XXV.
I-a. The department shall notify the governing body of the municipality in which the facility is or may be located when a new permit application is received by the department. This requirement shall apply to permit applications for treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. A copy of the application shall be included with the notification.
II. A permit application fee not to exceed $7,500 shall accompany each permit, permit modification, and permit renewal application. Permit fees received by the department under this section shall be placed in the hazardous waste cleanup fund as established under RSA 147-B:3, shall be accounted for separately and shall be used in processing applications and enforcing and implementing conditions of a permit.
II-a. The department may conduct such reasonable studies and investigations and employ such consultants as it deems appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section; provided, however, that such studies and investigations are identified in rules adopted pursuant to this chapter. The cost of such studies, investigations, and consultants shall be borne by the applicant.
II-b. A decision by the commissioner to issue a permit for a hazardous waste facility shall not be influenced by the fact that the applicant acquired land or an interest therein for the purpose of constructing such facility.
II-c. (a) Applications for permits shall be upon such forms and shall include such information as the department requires by rules adopted under RSA 147-A:3. The application information shall include, but not be limited to, a performance history of the applicant and of its owners, officers, directors, partners, members, or managers relative to the operation, financial security, and ownership of all facilities owned or operated by such persons.
(b)(1) The applicant and all persons and entities set forth in subparagraph (b)(2) seeking a permit under this chapter shall be subject to a criminal records check consisting of a New Hampshire criminal records check and a fingerprint-based criminal record check utilizing national crime information databases, as set forth in subparagraphs (b)(3) through (b)(6). The department may make rules under RSA 541-A exempting certain types of permit applications from the performance history and criminal records check requirements of this section.
(2) In this paragraph:
(A) "Owner" means each owner or part owner of a privately held corporation.
(B) "Officer" means those persons described in a corporation's bylaws or articles of incorporation or elected or appointed by the board of directors to manage the daily operations of a corporation, such as a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, secretary, treasurer, president, and vice president. "Officer" includes those persons described within RSA 293-A:8.40.
(C) "Director" means a person appointed or elected to sit on a governing board of a corporation. "Director" includes trustees, managers, and governors and those persons described within New Hampshire RSA 293-A:8.01-8.11.
(D) "Partner" means one of 2 or more persons carrying on as co-owners of a business for profit. "Partner" includes, but is not limited to, a limited or general partner of a partnership, professional association, or foreign partnership or such partners as set forth in title XXVIII.
(E) "Member" means a person who has been admitted to a limited liability company as a member in accordance with RSA 304-C or in accordance with the laws of the state or foreign country or jurisdiction under which the limited liability company is organized. "Member" includes each member of a limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, or professional limited liability company as set forth in RSA 304-C and RSA 304-D.
(F) "Manager" means a person who is named or designated as a manager of a limited liability company in an operating agreement. "Manager" includes each manager of a limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, or professional limited liability company as set forth in RSA 304-C and RSA 304-D.
(G) "Department" means the department of environmental services.
(3) Except for governmental entities and municipalities, the persons subject to the criminal records checks pursuant to subparagraph (b)(1) above are as follows:
(A) The applicant;
(B) If the applicant is an individual(s), each individual;
(C) If the applicant is a publicly traded corporation, each officer and director;
(D) If the applicant is a privately held corporation, each owner, officer, and director;
(E) If the applicant is a general or limited partnership, each partner;
(F) If the applicant is a limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, or professional limited liability company, each manager and member;
(G) If the permit sought is for the transfer of a permit to a new person or a change in ownership of the current permit holder at an existing facility, then the transferee applicant and all persons related to the transferee applicant as set forth in subparagraph (b)(3).
(4) All persons set forth in subparagraph (b)(3) shall submit to the department a New Hampshire department of safety, division of state police, criminal history records release authorization form, as provided by the division of state police, which authorizes the division of state police to conduct a criminal history records check through its state records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to release to the department, for the purposes of this section, a report of the criminal history and record information, including confidential criminal history record information, of the applicant and all persons set forth in subparagraph (b)(3). The release form shall name the assistant director of the department of environmental services waste management division and the administrator of the department of environmental services, hazardous waste management bureau as authorized recipients and shall specify any payment required by the division of state police.
(5) All persons set forth in subparagraph (b)(3) shall submit to the department, along with their criminal record release authorization form required in subparagraph (b)(4), a complete set of fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency or authorized employee of the department of safety. If the national crime information database is unavailable for any reason, the department may accept New Hampshire criminal records or police clearances from every city, town, or county where the person has lived during the past 5 years.
(6) The department shall submit the criminal records release authorization forms and fingerprint forms to the department of safety, division of state police, which shall conduct a criminal history records check through its records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon completion of the records check, the division of state police shall release copies of the criminal history records to the assistant director of the department of environmental services waste management division and the administrator of the department of environmental services, hazardous waste management bureau. The department shall maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history records information received pursuant to this section.
(7) The department may bill the applicant for any costs or fees associated with the performance history review and the criminal records check, including, but not limited to, any fee charged by the department of safety or the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the criminal records checks set forth in this paragraph. The department shall destroy all criminal history record information within 60 days after the department's decision on the application or upon the conclusion of any appeal of the department's decision, whichever is later.
II-d. The department may deny a permit application under this section to a person if any of the following applies:
(a) The person fails to demonstrate sufficient reliability, expertise, integrity, and competence to operate a hazardous waste facility.
(b) The person or any person set forth in RSA 147-A:4, II-c(b)(3) has been convicted of, or pled guilty or no contest to, a felony in any state or federal court during the 5 years before the date of the permit application.
III. If the application is approved, a permit shall be issued for 5 years, subject to modification, suspension, or revocation by the department. An applicant for permit renewal shall demonstrate that the facility complies with rules adopted by the department under RSA 147-A.
IV. Any permit issued under this section may be modified, suspended, or revoked by the department at any time if the permittee fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the permit; provided, no permit shall be modified, suspended or revoked until the department has provided the affected party with the opportunity for an adequate hearing and with written notice of the intent of the department to take action and the reasons for the action.
IV-a. No permit issued by the department under this section shall be transferred by the permittee to any person without the prior written approval of the department. Applications for the transfer of permits shall be upon such forms and shall include such information as the department requires by rules adopted under RSA 147-A:3, IX. The applicant and all related persons as set forth in RSA 147-A:4, II-c(b) shall comply with the performance history review and criminal record provisions of RSA 147-A:4, II-c in all respects. The department shall hold a public hearing no later than 30 days prior to making any final decision on an application to transfer a permit issued under this section. Notice of such public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of local circulation within the region of the public or private hazardous waste facility at least 2 weeks prior to such public hearing. The applicant shall notify abutters of the request for transfer of a permit under this section.
V. If meeting the requirements for the issuance of a permit or complying with the conditions of a permit would, in the opinion of the department, cause undue hardship without equal or greater benefit to the public, the department may issue an interim permit. The interim permit shall contain a compliance schedule for meeting the requirements of this section and conditions the department deems necessary. Renewal or extensions of the compliance schedule may be given only after opportunity for public hearing and comment in the town or city affected by each renewal or extension. No interim permit shall be granted to a person who is causing a danger to public health or safety.
VI. No person shall construct a hazardous waste facility after July 1, 1979, without an interim permit issued by the department. The department shall include terms and conditions in the interim permit as it deems necessary, utilizing existing rules relative to solid waste and, in the department's discretion, standards as proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency as published in the Federal Register under the authority granted in Subtitle C of 42 U.S.C., Section 6901 et seq.
VII. In administering this section, the department shall be exempt from the provisions of RSA 541-A:29, II, but shall act on all matters before it under this section in as expeditious a manner as the law permits.

Source. 1981, 413:2. 1983, 137:5, 6; 227:3; 455:8. 1986, 158:1-3; 202:6, I(e). 1989, 398:3, 4. 1991, 226:2. 1994, 412:13. 1996, 228:106, 107, 110. 1997, 269:1. 1998, 64:4. 1999, 53:2, eff. July 20, 1999. 2007, 219:1, eff. July 1, 2007. 2023, 103:1, 2, eff. June 20, 2023. 2026, 145:1, 2, eff. Aug. 11, 2026.