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> Home > Our Issues > SB1492 Suggests End for Mega-Dump Proposals SB1492 Suggests End for Mega-Dump ProposalsFrom mega-dumps to mega-triumph: the North Carolina General Assembly passed SB 1492, the Solid Waste Management Act of 2007, this August and has set the state on a course to protect public health and the environment with new landfill laws, while keeping disposal options affordable for all North Carolinians. Five proposed “mega-landfills” in coastal North Carolina counties would have brought about 4 million tons of waste to the state, mostly from out of state. North Carolina would become, for the first time, a net importer of waste. Proposed sites include Brunswick County, Camden County, Columbus County, Hyde County and Richmond County -- some of the state’s most rural counties, where land is cheap and many residents live in poverty. But the business of trash isn’t necessarily a solid revenue fix for growing rural counties. The so-called mega-dumps would provide only a short term revenue source for rural communities. Further, the dumps were proposed in ecologically sensitive areas of the state within a few short miles of National Wildlife Refuges, state parks and state gamelands. And the laws on the books were designed to accommodate much smaller volumes of waste. North Carolina needed 21st century tools to handle the solid waste from a growing population, and the interest neighbors to the north had in dumping here. In 2006, the General Assembly passed a one-year moratorium on the issuance of new landfill permits while the issue was studied. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources presented the results before the 2007 legislative session convened outlining possible changes to the siting, design and operational requirements for landfills. Based on a comparison with other states, staff proposed new buffer requirements between streams and wetlands and landfills. Important changes were also proposed regarding financial qualifications for prospective landfill operators. Lawmakers and interest groups debated the merits of the proposed solid waste package during the session. SB 1492 Solid Waste Management Act of 2007, one of the last bills to be taken up in the session, gets the job done. This legislation reforms the solid waste landfill permitting process in a broad number of ways, including increasing financial assurances from landfill companies, requiring environmental review for siting landfills and establishing a 200 foot buffer from streams and wetlands, and other buffers from various public lands. Liners on construction/demolition landfills are now required and landfill size is capped. North Carolina now has a new $2.00 statewide tipping fee to provide funds to cleanup old contaminated dump sites, recycling programs, and funds for companies that will not proceed with construction of new landfills. More information: NC DENR Division of Waste Management: Backers, critics debate landfill buffers Landfill bill gets final approval |
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