Failures at several landfills around New Hampshire to properly manage leachate have brought legislative attention to the issue. Through House Bill 566, a bipartisan group of lawmakers want to make permit applicants think harder about how they鈥檒l manage leachate, including after the closure of their proposed facilities.
The state already requires landfills to make certain plans around the management of leachate. Operators must have at least two locations for leachate disposal; estimate how much leachate they will generate; and describe how leachate will be handled at the landfill before being shipped somewhere else for disposal, according to the Department of Environmental Services. They must also have procedures in place to bring down leachate levels to a foot or lower within a week of a 100-year storm event. Regulations also include details about on-site leachate management systems.
This bill seeks to create more comprehensive requirements for leachate management, including by making applicants plan for it in the post-closure life of their proposed landfills. It also would put the requirement for leachate plans into state law, rather than existing only in the agency鈥檚 rules.