Financial Assurance for Corrective Action at Landfills - House Bill 209

On March 1, 2011, House Bill 209 (HB 209) was introduced by primary sponsors, Representatives Dan Ingle (District 64 – Alamance County) and Mitch Gillespie (District 85 – Burke and McDowell Counties). The proposed bill, if adopted, will amend certain financial assurance requirements for sanitary landfills sanctioned by Session Law 2007-550 (Senate Bill 1492).

As ratified, SB 1492 placed additional requirements for new and existing landfill facilities. One of these requirements directed the owners or operators of sanitary landfills to establish financial assurance in the amount of three million dollars (minimum) to cover the potential assessment and corrective action costs. Local governments and solid waste authorities could fulfill this prerequisite by satisfying the local government financial tests or by committing a capital reserve fund. However, this legislation did not provide any alternatives for privately held facilities to comply with this financial obligation.

As currently transcribed, HB 209 proposes to reduce the financial assurance obligation to two million dollars and sets forth provisions to allow the owners and operators of landfills permitted on or before August 1, 2009 means to satisfy the financial assurance commitment through the development of a trust fund under the following provisions:

• The trustee shall be an entity which has the authority to act as a trustee and trust operations are regulated and examined by a State or Federal agency;

• A copy of the trust agreement shall be placed in the facility’s operating records;

• Payment into the trust fund shall be made annually by the owner or operator over a period not to exceed five years;

• Payment into the fund shall be made in equal annual installment amounts;

• The trust fund may be terminated by the owner or operator only of the owner or operator establishes financial assurances by another means; and

• The trust agreement shall be accompanied by formal certification of acknowledgement

HB 209 passed the first reading in the House on March 3, 2011 and was referred to the House Committee on the Environment which met to discuss the merits of the provisions on May 26, 2011. The bill was passed by the committee and will move on to the floor.

The General Assembly’s 2011 regular session’s cross over date is June 9, 2011. If the provisions of HB 209 are to be enacted, a companion bill in the Senate may need to be introduced and all actions or modifications adjusted by any of the reviewing legislative committees have to be approved by both houses of the General Assembly prior to ratification.

A copy of House Bill 2009 can be found at: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/HTML/H209v1.html

The primary sponsors of the bill may be reached at the following contact information:

Rep. Dan Ingle
Dan.Ingle@ncleg.net
(919) 733-5905

Rep. Mitch Gillespie
Mitch.Gillespie@ncleg.net
(919) 733-5862

RSG will continue to monitor this important legislation and will provide updates as appropriate.