North Carolina Passes Tougher Landfill Measures and E-Waste Law

Date: September 3, 2007

Source: North Carolina Governor

North Carolina Governor Easley Signs Bill For Stricter Regulation Of Landfills

New Law Keeps Dumps Away From Streams And Parks, Requires Computer

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley today announced he has signed into law Senate Bill 1492, ''The Solid Waste Management Act of 2007.'' The new law provides stricter regulation of landfills, funds to help communities clean up old landfills and hazardous waste sites and requires computer makes to recycle computer components they sell in North Carolina.

''Protecting our state's natural heritage and making sure our water resources are protected are crucial to our state's future,'' Easley said. ''This new law takes a major step in dealing with waste in the 21st century by not just imposing important new regulations to help the environment but by giving communities the tools they need to effectively deal with the increasing need to properly handle trash disposal.''

The new law increased the distance that a landfill must be located from streams from 50 feet to 200 feet. It also forbids the construction of landfills within five miles of a national wildlife refuge, two miles of a state park and one mile from a state gameland. The legislation also establishes a $2-per-ton tax for trash disposal in landfills to pay cleaning up abandoned dumps and hazardous waste sites along with paying for local government waste management efforts. Computer manufacturers are required to begin recycling used equipment.

''Future generations of North Carolinians may see this as one of the most important environmental laws this state has enacted,'' said state Sen. Charles Albertson (D, Duplin, Lenoir and Sampson), primary sponsor of the bill. ''We protect the environment, provide help to local governments in dealing with the added trash that has resulted from our state's growth and prevents North Carolina from becoming a haven for huge mega-landfills.''

The other sponsor of the bill was Sen. Dan Clodfelter (D, Mecklenburg). Most portions of this act become effective January 1, 2009. The legislation passed the state Senate 28-16 and the House of representatives 65-46.

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