Help NH Win Explicit Authority to Regulate Single-Use Items!

UPDATE March 17, 2022

HB1119 came to the Floor for a vote today, where the 10/9 Committee majority and minority reports were heard and voted on.

Unfortunately, Representative Dolan made a motion that carried to lay the bill on the table rather than advancing it; the vote was 300 in favor of tabling and 35, against. Those are some tough odds that unfortunately will result in the bill not crossing over to the Senate this session…but just as previous sessions, this bill will continue to be brought until it is passed or rendered obsolete by a statewide or federal bag ban law.

See how your NH House Representative voted and consider sending an email of concern if your representative voted in favor of tabling and an email of thanks, if against (give us a shout for email contact info!).

UPDATE February 22, 2022

On February 22, 2022, the House Municipal and County Government Committee rendered a split report, with a majority of 10 members voting that this bill should not pass (ITL = inexpedient to legislate) and 9 members voting that the measure should pass with an amendment that clarifies intent to regulate single-use plastic and paper bags at point of sale.

Both reports will now head to the Floor for debate and a roll call. 

If the bill passes the floor advancing the minority report, then the bill will “crossover” to the Senate and be assigned to a Committee and scheduled for public hearing.

Stay tuned, and be in touch to engage on this or other campaigns with us in New Hampshire!

UPDATE FEBRUARY 8, 2022

HB119 is scheduled for public hearing on February 15, 2022 at 10:30AM before the House Municipal and County Government Committee, in the Legislative Office Building Room 301-303.

To learn more about testifying in support of the bill, in writing or in person, please email mgates@surfrider.org.

Thank you!

UPDATE JANUARY, 2022

New Hampshire lawmakers introduced HB1119 this session, in an effort to grant municipalities the explicit authority to regulate single-use paper and plastic bags. The bill is currently before the House Committee on Municipal and County Government, awaiting scheduling for a public hearing.

This law would embolden more New Hampshire municipalities to follow in the 2019 footsteps of Portsmouth to pass local single-use plastic and packaging mitigation ordinances.

While leading legal opinions stipulate to the fact that this authority is already inherent in the State's solid waste regulations, some towns have been tepid to advance on this issue, given the confusion that lobbyists for plastics manufacturers and certain industries have woven into the issue and its public processes in the State.

Fortunately, in addition to continuing to support this effort at the State level for multiple concurrent sessions, we are also currently working with multiple Granite State towns to clarify that the authority to pass local ordinances that mitigate the use of needless single-use items is already inherent in the State's laws, and to then help navigate the process for local introduction.

Give us a shout to get involved in the Chapter's Rise Above Plastics Committee, and stay tuned for information on HB1119!

UPDATE JUNE 16, 2020

Pursuant to COVID-19 interruptions and the continued public health crisis, the State Senate voted to vacate from committee and lay on the table most bills not directly relevant to pandemic response, including HB102.

This means that we will need to start fresh (again!) in a future session by introducing a new bill to gain explicit clarity on authority already inherent in the State's solid waste laws for municipalities to regulate single-use products, such as checkout bags. 

The good news is that we know that persistence pays off; in most instances of statewide plastics mitigation law, it took multiple session attempts before finally passing the law (think about the bag bans now in Maine, Washington, California and Hawaii). We are laying important groundwork now for future law in New Hampshire, and YOU can help!

Give a shout if you would like to learn more about current opportunities to keep momentum going: mgates@surfrider.org

HISTORIC ACCOUNT

HB559 and HB102 were taken off the table over the summer of 2019, and workshopped in a subcommittee of the House Municipal and Government Affairs Committee. Our Northeast Regional Manager attended most of the workshops and provided expert testimony.

The subcommittee moved HB559 forward as a renewed attempt at a statewide bag ban (see this campaign for more info)! 

HB102 advanced favorably out of committee without a new public hearing as substantive changes were not made. The bill advanced is limited in scope from all single-use plastic and instead relegates granting authority to municipalities to regulate single-use paper and plastic bags. HB102 then came to the House floor for a vote on January 9, 2020, and passed! Now it will head to the Senate for a public hearing. Stay tuned for ways to engage! 

You can also email to engage and be added to a listserv of New Hampshire residents working to reduce plastic pollution. 

SUMMARY

As initially written, HB 559 AN ACT enabling municipalities to ban single-use sources of plastic pollution sought to clarify the State's solid waste regulations, RSA 149-M, so that local ordinances could advance to address single-use sources of plastic pollution and other items.

The Municipal and County Government Committee voted to retain the bill in March 2019. When the bills to institute a statewide plastic bag ban (HB560) and a straws on demand bill (HB558) failed to pass the Senate, however, the Committee pulled HB559 and a similar bill, HB102, off the table and combined them into a new version of HB559.

A new combo version of HB559 mimics the intents of HB102 in exempting the regulation of single-use items, including expanded polystyrene foam, plastic straws, and checkout bags, from home rule under RSA 31:39, I(m)-(p). The anticipated movement on the renewed combo was set in motion by the scheduling of a work session on August 20, 2019. 

This bill is important in the fight against plastic pollution in New Hampshire, as the state does not have home rule, which means that municipalities do not have the authority to pass regulations without explicit authority provided by the State. 

Efforts to pass single-use bag ordinances in Portsmouth have failed to date, in large part because the city argued that the State's solid waste regulations were not explicit enough to guarantee authority to regulate single-use plastic bags while the State argued it would not pass enabling legislation as it would be duplicative, stating that the authority was already inherent in the solid waste regulations. This cycle has perpetuated…until now! In 2019, there were two multiple bills concurrently before the General Court, along with 2 statewide single-use plastic mitigation bills (straws on request and bag ban), making 2019 the year for pushing the recycled envelope forward to curb this needless pollution! 

SPONSORS: Rep. Spang; Rep. Gilman; Rep. Luneau; Sen. Fuller Clark

The public hearing for this bill was held on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 10:30AM. We had a great showing of support, followed by all the false factual statements one can imagine presented by lobbyists for the plastics industry.

Committee: Municipal and County Government

Executive Session was held on 03/13/2019 10:00 am LOB 301

The Committee that heard public testimony deliberated the bill and decided to retain it for now rather than recommending this bill for or against passage to the full House.

During initial proceedings, we urged residents and business owners to submit thoughts on this bill writing by emailing the Committee: HouseMunicipalandCountyGovt@leg.state.nh.us.

FMI email mgates@surfrider.org