Pennsylvania DEP’s landfill permitting regulations upheld by State Supreme Court

Harrisburg, PA— The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld Department of Environmental Protection regulations that require landfill operators to show proposed landfill construction or expansion will generate social and economic benefits that clearly outweigh potential environmental harms.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is a huge win for the people of Pennsylvania,” DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said. “The harms-benefits test gives residents a voice in the permitting process and ensures their communities will garner benefits when they host landfills.”

During the permitting process, a harms-benefits test looks at the balance between the impact of a landfill on the surrounding communities and any environmental, social and economic benefits gained from a proposed facility. The analysis is the initial screening mechanism for landfill permit reviews conducted before a full technical review.

The harms-benefits test is described in regulations for municipal waste landfills and residual waste landfills. The regulations went into effect in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

Two landfill operators, Eagle Environmental II LP and Tri-County Industries Inc., had argued that the harms-benefits test was beyond the authority of the Solid Waste Management Act and the Municipal Waste Management Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act. They also argued that requiring benefits to outweigh environmental harms was unconstitutionally vague and beyond the state’s police powers.

In rejecting these arguments, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on October 28, held the following:

•Consideration of economic and social harms and benefits is within the authority of the acts.
•The concept of a balancing test is common and practiced by businesses everyday and the concepts of harms and benefits are easily understood.
•In keeping with the state’s police powers, a determination of a project’s inherent harms and benefits is reasonably necessary in order to determine whether a potentially dangerous project should be granted a permit in a heavily regulated industry.

DEP’s regulations previously had been upheld by the Environmental Hearing Board and Commonwealth Court.

For more information, visit DEP’s website http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/, Keyword: “Waste Management.”