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Bill to tighten background checks for solid-waste facility owners moves forward after committee hearing
Summary
The EDNA Committee heard testimony from the Department of Environmental Services on Senate Bill 302, which revises criminal-records-check authority and procedures for solid-waste and hazardous-waste facility permit applicants; committee voted to move the bill out with expectant technical corrections from DES.
Sen. Howard Pearl, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 302, returned to the EDNA Committee to seek updated language enabling federal criminal-record searches for owners of solid-waste facilities. Mike Wimsatt, director of the Waste Management Division at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES), explained that prior statutory language did not meet FBI requirements for access to criminal-records databases and that the bill clarifies who is subject to checks and how records are handled.
Wimsatt said the revised process would remove the Department of Justice from the fingerprint coordination step, have applicants submit fingerprint authorizations and forms to DES, and require the Division of State Police to run the checks and forward results to designated DES officials for review. "This new process will take the Department of Justice out of this," Wimsatt told the committee, and DES will destroy records after permitting and any appeals are complete.
Nut graf: The bill rewrites the statutory authority for criminal-background checks for permit applicants to satisfy federal procedures and details which corporate officers and managers must submit fingerprints and how DES will maintain confidentiality.
Wimsatt said earlier drafting attempts in 2023 and 2024 left gaps flagged by the FBI; attorney work with the Department of Justice and State Police helped produce the current draft but he asked for latitude to file typographical corrections. The committee executiveed the bill out and members said DES could submit technical floor amendments in the House if needed.
Ending: The committee moved SB 302 out with the understanding DES will provide technical corrections to ensure the language satisfies federal database requirements.
