Chapter 21H

Section 1. (a) It is hereby determined that: (1) There is a critical need to eliminate, mitigate and prevent the nuisances and adverse public health effects associated with the collection, processing and disposal of solid waste from whatever source derived, including municipal, i…

Section 2. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Assessment'', a project to investigate, monitor, survey, test and gather information to identify the existence, source, nature and extent o…

Section 3. (a) The department may provide financial assistance to public bodies for up to one hundred per cent of the costs of the clean up of existing and potential, as determined by the department, drinking water supplies that have been contaminated by leachate from landfills o…

Section 4. The department is hereby authorized and directed to establish a program for (i) the discovery and assessment of pollution, or threats of pollution, caused by existing or closed solid waste facilities, (ii) the containment and clean up of such pollution, and (iii) the c…

Section 6. All resource recovery facilities and other solid waste incinerators shall operate with acid gas scrubbers, or such other technology providing equal or greater protection to the public health and environment, as determined by the department in manner and time.

Section 6A. The department shall participate in the implementation of IMERC standards established at the Northeast Waste Management Officials Association to assist in carrying out the requirements of sections 6A to 6M, inclusive, and to help coordinate reviews of the manufacturer…

Section 6B. (a) No mercury-added product shall be offered for final sale or use or distributed in the commonwealth without notification in writing by the manufacturer of the product to the department through IMERC within 30 days of the product's release in accordance with this se…

Section 6C. (a) No person shall sell or offer to sell or distribute a motor vehicle manufactured on or after January 1, 2007, containing 1 or more mercury-added vehicle switches. (b) No person shall sell or offer to sell or distribute a mercury-added vehicle switch for new instal…

Section 6D. (a) No person shall sell or offer to sell or distribute a mercury-added thermostat in the commonwealth. (b) No person shall sell or offer to sell or distribute in the commonwealth the following mercury-added products: (1) barometers; (2) esophageal dilators, bourgie t…

Section 6E. (a) No person shall sell or offer to sell or distribute a mercury switch or mercury relay, individually or as a product component. This prohibition shall not apply if the mercury switch or mercury relay is a component in a larger product in use before May 1, 2009, the…

Section 6F. (a) The department, at its discretion and in consultation with the executive office of economic development and the department of public health, may allow for exemptions to the prohibitions in sections 6D and 6E. (b) Applications for exemptions shall demonstrate that:…

Section 6G. No school in the commonwealth shall purchase for use in a primary or secondary classroom elemental mercury, mercury compounds or mercury-added instructional equipment and materials, except measuring devices and thermometers for which no adequate nonmercury substitute …

Section 6H. Every manufacturer of a mercury-added formulated product shall, upon a written request from a health care facility, disclose in writing the mercury content of any product used in its facility that contains more than 1 part per billion of mercury. The manufacturer shal…

Section 6I. (a) No person, household, business, school, healthcare facility or state or municipal government shall knowingly dispose of a mercury-added product in any manner other than by recycling, disposing as hazardous waste or using a method approved by the department. (b) Th…

Section 6J. (a) No person shall sell or offer to sell or distribute a mercury-added product in the commonwealth unless the manufacturer has created and filed with the department a convenient and accessible collection plan for mercury-added products at the end-of-life, including a…

Section 6K. (a) No person shall sell a mercury-added product unless the product is labeled by the manufacturer pursuant to this section. The label, constructed of materials that are sufficiently durable to remain legible for the useful life of the product, shall clearly inform th…

Section 6L. A solid waste collector shall refuse to collect the contents of a solid waste container that the collector knows or reasonable should know contains 1 or more mercury-added products unless such solid waste is collected for the purpose of being reused, recycled or prope…

Section 6M. The state procurement officer, the state university system and state agencies shall give preference to the purchase of equipment, supplies and other products that do not contain mercury unless there is no economically feasible non-mercury alternative that performs a s…

Section 6N. The department shall adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this chapter.

Section 7. The department, in consultation with the department of food and agriculture, shall establish a program to provide for recycling through composting of leaves and other organic matter. (a) The department shall be authorized to implement regional yard waste and leaf compo…

Section 8. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, or any rule or regulation, order, permit, or approval issued or adopted under the provisions of this chapter: (a) shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for no…