I. No person shall construct, operate, or initiate closure of a public or private facility without first obtaining a permit from the department. However, no permit shall be required for hauling or storing manure, if used as fertilizer. I-a. Persons maintaining or operating a motor vehicle salvage facility may elect to maintain and operate the facility under the provisions of the general permit established under RSA 149-M:59 instead of obtaining a standard permit under this section. Whichever permit is obtained under this chapter shall be in addition to a local license when required by RSA 236:111 through RSA 236:129. I-b. Persons operating a motor vehicle crusher, whether mobile or stationary, may elect to operate the facility under the provisions of the general permit established pursuant to RSA 149-M:60 instead of obtaining a standard permit under this section. Whichever permit is obtained under this chapter shall be in addition to a local license when required by RSA 236:111 through RSA 236:129. II. It shall be unlawful to transport solid waste to, or to dispose of solid waste at, any facility other than an approved facility. III. (a) Applications for permits shall be upon such forms and shall include such information as the department requires by rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7. The application information shall include, but not be limited to, a performance history of the applicant and of its owners, officers, directors, partners, members, or managers relative to the operation, financial security, and ownership of all facilities owned or operated by such persons. The applicant shall also demonstrate that the proposed facility provides a substantial public benefit pursuant to RSA 149-M:11. (b)(1) The applicant and all persons and entities set forth in subparagraph (b)(2) seeking a permit, permit modification, or permit transfer under this chapter shall be subject to a criminal records check consisting of a New Hampshire criminal records check and a fingerprint-based criminal record check utilizing national crime information databases, as set forth in subparagraphs (b)(3) through (b)(6). The department may make rules under RSA 541-A exempting certain types of permit applications from the performance history and criminal records check requirements of this section. (2) In this paragraph: (A) "Owner" means each owner or part owner of a privately held corporation. (B) "Officer" means those persons described in a corporation's bylaws or articles of incorporation or elected or appointed by the board of directors to manage the daily operations of a corporation, such as a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, secretary, treasurer, president, and vice president. "Officer" includes those persons described within RSA 293-A:8.40. (C) "Director" means a person appointed or elected to sit on a governing board of a corporation. "Director" includes trustees, managers, and governors and those persons described within RSA 293-A:8.01 through RSA 293-A:8.11. (D) "Partner" means one of 2 or more persons carrying on as co-owners of a business for profit. "Partner" includes, but is not limited to, a limited or general partner of a partnership, professional association, or foreign partnership or such partners as set forth in title XXVIII. (E) "Member" means a person who has been admitted to a limited liability company as a member in accordance with RSA 304-C or in accordance with the laws of the state or foreign country or jurisdiction under which the limited liability company is organized. "Member" includes each member of a limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, or professional limited liability company as set forth in RSA 304-C and RSA 304-D. (F) "Manager" means a person who is named or designated as a manager of a limited liability company in an operating agreement. "Manager" includes each manager of a limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, or professional limited liability company as set forth in RSA 304-C and RSA 304-D. (G) "Department" means the department of environmental services. (3) Except for governmental entities and municipalities, the persons subject to the criminal records checks pursuant to subparagraph (b)(1) above are as follows: (A) The applicant. (B) If the applicant is an individual(s), each individual. (C) If the applicant is a publicly traded corporation, each officer and director. (D) If the applicant is a privately held corporation, each owner, officer, and director. (E) If the applicant is a general or limited partnership, each partner. (F) If the applicant is a limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, or professional limited liability company, each manager and member. (G) If the permit sought is for the transfer of a permit to a new person or a change in ownership of the current permit holder pursuant to RSA 149-M:9, XII and rules adopted by the department under RSA 541-A, then the transferee applicant and all persons related to the transferee applicant as set forth in subparagraph (b)(3). (4) All persons set forth in subparagraph (b)(3) shall submit to the department a New Hampshire department of safety, division of state police, criminal history records release authorization form, as provided by the division of state police, which authorizes the division of state police to conduct a criminal history records check through its state records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to release to the department, for the purposes of this section, a report of the criminal history and record information, including confidential criminal history record information, of the applicant and all persons set forth in subparagraph (b)(3). The release form shall name the assistant director of the department of environmental services waste management division and the administrator of the department of environmental services, solid waste management bureau as authorized recipients and shall specify any payment required by the division of state police. (5) All persons set forth in subparagraph (b)(3) shall submit to the department, along with their criminal record release authorization form required in subparagraph (b)(4), a complete set of fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency or authorized employee of the department of safety. If the national crime information database is unavailable for any reason, the department may accept New Hampshire criminal records or police clearances from every city, town, or county where the person has lived during the past 5 years. (6) The department shall submit the criminal records release authorization forms and fingerprint forms to the department of safety, division of state police, which shall conduct a criminal history records check through its records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon completion of the records check, the division of state police shall release copies of the criminal history records to the assistant director of the department of environmental services waste management division and the administrator of the department of environmental services, solid waste management bureau. The department shall maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history record information received pursuant to this section. (7) The department may bill the applicant for any costs or fees associated with the performance history review and the criminal records check, including, but not limited to, any fee charged by the department of safety or the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the criminal records checks set forth in this paragraph. The department shall destroy all criminal history record information within 60 days after the department's decision on the application or upon the conclusion of any appeal of the department's decision, whichever is later. IV. Each facility seeking a permit shall submit evidence that the facility includes separate provisions for the collection, reclamation, and disposal of motor vehicle waste. V. As a condition for any permit, the department may require payment of a reasonable fee, set by rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7. Such funds shall be used by the department for the purposes of this chapter. [Paragraph V-a repealed by 2022, 199:2 effective as provided by 2022, 199:3.] V-a. The department shall not issue a permit for the construction of a new landfill, excluding the expansion of existing landfills, unless the department makes a positive determination that the permit application is consistent with the state's solid waste plan that has been updated consistent with the requirements of RSA 149-M:29. V-b. The department shall not issue an approval for a new landfill or a landfill expansion unless the application includes as part of the facility's proposed operating plan leachate management procedures that provide for safe and effective management of leachate throughout the life of the facility, including the post-closure period. The leachate management plan shall include, at minimum, a description of how leachate will be collected and stored on-site, if and how it will be treated on-site, how it will be transported off-site, the type of leachate disposal facility the applicant proposes to use, a statement of the projected frequency of leachate transports per week, and contingency plans for leachate disposal capacity constraints. Before issuing an operating approval for a new landfill or a landfill expansion, the permittee shall provide the department with documentation of contractual arrangements between the permittee and at least 2 leachate disposal facilities demonstrating that the permittee will be able to comply with the leachate disposal provisions of its operating plan. The permittee shall promptly (1) notify the department if its contractual arrangements with a leachate disposal facility are modified in a way that affects the permittee's ability to comply with its operating plan and (2) provide the department with documentation of any contractual arrangement with any substitute leachate disposal facility entered into after the landfill or landfill expansion becomes operational such that the department has documentation of at least 2 current arrangements throughout the life of the facility, including the post-closure period. VI. No person shall operate a public or private facility who is not certified by the department. VII. The issuance of a facility permit by the department shall not affect any obligation to obtain local approvals required under all applicable, lawful local ordinances, codes, and regulations not inconsistent with this chapter. Local land use regulation of facility location shall be presumed lawful if administered in good faith, but such presumption shall not be conclusive. VIII. The department shall act upon each permit application within the time periods specified in rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7. For permits requiring a public hearing under rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7, once the department determines that an application is complete, in no case, without prior written agreement regarding an extension with the applicant, shall the department take longer than 180 days to issue or deny the permit. For permits that do not require a public hearing under rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7, once the department determines that the application is complete, in no case, without the prior written agreement regarding an extension with the applicant, shall the department take longer than 120 days to issue or deny the permit. Prior to such action, the department shall provide notice of the application by publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the community and on the department's Internet website, and an opportunity for hearing to interested persons. The applicant shall notify abutters of the public hearing in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested. The requirement of public notice and hearing shall apply at the discretion of the department to facilities or activities that will have an insignificant effect on environmental quality as defined by rule under RSA 149-M:7. IX. The department may deny a permit application under this section to a person if any of the following applies: (a) The person fails to demonstrate sufficient reliability, expertise, integrity, and competence to operate a solid waste facility. (b) The person or any person defined in RSA 149-M:9, III(b) has been convicted of, or pled guilty or no contest to, a felony in any state or federal court during the 5 years before the date of the permit application. X. The department shall not issue a permit for a solid waste facility unless the facility meets the terms and conditions required in rules adopted by the commissioner. These terms and conditions include, but are not limited to, monitoring, contingency plans, closure, and evidence of financial responsibility in the amount set by the department after consultation with the commissioner of insurance. This amount shall be whatever is necessary to: (a) Protect the public health and welfare and the environment; and (b) Insure that appropriate measures will be taken to prevent present and future damage to the public health and safety or to the environment, in the event that the operations at the facility are abandoned, interrupted, or stopped. XI. All permits shall be continuous in duration, but may be terminated, suspended or revoked for cause as provided in this chapter. XII. No permit issued by the department under this section shall be transferred by the permittee to any other person without the prior written approval of the department. The following shall apply: (a) Applications for the transfer of permits shall be filed by the person to whom such permit is to be transferred upon such forms and shall include such information as the department requires by rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7. The applicant and all related persons as set forth in RSA 149-M:9, III(b) shall comply with the performance history review and criminal record provisions of RSA 149-M:9, III in all respects. The applicant shall also submit a statement that the proposed facility is consistent with the provisions of a district plan. (b) The applicant shall notify abutters of any application to transfer a permit under this section. The department shall receive written comments from abutters on such application for the period of 30 days following notification of the filing of the application. The department, at the discretion of the commissioner, shall hold a public hearing no later than 30 days prior to making any final decision on an application to transfer a permit under this section. Notice of such public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of local circulation within the region of the public or private solid waste facility at least 2 weeks prior to such public hearing. XIII. (a) No permit issued by the department to a town with a population of 5,000 persons or fewer shall require the town to clean up an inactive, municipally-owned, unlined landfill (inactive facility) if the town: (1) Monitors the inactive facility in accordance with requirements established in RSA 485-C and RSA 149-M and rules adopted by the department. (2) Continues to show, through monitoring devices, that the inactive facility is having no adverse impact, as defined in rules adopted by the department, on the environment. (3) Has obtained approval of a closure plan from the department by January 30 of the calendar year in which the facility is scheduled to close by the department. (b) A town which complies with the requirements of subparagraph (a) shall not lose grant funding for which the town is eligible under this chapter. (c) This paragraph shall not apply to those facilities governed under the terms of 40 C.F.R. part 258. XIV. The department shall not certify as a waste-derived product the wood component of construction and demolition debris, or any mixture of or derivation therefrom, to be combusted in any manner, except : (a) Methane gas collected from the decomposition of waste at a facility authorized pursuant to this chapter as a landfill for the disposal of solid waste may be certified as a waste-derived product for distribution and use as a fuel, provided that it meets market fuel standards; (b) As allowed under RSA 125-C:10-c, II(d). XV. The department may enter into a written agreement with the applicant for the department to retain, at the applicant's expense, an independent licensed professional engineer or hydrogeologist to assist the department in determining what information is necessary to render the application technically complete, assessing during the technical review of the application whether it meets the requirements for approval in this chapter and the rules adopted under RSA 149-M:7, and ensuring that the department processes the application in a timely manner as required by this section. The applicant's failure to enter into such an agreement may be grounds to deny the application.