A $29.5 Million Business Tax!
Proposed Landfill Regulations Would Harm Businesses with Taxes, Fees & Regulations

How does a 30 percent increase in trash disposal costs sound to your business? That's what could be in store if Senate Bill 1492 advances. Senate Bill 1492: The Solid Waste Management Act of 2007 will increase the cost of waste disposal in North Carolina through taxes, fees and unnecessary excessive regulation. The proposed landfill regulations equate to a serious business issue as landfills are an essential component of the infrastructure of our state's viable economy. Waste disposal capacity is an important piece of the critical infrastructure we need to keep North Carolina growing, attracting new businesses and improving the quality of life for all of our citizens.

North Carolina Needs Landfills

" The amount of trash generated per person continues to outpace population growth in North Carolina.
" Current landfills are projected to fill up within 18 years and we already export over one million tons of waste
  to other states.
" In 2005-06, waste disposal in North Carolina increased to a rate of 1.36 tons per person per year, up 5 percent from   
   the prior fiscal year and up 27 percent from the baseline set in 1991-92.
" The landfill industry is already heavily regulated. It takes at least 10 years to go through North Carolina's franchising 
   and permitting process to locate a new facility.

Regulators Want Businesses to Pay and Pay Some More

Senate Bill 1492 contains a variety of regulatory provisions on the waste management industry that increase costs substantially:

" Imposes an immediate $29.5 million annual tax on businesses.
" Imposes new fees that will be passed on to the business community.
" Creates new regulations that threaten existing landfills and make it difficult, if not impossible, to build new landfills.
" Creates a statewide bureaucracy that takes away local control over landfill siting.

Would Hurt Local Communities

The waste management industry provides not only waste disposal needs for the state, but also contributes significantly to the economic base. Landfills provide an essential service and are a valuable source of income for cities and counties, many of which have a limited ability to generate funding for other needs. Proposed landfill regulations will restrict local governments' rights to explore solid-waste management options that may improve economic development within their communities. A key illustration of this is the recent news of a recycling company abandoning plans to build a facility in the town of Navassa. Navassa Mayor Eulis Willis has publicly stated that the Brunswick County town needs the jobs and investments provided by the proposed landfill but state lawmakers are considering new regulations to restrict the industry's growth in the state.

Excessive Regulation Makes North Carolina Less Competitive

The Chamber supports sensible, economically-feasible regulations that strike the critical balance between economic prosperity and environmental protection. Senate Bill 1492 does not strike this balance.

Competitiveness is the major component of a healthy business community and it is an undeniable reality that excessively regulated industries impair a state's competitiveness. North Carolina is facing an immediate landfill capacity issue that must be addressed in order to ensure we have adequate facilities that provide for safe, affordable waste disposal. Unnecessary regulation only hinders these necessary actions.

The N.C. General Assembly needs to develop reasonable waste industry regulations, which are based on a solid cost-benefit analysis to strike the appropriate balance. Senate Bill 1492 does not provide any plan, vision or strategy for how solid waste will be disposed or otherwise handled into the future.

State regulators and lawmakers need to ensure that the waste industry is not burdened by excessive regulation when developing workable solutions to effectively deal with waste management and disposal. The North Carolina Chamber is working with waste industry representatives, state officials and legislators so that excessive regulation does not hit businesses with unreasonable increases that stand in the way of economic development and job creation.