By North Country Alliance for Balanced Change
LITTLETON – The New Hampshire House today passed a bi-partisan bill HB177 establishing a 2-mile buffer around NH State Parks to protect them from landfill development and proven odor, noise, groundwater and air pollution which accompany them.
In a bipartisan vote of 171 for and 187 against, the House voted not to accept the House Environment and Agriculture Committee recommendation of inexpedient to legislate for HB 177.
The House went on to approve the measure 197-159 with amendment in a motion by Rep. Andrew Bouldin, D-Manchester.
“NCABC expected the vote on HB 177 to be close but we were never discouraged because we knew that it is a very good bill– it’s simple, it solves a problem that needs a legislative fix, it doesn’t trample on anyone’s rights, and it doesn’t cost NH taxpayers a cent,” NCABC President Eliot Wessler said following the vote.
“We are truly grateful to the sponsors of the bill and all of our supporters in the House, who fought very hard, especially after it was voted Inexpedient to Legislate in the House Environment and Agriculture Committee,” he added. “And we are grateful to a veritable army of NH voters who wrote letters, made calls, sent texts, and discussed the bill with House members for hours– they worked so hard to make this happen.”
North Country Alliance for Balanced Change initiated a letter-writing campaign to House lawmakers urging passage of HB 177 in association with grassroots groups such as Community Action Works and Save Forest Lake. Lawmakers reported receiving hundreds of letters and email messages before today’s vote.
“We look forward to the bill being taken up in the NH Senate, and are thrilled that we have committed sponsors and bipartisan support there,” Wessler said. “NCABC and the other grassroots organizations that support this bill will work just as hard to see that it passes in the Senate and our hope that the governor will enthusiastically sign the bill for enactment.”
NCABC thanks the bill’s sponsors: Rep. Timothy Egan (D-Sugar Hill), Rep. Edith Tucker (D-Randolph), Rep. Larry Laflamme (D-Berlin), Rep. William Hatch, (D-Gorham), Rep. Dennis Thompson (R-Stewartstown).
HB 177 was also supported by the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, the NH Association of Conservation Commissions, NH Lakes and Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust along with other state conservation groups.
HB 177 is sponsored in the state Senate by Sen. Erin Hennessey (R-Littleton).
NCABC was formed in 2008 and works to advance initiatives and policies that balance the natural attributes and economic interests of Coos and northern Grafton counties. For more information about the organization, visit northcountryabc.net or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
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