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Read. Follow. Verify.Idaho establishes new siting license requirements, criteria, and site review panels for commercial hazardous waste facilities
Last action · March 23, 2026: Reported Signed by Governor on March 20, 2026 Session Law Chapter 89 Effective: 07/01/2026
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What This Bill Does
Idaho House Bill 714 establishes a mandatory siting license process, minimum distance criteria, and local site review panels for commercial hazardous waste facilities, taking effect July 1, 2026. The legislation requires facility owners to obtain a siting license from the director of the Department of Environmental Quality prior to construction and prohibits local ordinances from completely banning hazardous waste facilities. Additionally, property owners granted a siting license approval may face legal action for property devaluation.
Property owners near proposed hazardous waste facilities gain a statutory right to sue for property devaluation within nine months of site license approval, while commercial facility developers must navigate a new 10-member review panel process and strict buffer distances from schools, hospitals, and water sources.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
commercial hazardous waste facility operators
Commercial hazardous waste facility operators must obtain a siting license, pay application fees, undergo site review panel evaluation, and comply with new minimum siting criteria and annual reporting requirements.
property owners near proposed facilities
Property owners adversely affected by an approved facility are granted the legal right to bring an action in district court for property devaluation compensation within nine months of approval.
hazardous waste generators
Generators are subject to revised annual reporting requirements, manifesting rules, and tracking provisions established by the department.
local governments
Cities and counties must appoint representatives to site review panels and are prohibited from enacting local ordinances that ban hazardous waste facilities.
Key Facts
- No person may commence construction or major modification of a commercial hazardous waste facility or on-site land disposal facility without a siting license issued by the director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
- Applications for a siting license require a sliding scale application fee not to exceed $7,500 based on review costs, site size, waste volume, and hydrogeologic characteristics.
- New hazardous waste facilities are prohibited from being sited where the seasonal high depth of groundwater is less than 100 feet below the lowest point of disposal or within 2,500 feet of surface water bodies.
- New disposal or incineration facilities cannot be sited within 3 miles of schools, airports, hospitals, churches, or population centers greater than 150 people, or within 5,000 feet of routinely occupied off-site residential structures.
Show all 10 facts
- A 10-member site review panel must be established for each siting license application, including state agency representatives, public members, and local city and county appointees.
- Local city or county ordinances, permit requirements, or other rules are prohibited from outright prohibiting the construction of a hazardous waste facility.
- Real property owners adversely affected by the approval of a facility siting license may bring an action in district court against the facility owner for property devaluation within nine months of approval.
- Commercial hazardous waste disposal facility operators must submit a written annual report to the department no later than 30 days after January 31 of each calendar year detailing wastes received from Idaho and other states.
- The director may issue a research, development, and demonstration permit for unpromulgated hazardous waste treatment technologies for up to 1 year, renewable up to 3 times.
- The act repeals Chapter 58, Title 39, Idaho Code, relating to hazardous waste facility siting, and takes effect on July 1, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is required before constructing a commercial hazardous waste facility in Idaho?
Can local cities or counties ban a hazardous waste facility using local ordinances?
What recourse do property owners have if a nearby hazardous waste facility devalues their property?
When does this new legislation take effect?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
17 actions- Mar 23, 2026EnrolledReported Signed by Governor on March 20, 2026 Session Law Chapter 89 Effective: 07/01/2026
- Mar 20, 2026Delivered to Governor at 4:32 p.m. on March 19, 2026
- Mar 19, 2026Returned Signed by the President; Ordered Transmitted to Governor
- Mar 19, 2026Signed by President; returned to House
- Mar 19, 2026Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
- Mar 18, 2026Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
Show 11 earlier actions
- Mar 18, 2026FloorReturned from Senate Passed; to JRA for Enrolling
- Mar 17, 2026FloorRead third time in full – PASSED - 34-0-1 AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Bjerke(Bjerke), Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Carlson, Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Galloway, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Lent, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Ricks, Ruchti, Semmelroth, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, Woller(Rabe), Woodward, Zito, Zuiderveld NAYS – None Absent and excused – Keyser Floor Sponsor - Bjerke(Bjerke) Title apvd - to House
- Mar 16, 2026Read second time; filed for Third Reading
- Mar 13, 2026Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
- Mar 6, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time; referred to: Health & Welfare
- Mar 6, 2026FloorReceived from the House passed; filed for first reading
- Mar 5, 2026FloorRead Third Time in Full – PASSED - 68-0-2 AYES – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Hall(Stone), Handy, Harris, Hawkins, Haws, Healey, Hill, Holtzclaw, Hostetler, Leavitt, Manwaring, Marmon, Mathias, McCann, Mendive, Mickelsen(Athay), Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pickett, Pohanka, Price, Rasor, Raybould, Raymond, Redman, Rubel, Sauter, Scott, Shepherd, Shirts, Skaug, Tanner(13), Tanner(14), Thompson, Vander Woude, Veile, Weber, Wheeler, Wisniewski, Mr. Speaker NAYS – None Absent – Erickson, Green Floor Sponsor - Vander Woude Title apvd - to Senate
- Mar 4, 2026Read second time; Filed for Third Reading
- Mar 3, 2026Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
- Feb 18, 2026CommitteeReported Printed and Referred to Environment, Energy & Technology
- Feb 17, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift to State-Level Siting Oversight
The legislation repeals previous siting provisions and centralizes review through state-mandated site review panels while explicitly overriding local prohibitions.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.idaho.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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