Appeal of Regenesis Corp.

Summary

The New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed the revocation of Regenesis Corporation’s solid waste permit by the Department of Environmental Services Waste Management Council. The court held that substantial evidence supported findings that Regenesis officials provided false or misleading information during the permitting process and that permit revocation was not an unconstitutional or unsustainable sanction. The court also upheld the interpretation that the statutory felony-disclosure requirement applies to individuals holding the specified positions or interests at the time of the application.

Holdings

1. The hearing officer and council properly found that Regenesis officials provided DES with false or misleading information during the permitting process and that this provided good cause to revoke the solid waste permit.
2. Revocation of the solid waste permit was not an unconstitutionally excessive or disproportionate penalty, and the hearing officer's imposition of the statutorily authorized sanction was not an unsustainable exercise of discretion.
3. The court declined to vacate findings and rulings that Regenesis characterized as unnecessary because Regenesis cited no authority requiring such relief.
4. RSA 149-M:9's felony-conviction provision applies to persons who occupy the enumerated positions or hold the specified interests at the time of the permit application; it does not plainly extend to persons who previously held those positions or interests.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Waste Management Council properly affirmed revocation of Regenesis's solid waste permit based on false or misleading information submitted during the permitting process.
2. Whether revocation of the permit was an unconstitutionally excessive or disproportionate sanction violating substantive due process or the Takings Clause.
3. Whether findings or rulings allegedly unnecessary to the determination of the violations should be vacated and deprived of precedential or binding effect.
4. Whether RSA 149-M:9's felony-conviction certification requirement applies only to individuals who are current officers, directors, partners, or other enumerated persons at the time of the permit application.
5. Whether the intervenors' additional grounds for revocation required consideration.

Disposition

affirmed