North Carolina would drop its landfill ban on televisions and computers under legislation unveiled Wednesday.

Senate Bill 553 is the General Assembly's annual regulatory reform bill, and it would repeal the 9-year-old ban on throwing electronics in landfills and make a number of other changes to state code.

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The bill also includes a boost for Charlotte Motor Speedway, which would find it easier to get state money to clean up a landfill at its site.

In an effort to foster electronics recycling, current state law bans televisions, computers, monitors, printers, scanners, fax machines and similar devices from landfill disposal. Some Republican legislators have tried several times in recent years to do away with the ban but without success.

Sen. Andy Wells, R-Catawba, a bill sponsor, said Wednesday that the time has come. He listed a number of other electronic devices, including phones, tablets and video game systems, not subject to the ban and said televisions and computers are smaller now than when the ban passed in 2010.

Local governments with recycling programs made money on those efforts in the past, but they often lose money now, Wells said.

"The recycling market is cyclical," he said. "It is not always good."

This bill dips into several other code sections as well and would do the following:

  • Tweak state rules for sanitary landfills that have lived past their local approval. Current law allows them to stay open provided the owner "has complied" with the terms of that local approval. This bill changes "has complied" to "is in substantial compliance" and drops other language from the regulation.
    • Do away with a state construction rule requiring water fountains in businesses under 3,000 square feet. Wells said double fountain construction – with one tall drinking fountain and one short – can cost up to $4,000.
      • Sweeten the state's contribution to a closed landfill cleanup project at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Last year's state budget included up to $2 million for the project and required a 2:1 match from the racetrack. This would change the match to 1:1, decreasing what track owners would have to put in.
        • Require all of the state's occupational licensing boards to study online continuing education options instead of requiring in-person training. That study would be due by Dec. 1.

          The new bill language was released in the Senate Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources committee. Members discussed the measure, but won't take a committee vote on it until Thursday.