Upholding a lower court ruling, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court has determined that landfill operators must create a “harms and benefits” list when proposing new or expanded landfills, according to an article in The Clarion News newspaper. The test became mandatory for municipal solid waste landfills in 2000, the paper says.

The “harms and benefits” list must examine the impact a landfill project will have on surrounding communities as well as its environmental, social and economic benefits, the paper says.

“The Supreme Court's decision is a huge win for the people of Pennsylvania,” said Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Protection, to The Clarion News. “The harms-benefits test gives residents a voice in the permitting process and ensures their communities will garner benefits when they host landfills.”