Does your state license waste haulers? All 51 jurisdictions, surveyed
Most states do not run a general waste-hauler license. Your county or your city does. That is the headline this survey supports, and the rows below say exactly how confident we are about each one.
Informational only. Informational only, not legal advice. State hauling rules change between legislative sessions, and this survey found no readable source for most states. The binding authority is the agency named on this page. Confirm your own position with them before you haul.
Reviewed August 2026
Verify with the agency named on your state’s row below.
What the survey found
51 jurisdictions surveyed. A state-level requirement confirmed from a readable source in 4. A state-level requirement expressly absent in 1. Partial or stream-specific answers in 8. The remaining 38 carry a verify marker: we found no readable source answering the question, and the agency named is where to start, not a claim that it runs such a license.
- 4 confirmed state requirement
- 1 confirmed absence
- 8 partial or stream-specific
- 38 we could not confirm
That distribution is the finding, not a shortfall in it. Placement is municipal almost everywhere, and so is hauler licensing in most of the country. A survey that returned 51 confident answers about state hauling licences would be describing a country that does not exist.
One caution worth stating plainly. Hazardous waste, medical waste, septage, waste tires and sludge are regulated far more widely than ordinary construction and demolition debris. Where a state below names one of those programs, it is named as the narrow thing it is, because reading a medical-waste transporter rule as a roll-off requirement is the commonest way to end up buying a license you do not need.
The four states with a confirmed requirement
Each of these four has a page of its own, because in each we could read a source that states the requirement and describes what it takes to satisfy it.
- NJNew JerseyYes, and it is the strictest regime this survey located. A company transporting waste generated by others needs a state waste transporter license and a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or an exemption from it, then registration and a state decal for every piece of equipment used to transport waste.Read the requirement →
- NYNew YorkYes. Anyone transporting regulated waste generated or disposed of in the state needs authorization from the state environmental agency, and construction and demolition debris including all categories of fill materials sits at the registration tier — the least restrictive one. New York City layers its own transporter permit on top.Read the requirement →
- PAPennsylvaniaYes. A waste transporter authorization is required for vehicles hauling municipal or residual waste to Pennsylvania processing or disposal facilities above stated weight thresholds, with a sticker for the truck and a sticker for the trailer plus a cab card. Facilities may not accept waste from unauthorized or expired vehicles.Read the requirement →
- WAWashingtonYes, and it is an economic-regulation regime rather than an environmental one. A certificate of public convenience and necessity from the state utilities commission is required before operating as a solid waste collection company. Whether C&D and recyclables are exempt was not confirmed, and that question matters a great deal for a roll-off operator.Read the requirement →
The one state that expressly requires nothing
A confirmed no is as useful as a confirmed yes, and rarer. It tells an operator that the state is not the gate, so the compliance work is municipal and federal instead. It does not tell them there is nothing to do.
Partial and stream-specific answers
In these eight we found something, but not a general license for ordinary waste. Usually that something is a narrower stream, and in several the answer is explicitly that the county or the city is the licensing layer. None of them has a page of its own, because a page needs more than a partial to be worth a reader’s click.
- Arizona
- No state license surfaced for ordinary solid waste. The state environmental agency licenses septage and biohazardous medical waste transporters, which are narrower streams than C&D. Hauler licensing for ordinary waste appears to be a county matter. Ask Arizona Department of Environmental Quality; county environmental health.
- California
- No state hauler license surfaced. Authority sits with city and county franchises, plus jurisdiction-level organic waste obligations administered through the state recycling agency. In practice the local franchise is the gate. Ask CalRecycle and the local jurisdiction.
- Colorado
- No general state hauler license surfaced. The state health and environment department permits or registers specific streams such as waste tire haulers; ordinary hauler licensing appears to be a county matter. Ask Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Solid Waste; your county.
- Connecticut
- A state permit exists for regulated and hazardous waste under the general statutes. Whether ordinary construction and demolition debris falls inside it was not confirmed. Ask Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Waste Engineering and Enforcement.
- Florida
- No state hauler license surfaced for ordinary solid waste. The state environmental agency registers hazardous and universal-waste transporters and waste-tire collectors. Ordinary hauling is a county and city matter, and two Florida metros in our permit survey prove it. Ask Florida Department of Environmental Protection; your county.
- Illinois
- No transportation permit surfaced for general municipal solid waste or C&D. The state environmental agency’s transportation permits cover special waste including hazardous waste, potentially infectious medical waste, and used tires. That is a confirmed negative for the ordinary case, as far as the permit categories go. Ask Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, [email protected].
- Maryland
- Unconfirmed for ordinary solid waste. The state environment department certifies special medical waste haulers and their vehicles, which is a narrower stream. Hauler licensing for ordinary waste was found at county level. Ask Maryland Department of the Environment; your county environmental protection office.
- Texas
- No general municipal solid waste hauler registration surfaced. The state environmental agency registers medical waste transporters and sludge transporters, the latter covering sewage sludge and biosolids, water treatment residuals, domestic septage, chemical toilet waste, and grit trap and grease trap waste. None of those is ordinary C&D. Ask Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Waste Permits or Occupational Licensing.
All 51 jurisdictions
A verify marker means we found no readable source answering the question for that state. The agency named is where to start, not a claim that it administers such a license.
| Jurisdiction | State-level licence for ordinary waste or C&D? | Agency to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Alabama Department of Environmental Management |
| Alaska | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation |
| Arizona | Partial or stream-specificNo state license surfaced for ordinary solid waste. The state environmental agency licenses septage and biohazardous medical waste transporters, which are narrower streams than C&D. Hauler licensing for ordinary waste appears to be a county matter. | Arizona Department of Environmental Quality; county environmental health |
| Arkansas | Verify with the agencyWe could not confirm a state hauler license. The state does run solid waste facility and operator licensing, which is a different question from licensing the truck that hauls to them. | Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Solid Waste |
| California | Partial or stream-specificNo state hauler license surfaced. Authority sits with city and county franchises, plus jurisdiction-level organic waste obligations administered through the state recycling agency. In practice the local franchise is the gate. | CalRecycle and the local jurisdiction |
| Colorado | Partial or stream-specificNo general state hauler license surfaced. The state health and environment department permits or registers specific streams such as waste tire haulers; ordinary hauler licensing appears to be a county matter. | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Solid Waste; your county |
| Connecticut | Partial or stream-specificA state permit exists for regulated and hazardous waste under the general statutes. Whether ordinary construction and demolition debris falls inside it was not confirmed. | Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Waste Engineering and Enforcement |
| Delaware | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Solid and Hazardous Waste |
| District of Columbia | Verify with the agencyWe could not confirm a District-level hauler license for ordinary solid waste. The District separately runs the public space occupancy layer that governs placing a container in the street. | DC Department of Public Works or Department of Energy and Environment |
| Florida | Partial or stream-specificNo state hauler license surfaced for ordinary solid waste. The state environmental agency registers hazardous and universal-waste transporters and waste-tire collectors. Ordinary hauling is a county and city matter, and two Florida metros in our permit survey prove it. | Florida Department of Environmental Protection; your county |
| Georgia | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Land Protection Branch |
| Hawaii | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Hawaii Department of Health, Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch |
| Idaho | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Idaho Department of Environmental Quality |
| Illinois | Partial or stream-specificNo transportation permit surfaced for general municipal solid waste or C&D. The state environmental agency’s transportation permits cover special waste including hazardous waste, potentially infectious medical waste, and used tires. That is a confirmed negative for the ordinary case, as far as the permit categories go. | Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, [email protected] |
| Indiana | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Office of Land Quality |
| Iowa | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Land Quality |
| Kansas | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Waste Management |
| Kentucky | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Kentucky Division of Waste Management |
| Louisiana | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Waste Permits |
| Maine | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Solid Waste |
| Maryland | Partial or stream-specificUnconfirmed for ordinary solid waste. The state environment department certifies special medical waste haulers and their vehicles, which is a narrower stream. Hauler licensing for ordinary waste was found at county level. | Maryland Department of the Environment; your county environmental protection office |
| Massachusetts | Verify with the agencyWe could not confirm a state license for ordinary solid waste. The state environmental agency publishes an industrial wastewater hauler permit used by local boards of health, which is a different stream. | Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection; your local board of health |
| Michigan | Expressly none at state levelExpressly none. The state environmental agency’s hauler requirements sheet states that the solid waste regulations do not require a license, permit or registration from the agency to haul solid waste, though other regulations still apply. The agency does register hazardous waste and liquid industrial by-product transporters. | Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, Materials Management |
| Minnesota | Verify with the agencyUnconfirmed at state level. Licensing was found at city and county level instead: Minneapolis licenses solid waste haulers, and its street permits are open only to applicants working with City-licensed haulers. | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; your city or county |
| Mississippi | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Solid Waste Policy |
| Missouri | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Solid Waste Management Program |
| Montana | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Waste Management |
| Nebraska | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, Waste Management |
| Nevada | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Sustainable Materials Management |
| New Hampshire | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Waste Management Division |
| New Jersey | State requirement confirmedYes, and it is the strictest regime this survey located. A company transporting waste generated by others needs a state waste transporter license and a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or an exemption from it, then registration and a state decal for every piece of equipment used to transport waste. | New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Vehicle Registration Unit |
| New Mexico | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | New Mexico Environment Department, Solid Waste Bureau |
| New York | State requirement confirmedYes. Anyone transporting regulated waste generated or disposed of in the state needs authorization from the state environmental agency, and construction and demolition debris including all categories of fill materials sits at the registration tier — the least restrictive one. New York City layers its own transporter permit on top. | New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, (518) 402-8792 |
| North Carolina | Verify with the agencyUnconfirmed for ordinary solid waste. The state does regulate hazardous waste transporters under the federal rules, which is a narrower stream than C&D. | North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Waste Management |
| North Dakota | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, Waste Management |
| Ohio | Verify with the agencyUnconfirmed. The state environmental agency licenses and registers construction and demolition FACILITIES; a transporter license for ordinary solid waste was not confirmed. Cleveland licenses private waste haulers at city level. | Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Materials and Waste Management, (614) 644-2621 |
| Oklahoma | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Land Protection |
| Oregon | Verify with the agencyUnconfirmed at state level. Collection franchises in Oregon are typically local, which is where the gate is most likely to be. | Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Materials Management; your city or county |
| Pennsylvania | State requirement confirmedYes. A waste transporter authorization is required for vehicles hauling municipal or residual waste to Pennsylvania processing or disposal facilities above stated weight thresholds, with a sticker for the truck and a sticker for the trailer plus a cab card. Facilities may not accept waste from unauthorized or expired vehicles. | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Waste Transportation Safety Program |
| Rhode Island | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Office of Land Revitalization and Sustainable Materials Management |
| South Carolina | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, Bureau of Land and Waste Management |
| South Dakota | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Waste Management |
| Tennessee | Verify with the agencyUnconfirmed at state level. Licensing was found locally instead: Metropolitan Nashville requires a private collection permit of any business hauling waste in mobile containers on public roads in the county. | Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Solid Waste Management |
| Texas | Partial or stream-specificNo general municipal solid waste hauler registration surfaced. The state environmental agency registers medical waste transporters and sludge transporters, the latter covering sewage sludge and biosolids, water treatment residuals, domestic septage, chemical toilet waste, and grit trap and grease trap waste. None of those is ordinary C&D. | Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Waste Permits or Occupational Licensing |
| Utah | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control |
| Vermont | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Waste Management and Prevention |
| Virginia | Verify with the agencyUnconfirmed. The state runs solid waste permitting for facilities (municipal solid waste, C&D and industrial landfills), but a transporter registration was not confirmed. | Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Waste Permitting |
| Washington | State requirement confirmedYes, and it is an economic-regulation regime rather than an environmental one. A certificate of public convenience and necessity from the state utilities commission is required before operating as a solid waste collection company. Whether C&D and recyclables are exempt was not confirmed, and that question matters a great deal for a roll-off operator. | Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, 360-664-1222 |
| West Virginia | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water and Waste Management |
| Wisconsin | Verify with the agencyLicenses and approvals exist at state level for solid waste and recyclables haulers, but whether an ordinary C&D roll-off hauler needs one was not confirmed. The state publishes a hauling-requirements tool for the individualized answer. | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 1-888-936-7463 |
| Wyoming | Verify with the agencyWe found no readable source answering whether this state licenses a business that hauls ordinary solid waste or construction and demolition debris. The agency below is where to start. | Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Solid and Hazardous Waste Division |
Where to go next
Licensing decides whether you may haul. Placement decides whether you may leave the box, and the federal rulebook decides what the truck under it counts as.
The licence gets you on the road. The record is what settles the argument.
Whichever way your state answers, the disputes that cost an operator money are about the pull, not the paperwork: whether the box was swapped, when, and what was in it. SwapProof is being built to keep that record with the placement. It is not open yet — the waitlist is where you hear first.