At an early stage of land development, fill is often transported to the construction site to bring an area to grade. The public becomes concerned when confronted with traffic and other disruptions from trucks carrying fill material such as soil, rock, stone and gravel, or certain construction and demolition debris such as brick, block and concrete. But for the developer and its lawyers, environmental considerations may loom larger.

At first blush, environmental requirements applicable to moving fill from one site to another would appear to depend on simple concepts. Persons relocating wastes must ordinarily comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act and its federal counterpart which regulate wastes “from cradle to grave.” Yet uncontaminated fill, often termed “clean fill,” is not subject to waste management requirements.