People living close to hazardous waste warehouses will learn a lot more about the gunk next door under a bill passed 46-0 Thursday by the state Senate.

Lawmakers said they are rewriting rules for hazardous waste storehouses in an effort to head off another disaster like the Oct. 5 explosion of the EQ Industrial Services facility in Apex. Nobody died because of the explosion, but around 4,000 people were forced to evacuate. Few knew they lived close to a cache of hazardous waste.

Over the last few decades, hazardous waste warehouses have become neighbors to churches, day cares and homes. After the explosion in Apex, a task force appointed by Gov. Mike Easley suggested that the state do more to make these otherwise anonymous facilities safer and more conspicuous.

Many of those suggestions made it into the bill passed Thursday, including requirements to maintain 24-hour security and an off-site inventory of hazardous waste in case of disaster.

The bill also closes a loophole that allows hazardous waste storehouses to operate outside of state regulation if they keep waste for less than 10 days. Currently, state environmental regulators say they have no idea how many of those quick-turnaround depots exist but have indicated there may be many more than the 10 facilities currently permitted by the state.

"I think at the end of the day we'll be a lot safer in the areas that are near these hazardous waste facilities," said Rep. Jennifer Weiss, a Democrat from Cary who was one of the primary sponsors of the bill in the House.

Hazardous waste can still be stored close to residential neighborhoods, but those who do it could be watched far closer than their more isolated neighbors. State inspectors could come through more frequently under the bill, and neighbors would get reminders in the mail every couple of years that they are living a quarter-mile away from a hazardous waste stockpile.

Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly hailed the bill as an important move to protect the public.

"Obviously, we need that industry," he said. "But they need to be sited in locations that are appropriate."

The bill now heads back to the House, where members must approve changes made by senators before the bill can be forwarded to Easley for his signature.

EQ may not be around long enough in North Carolina to obey the new rules its warehouse explosion inspired. The Michigan-based outfit is now fighting state environmental regulators' efforts to terminate its hazardous waste storage permit and has been told by the Apex Town Council that it cannot rebuild its warehouse in town.