I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 291

To amend the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to improve procedures

for the implementation of State compacts providing for the establishment

and operation of regional disposal facilities for municipal and industrial

solid waste, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. KANJORSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to

improve procedures for the implementation of State compacts providing for the establishment and operation of

regional disposal facilities for municipal and industrial

solid waste, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Solid Waste Compact Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 102. AMENDMENT TO THE RESOURCE CONSERVATION

2 AND RECOVERY ACT.

3 The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42

4 U.S.C. 6903) is amended by inserting at the end of section

5 6903 the following:

6 ‘‘(40) COMPACT—The term ‘compact’ means a com7 pact entered into by two or more States pursuant to this

8 act.

9 ‘‘(41) COMPACT COMMISSION—The term ‘compact

10 commission’ means the regional commission, committee,

11 or board established in a compact to administer such com12 pact.

13 ‘‘(42) COMPACT REGION—The term ‘compact region’

14 means the area consisting of all States that are members

15 of the compact.

16 ‘‘(43) SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL—The term ‘solid

17 waste disposal’ means the recycling, incinerating,

18 landfilling, or burning of solid waste pursuant to the re19 quirements established by the Environmental Protection

20 Agency, or any State environmental agency in which a

21 compact is physically located.

22 ‘‘(44) NON-SITED COMPACT REGION—The term

23 ‘non-sited compact region’ means any compact region that

24 is not a sited compact region.

25 ‘‘(45) REGIONAL DISPOSAL FACILITY—The term ‘re26 gional disposal facility’ means a non-Federal municipal or
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1 solid waste disposal facility in operation January 1, 1993,

2 or subsequently established and operated under a com3 pact.

4 ‘‘(46) SOLID WASTE—The term ‘solid waste’ pertains

5 to any nonhazardous waste generated by a municipality,

6 industry, or community.

7 ‘‘(47) STATE—The term ‘State’ means any State of

8 the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Com9 monwealth of Puerto Rico.’’.

10 SEC. 103. The Resource Conservation and Recovery

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 6904) is amended by striking subsections

12 (a) and (b) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

13 ‘‘(a) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each State shall be

14 responsible for providing, either by itself or in cooperation

15 with other states, a plan to adequately dispose of all solid

16 waste that is generated within their state. Within 12

17 months of the enactment of the Solid Waste Compact Act

18 of 1995 each State shall submit their plan to the United

19 States Environmental Protection Agency for approval.

20 ‘‘(b) REGIONAL COMPACTS FOR SOLID WASTE DIS21 POSAL.—(1) IN GENERAL.—

22 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL POLICY.—It is the policy of the

23 Federal Government that the responsibilities of the

24 States under section (a) for the disposal of solid
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1 waste can be most safely and effectively managed on

2 a regional basis.

3 ‘‘(B) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—To carry out

4 the policy set forth in paragraph (A) the States may

5 enter into such compacts as may be necessary to

6 provide for the establishment and operation of re7 gional disposal facilities for solid waste.

8 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY TO FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—

9 ‘‘(A) EFFECT OF COMPACTS ON FEDERAL

10 LAW.—Nothing contained in this Act or any compact

11 may be construed to confer any new authority on

12 any compact commission or State—

13 ‘‘(i) to regulate the packaging, generation,

14 treatment, storage, disposal, or transportation

15 of solid waste in a manner incompatible with

16 the regulations of the Environmental Protection

17 Agency or inconsistent with the Department of

18 Transportation;

19 ‘‘(ii) to regulate health, safety, or environ20 mental hazards from source or byproduct mate21 rial.

22 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as ex23 pressly provided in this Act, nothing contained in

24 this act or any compact may be construed to limit

25 the applicability of any Federal law or to diminish
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1 or to otherwise impair the jurisdiction of any action

2 taken pursuant to any compact.

3 ‘‘(C) STATE AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Except

4 as expressly provided in this Act, nothing contained

5 in this Act expands, diminishes, or otherwise affects

6 State law.

7 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTED USE OF REGIONAL SOLID WASTE

8 DISPOSAL FACILITIES.—Any authority in a compact to re9 strict the use of regional solid waste disposal facilities

10 under the compact to the disposal of solid waste generated

11 within the compact region shall not take effect before each

12 of the following occurrs:

13 ‘‘(1) January 1, 1997; and

14 ‘‘(2) the Congress by law consents to the com15 pact.

16 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—Each compact shall:

17 Provide, That every 5 years after the compact has taken

18 effect the Congress may by law withdraw its consent.

19 ‘‘(c) ALTERNATIVE SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL

20 METHODS.—

21 ‘‘(1) Not later than 12 months after the date

22 of enactment of the Solid Waste Compact Act of

23 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency shall, in

24 consultation with the States and other interested

25 persons, identify potential alternative management
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1 programs for the control of solid waste, and estab2 lish and publish technical guidance regarding the

3 implementation of such programs.

4 ‘‘(2) Not later than 24 months after the date

5 of the enactment of the Solid Waste Compact Act of

6 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency shall, in

7 consultation with the States and other interested

8 persons, identify and publish all relevant technical

9 information regarding the technologies pursuant to

10 subsection (1) that a State or compact must provide

11 to the Agency in order to pursue such programs, to12 gether with the requirements that such facilities

13 must meet, in the judgment of the Agency, if pur14 sued as an alternative to traditional solid waste

15 management.’’.

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