I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2845

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow petitions to be submitted

to prevent certain waste facilities from being constructed in environmentally disadvantaged communities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1996

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow petitions

to be submitted to prevent certain waste facilities from

being constructed in environmentally disadvantaged communities.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Environmental Equal

5 Rights Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) A 1987 study by the United Church of

2 Christ found that the proportion of minorities in

3 communities with large commercial landfills or a

4 high number of commercial waste facilities was three

5 times greater than in communities without such fa6 cilities.

7 (2) The same United Church of Christ study

8 found that approximately 60 percent of African- and

9 Hispanic-Americans live in a community that has an

10 uncontrolled hazardous waste site.

11 (3) An Environmental Protection Agency report

12 released in 1992 found that racial minority and low13 income populations experience higher than average

14 exposures to selected air pollutants and hazardous

15 waste facilities.

16 (4) A 1983 analysis by the General Accounting

17 Office found that, in the southeastern United States,

18 three of the four commercial hazardous waste land19 fills were located in communities with more blacks

20 than whites, and the percentage of residents near

21 the sites with incomes below the poverty line ranged

22 from 26 percent to 42 percent.

23 (5) A University of Michigan study released in

24 1990 found that minorities were four times more

25 likely than whites to live within one mile of a com-
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1 mercial hazardous waste facility in the three-county

2 Detroit metropolitan area.

3 (6) A National Law Journal study found that

4 penalties imposed for pollution law violations in

5 areas predominantly populated by minorities were

6 dramatically lower than those imposed for violations

7 in largely white areas.

8 SEC. 3. PETITION RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY DIS9 ADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

10 (a) AMENDMENT TO SUBTITLE G.—Subtitle G of the

11 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6971 et seq.) is

12 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 7011. PETITION RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY

14 DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

15 ‘‘(a) RIGHT TO PETITION.—(1) Any individual resid16 ing in an environmentally disadvantaged community in

17 which a new facility for the management of solid waste

18 (including a new facility for the management of hazardous

19 waste) is proposed to be constructed may submit a petition

20 to the appropriate entity (described in paragraph (2)) to

21 prevent the proposed facility from being issued a permit

22 to be constructed or to operate in that community.

23 ‘‘(2) A petition under paragraph (1) shall be submit24 ted in accordance with the following subparagraphs:
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1 ‘‘(A) In the case of a facility for the manage2 ment of hazardous waste, the petition shall be sub3 mitted to the Administrator or, in the case of a

4 State with an authorized program under section

5 3006, to the State.

6 ‘‘(B) In the case of a facility for the manage7 ment of municipal solid waste, the petition shall be

8 submitted to the Administrator or, in appropriate

9 cases, as determined under regulations implementing

10 this section, to the State.

11 ‘‘(b) AGENCY HEARING.—(1) Within a reasonable pe12 riod of time after receipt of a petition under subsection

13 (a), the Administrator or the State shall hold a public

14 hearing on the petition. An administrative law judge of

15 the Environmental Protection Agency or an equivalent em16 ployee of the State, in the case of a petition submitted

17 to the State, shall preside at the hearing.

18 ‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the administrative law

19 judge or State employee shall approve the petition if, at

20 the hearing, the petitioner establishes that—

21 ‘‘(A) the proposed facility will be located in an

22 environmentally disadvantaged community; and

23 ‘‘(B) the proposed facility may adversely af24 fect—
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1 ‘‘(i) the human health of such community

2 or a portion of such community;

3 ‘‘(ii) the air, soil, water, or other elements

4 of the environment of such community or a por5 tion of such community; or

6 ‘‘(iii) the social and economic characteris7 tics of such community or a portion of such

8 community.

9 ‘‘(3) After the petitioner has satisfied the require10 ment of paragraph (2), the administrative law judge or

11 State employee shall deny the petition only if, at the hear12 ing, the proponent of the proposed facility establishes

13 that—

14 ‘‘(A) there is no alternative location within the

15 State for the proposed facility that poses fewer risks

16 to human health and the environment than the pro17 posed facility (according to standards for comparing

18 the degree of risk to human health and the environ19 ment promulgated in regulations by the Adminis20 trator for purposes of this section); and

21 ‘‘(B) the proposed facility—

22 ‘‘(i) will not release contaminants; or

23 ‘‘(ii) will not engage in any activity that is

24 likely to increase the cumulative impact of con-
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1 taminants on any residents of the environ2 mentally disadvantaged community.

3 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) The sub4 mission of a petition under subsection (a) stays the issu5 ance of a permit for the facility concerned until a decision

6 on the petition has been rendered under subsection (b).

7 ‘‘(2) If more than one petition relating to the same

8 facility is submitted, the petitions may be consolidated by

9 the appropriate official to promote the efficient resolution

10 and disposition of the petitions.

11 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO PUBLIC.—Within 30 days after re12 ceipt of a proposal for the construction of a new facility

13 for the management of solid waste (including a new facil14 ity for the management of hazardous waste) in an environ15 mentally disadvantaged community, and before issuance

16 of a permit for such facility, the Administrator or the

17 State in which the environmentally disadvantaged commu18 nity is located shall notify persons residing in the environ19 mentally disadvantaged community of their right to sub20 mit a petition under subsection (a). Such notice shall ap21 pear for a period of not less than five consecutive days

22 in a newspaper of general circulation that serves the envi23 ronmental disadvantaged community. The Administrator

24 or the State shall provide such notice in writing by first

25 class mail to any person who requests such information.
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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘environmentally disadvantaged

3 community’ means an area within 2 miles of the bor4 ders of a site on which a facility for the management

5 of solid waste (including a facility for the manage6 ment of hazardous waste) is proposed to be con7 structed, within the same State as the proposed fa8 cility, and in which both of the following conditions

9 are met, determined using the most recent data

10 from the Bureau of the Census:

11 ‘‘(A)(i) The percentage of the population

12 consisting of all individuals who are of African,

13 Hispanic, Asian, Native American Indian, Pa14 cific Island, or Native Alaskan ancestry is

15 greater than either—

16 ‘‘(I) the percentage of the population

17 in the State of all such individuals, or

18 ‘‘(II) the percentage of the population

19 in the United States of all such individ20 uals; or

21 ‘‘(ii)(I) twenty percent or more of the pop22 ulation consists of individuals who are living at

23 or below the poverty line, or

24 ‘‘(II) the area has a per capita income of

25 80 percent or less of the national average,
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1 for the most recent 12-month period for which

2 statistics are available.

3 ‘‘(B) The area contains one or more of the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(i) A facility for the management of

6 hazardous waste that is in operation.

7 ‘‘(ii) A facility for the management of

8 hazardous waste that is no longer in oper9 ation but that formerly accepted hazardous

10 waste.

11 ‘‘(iii) A site at which a release or

12 threatened release of hazardous substances

13 (within the meaning of the Comprehensive

14 Environmental Response, Compensation,

15 and Liability Act of 1980) has occurred.

16 ‘‘(iv) A facility for the management of

17 municipal solid waste.

18 ‘‘(v) A facility whose owner or opera19 tor is required to submit a toxic chemical

20 release form under section 313 of the

21 Emergency Planning and Community

22 Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C.

23 11023), if the releases reported on such

24 form are likely to adversely affect the

25 human health of the community or portion
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1 of the community, as determined by the

2 entity that would be appropriate under

3 subsection (a)(2) if a petition were filed

4 with respect to the facility.

5 ‘‘(2) The term ‘management’, when used in

6 connection with solid waste (including hazardous

7 waste), means treatment, storage, disposal, combus8 tion, recycling, or other handling of solid waste, but

9 does not include any activities that take place in a

10 materials recovery facility or any other facility that

11 prepares, transfers, or utilizes nonhazardous recycla12 ble materials for purposes other than energy recov13 ery.

14 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘release’ and ‘contaminant’ have

15 the meanings prescribed by the Administrator for

16 purposes of this section.’’.

17 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table

18 of contents for subtitle G of such Act is further amended

19 by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 7011. Petition relating to environmentally disadvantaged communities.’’

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