I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4382

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) to provide for the clean up of municipal waste landfill Superfund sites, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 1994

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and

Mr. GEJDENSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly

to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Public Works and

Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) to provide for the clean up of municipal waste landfill

Superfund sites, 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 SECTION 1. STATE PROGRAMS FOR CLEAN UP OF MUNICI4 PAL WASTE LANDFILL SUPERFUND SITES.

5 (a) STATE PROGRAMS.—(1) The Comprehensive En6 vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of
2

•HR 4382 IH

1 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) is amended by adding at

2 the end of title I the following new section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 127. MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILL SITES.

4 ‘‘(a) STATE PROGRAMS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State may develop

6 and submit to the Administrator of the Environ7 mental Protection Agency a State program under

8 which the State will remediate, in accordance with

9 this section, qualified municipal waste landfills.

10 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis11 trator shall require that State programs under this

12 section be submitted at such time, in such form, and

13 in such manner as the Administrator deems appro14 priate. Not later than 180 days after receipt of a

15 State program, the Administrator shall approve or

16 disapprove the program. The Administrator shall ap17 prove the program if the Administrator determines

18 that the program provides for the remediation of

19 qualified municipal waste landfills in accordance

20 with the provisions of subsection (b). Upon approval

21 of such program, the provisions of this title (other

22 than this section and section 101) shall not apply to

23 any release or threatened release at any qualified

24 municipal waste landfill which is covered by such

25 program. If the program is disapproved, the Admin-
3

•HR 4382 IH

1 istrator shall inform the State of the reasons for the

2 disapproval and permit the State to correct and re3 submit the program for approval.

4 ‘‘(b) REMEDIATION.—The President shall promul5 gate, after opportunity for notice and comment, regula6 tions governing response action under this section. Such

7 regulations shall provide for a presumptive remedy to pro8 tect public health based on streamlined site characteriza9 tion using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Model

10 Municipal Landfill Remedial Investigation and Feasibility

11 Study Guidance and for closure of the site consistent with

12 subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Such presump13 tive remedy shall include each of the following:

14 ‘‘(1) Waste consolidation where feasible if mul15 tiple discrete disposal sites can be more economically

16 contained in one unit.

17 ‘‘(2) Final cover, including a barrier layer with

a permeability equal to 1 x 105 18 cm per second or a

19 flexible membrane liner of at least 30mm thickness,

20 and properly maintained vegetative cover. Upon

21 demonstration, existing caps providing comparable

22 control may be used or upgraded as needed.

23 ‘‘(3) Landfill gas control consistent with sub24 title D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and where
4

•HR 4382 IH

1 necessary passive gas controls unless gas volumes

2 and composition require active collection.

3 ‘‘(4) Surface water controls.

4 ‘‘(5) Control of leachate where feasible and nec5 essary given the landfill’s design and as required by

6 its contact with ground water.

7 ‘‘(6) Ground water monitoring as required by

8 subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

9 ‘‘(7) Where ground water has been impacted by

10 the site, assurance of no migration of contamination

11 beyond the facility boundary or, if appropriate,

12 treatment at point of withdrawal.

13 ‘‘(8) Institutional controls to prevent future ex14 posure to waste, including, where appropriate and

15 consistent with local zoning authority, prohibitions

16 on the use of private wells on site or on adjacent

17 properties; creation of buffer zones; use of zoning to

18 prevent future land uses which would disturb the

19 site’s final cover. To the maximum extent feasible

20 and as authorized by the local land control author21 ity, beneficial uses consistent with maintenance of

22 proper closure should be employed (e.g., use as park23 land, conservation district, active waste management

24 facility, limited access industrial activity, roadway).
5

•HR 4382 IH

1 Residential use is not permitted at sites employing

2 presumptive remedies.

3 ‘‘(9) Site security to prevent access inconsistent

4 with closure requirements.

5 ‘‘(10) A post-closure care plan that ensures the

6 maintenance and stability of containment and insti7 tutional control measures for so long as each meas8 ure is necessary to assure the integrity of the rem9 edy.

10 If the President has reason to believe, based on site-spe11 cific risk factors such as records of disposal of significant

12 quantities of hazardous waste, that the presumptive rem13 edy will not protect human health and the environment,

14 he shall require additional protections, including but not

15 limited to, removal of drums or other discrete, accessible

16 areas of high concentration waste where practicable.

17 ‘‘(c) REMEDIATION COSTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) REIMBURSEMENT FROM SUPERFUND.—

19 The President shall reimburse each State with an

20 approved municipal waste landfill remediation pro21 gram for all costs incurred by the State for the re22 mediation, in accordance with subsection (b), of haz23 ardous substances, pollutants and contaminants at

24 one qualified municipal waste landfill selected by

25 that State in each year which begins after the enact-
6

•HR 4382 IH

1 ment of this section. The President shall use funds

2 in the Hazardous Substance Superfund, up to an

3 amount not exceeding $2,500,000,000, for purposes

4 of providing such reimbursement. Reimbursement

5 shall be provided for costs incurred with respect to

6 facilities which have a higher public health risk be7 fore reimbursement is provided for costs incurred for

8 facilities having a lower health risk. No reimburse9 ment shall be provided under this section for any

10 transaction costs or other related costs.

11 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Reimbursement under

12 paragraph (1) shall be provided for any remediation

13 costs incurred after the date of approval of a State

14 program under this section if the remediation is in

15 accordance with such program.

16 ‘‘(3) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.—(A) If remedi17 ation commenced before approval of a program

18 under this section and was not completed before

19 January 1, 1994, the President shall reimburse each

20 person who incurred costs for such remediation for

21 such costs if the President determines that the re22 mediation is consistent with, or provides at least

23 equivalent protection for public health and the envi24 ronment as, the remediation specified in subsection

25 (b).
7

•HR 4382 IH

1 ‘‘(B) The Administrator may not reimburse any

2 State or other person for costs incurred for remedi3 ation which was completed before January 1, 1994.

4 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY EXEMPTION.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State has an approved

6 remediation program which covers qualified munici7 pal waste landfills, no person who is otherwise liable

8 under this Act or under any other Federal law with

9 respect to any release or threatened release of a haz10 ardous substance or pollutant or contaminant from

11 any qualified such landfill shall be subject to liability

12 to any other person under this Act or any such other

13 law for injuries, costs, damages, expenses, or other

14 liability (including claims for indemnification or con15 tribution and claims by third parties for death, per16 sonal injury, illness or loss of or damage to property

17 or economic loss) that results from such release or

18 threatened release.

19 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—(A) The exemption under

20 this subsection shall not apply in the case of any

21 landfill at which the remediation was completed be22 fore January 1, 1994.

23 ‘‘(B) The exemption under this subsection shall

24 not apply to any person who violated any Federal,

25 State, or local law relating to the generation,
8

•HR 4382 IH

1 transporation, or disposal of any solid waste which

2 is present at the facility concerned. Any such person

3 shall be liable, in the same manner as provided in

4 section 107, to the State for any costs incurred by

5 the State pursuant to the State program under this

6 section; and such person shall be liable to the Ad7 ministrator in the same manner for any such costs

8 for which the Administrator has reimbursed the

9 State under this section.

10 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF MUNICIPAL WASTE LAND11 FILLS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified

12 municipal waste landfill’ means a landfill listed on the Na13 tional Priorities List as of the date of enactment of this

14 section which is designated by the Administrator as—

15 ‘‘(1) a site owned by a municipality or county,

16 or

17 ‘‘(2) a privately-owned site which has a record

18 of receiving municipal waste.

19 The Administrator shall publish a list of such sites within

20 30 days after the enactment of this section.’’.

21 (2) The table of contents for title I of such Act is

22 amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 127. Municipal waste landfills.’’.

23 (b) USES OF SUPERFUND.—Section 111(a) of the

24 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

25 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9611(a)) is amended
9

•HR 4382 IH

1 by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new para2 graph:

3 ‘‘(7) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS FOR REMEDI4 ATION OF MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILLS.—Payment

5 of not to exceed $2,500,000,000 for the costs of re6 mediation of municipal waste landfills in accordance

7 with section 127.’’.

Æ