I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4779

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize local governments

and Governors to restrict receipt of out-of-State municipal solid waste,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 19, 1994

Mr. BOUCHER (for himself, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. BONIOR) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize local

governments and Governors to restrict receipt of outof-State municipal 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Government

5 Interstate Waste Control Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL OF

2 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis4 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding

5 at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 4011. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL

7 OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

8 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTION ON RECEIPT OF OUT-OF-STATE

9 WASTE.—(1) Subject to subsection (f), the owner or oper10 ator of a landfill, incinerator, or other waste disposal facil11 ity in a State may not receive for disposal or incineration

12 any municipal solid waste generated outside the State un13 less the owner or operator obtains authorization to receive

14 such waste from the affected local government. Any such

15 authorization shall be granted by formal action at a meet16 ing and shall be recorded in writing in the official record

17 of the meeting. The local government shall notify the Gov18 ernor, adjoining local governments, and any adjoining In19 dian tribes of any authorization granted under this sub20 section. Subject to subsection (c), only 1 authorization per

21 facility is required under this subsection.

22 ‘‘(2) Prior to formal action with respect to authoriza23 tion to receive municipal solid waste generated outside the

24 State, the affected local government shall require and

25 make readily available to the Governor, adjoining local

26 governments, any adjoining Indian tribes, and other inter-
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1 ested persons for inspection and copying the following in2 formation from the owner or operator of the facility seek3 ing such authorization:

4 ‘‘(A) A brief description of the planned facility,

5 including facility size, ultimate waste capacity, and

6 anticipated monthly and yearly waste volumes to be

7 handled.

8 ‘‘(B) A map of the facility site indicating loca9 tion in relation to the local road system and topog10 raphy and hydrological features. This map shall in11 dicate any buffer zones to be acquired by the owner

12 or operator as well as all facility units.

13 ‘‘(C) A description of the current environmental

14 characteristics of the site, including information re15 garding ground water resources, and discussion of

16 alterations that may be necessitated by or occur as

17 a result of the facility.

18 ‘‘(D) A description of appropriate environ19 mental controls to be utilized on the site, including

20 runon/runoff management, air pollution control de21 vices, source separation procedures, methane mon22 itoring and control, landfill covers, liners or leachate

23 collection systems, and monitoring programs. This

24 description also shall include a discussion of any

25 waste residuals generated by the facility, including
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1 leachate or ash, and the planned management of

2 such residuals.

3 ‘‘(E) A description of site access controls to be

4 employed, roadway improvements to be made by the

5 owner or operator, and an estimate of the timing

6 and extent of increased local truck traffic.

7 ‘‘(F) A list of all required Federal, State, and

8 local permits.

9 ‘‘(G) Estimates of the personnel requirements

10 of the facility, including information regarding the

11 probable skill and education levels required for jobs

12 at the facility. This information should distinguish

13 between employment statistics for pre- and post14 operational levels.

15 ‘‘(H) Such information as is required by State

16 law to be provided with respect to any violations of

17 environmental laws or regulations by the owner, the

18 operator, and their subsidiaries, the disposition of

19 enforcement proceedings taken with respect to such

20 violations, and corrective action and rehabilitation

21 measures taken as a result of such proceedings.

22 ‘‘(I) Such information as is required by State

23 law to be provided with respect to gifts and con24 tributions by the owner and operator.
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1 ‘‘(J) Such information as is required by State

2 law to be provided by the owner or operator with re3 spect to compliance by the owner or operator with

4 the State solid waste management plan in effect pur5 suant to section 4007.

6 ‘‘(3) Prior to formal action with respect to authoriza7 tion to receive municipal solid waste generated outside the

8 State, the affected local government shall notify the Gov9 ernor, adjoining local governments, and any adjoining In10 dian tribes, and publish notice of the action in a news11 paper of general circulation at least 30 days before the

12 hearing and again at least 15 days before the hearing, and

13 provide an opportunity for public comment, including at

14 least 1 public hearing, in accordance with State law.

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON APPLICABILITY.—

16 ‘‘(1) LANDFILLS IN OPERATION.—Subsection

17 (a) does not apply to an owner or operator of a land18 fill that—

19 ‘‘(A) on the date of the enactment of this

20 section, was in compliance with all applicable

21 State laws and regulations relating to design

22 and location standards, leachate collection,

23 ground water monitoring, and financial assur24 ance for closure and post-closure care and cor25 rective action; and
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1 ‘‘(B) during calendar year 1993, accepted,

2 in accordance with State law as in effect during

3 such calendar year, documented shipments of

4 municipal solid waste generated outside the

5 State, or, before the date of the enactment of

6 this section, entered into a host agreement or

7 otherwise obtained authorization to accept such

8 waste from the affected local government.

9 ‘‘(2) LANDFILLS UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR IN

10 PLANNING PROCESS.—(A) Subject to subparagraph

11 (B), subsection (a) does not apply to a person who—

12 ‘‘(i) is planning to own or operate a land13 fill; and

14 ‘‘(ii) before the date of the enactment of

15 this section, entered into a host agreement or

16 otherwise obtained authorization from the af17 fected local government to accept at such land18 fill municipal solid waste generated outside the

19 county or the State in which the landfill is

20 located.

21 ‘‘(B) The limitation on applicability contained

22 in subparagraph (A) shall terminate if the landfill,

23 before or after construction, fails to meet all State

24 laws and regulations relating to design and location

25 standards, leachate collection, ground water monitor-
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1 ing, or financial assurance for closure and post clo2 sure care and corrective action.

3 ‘‘(3) INCINERATORS AND OTHER FACILITIES.—

4 Subsection (a) does not apply to either of the follow5 ing:

6 ‘‘(A) An owner or operator of an inciner7 ator or other waste disposal facility (other than

8 a landfill) that, during calendar year 1993, ac9 cepted documented shipments of municipal solid

10 waste generated outside the State or, before the

11 date of the enactment of this section, entered

12 into a host agreement or otherwise obtained au13 thorization to accept such waste from the af14 fected local government.

15 ‘‘(B) A person who is planning to own or

16 operate an incinerator or other waste disposal

17 facility (other than a landfill) and who, before

18 the date of the enactment of this section, en19 tered into a host agreement or otherwise ob20 tained authorization from the affected local gov21 ernment to accept municipal solid waste gen22 erated outside the State at such incinerator or

23 facility.

24 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF EXPANSIONS OF FACILITIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the expansion of a landfill, incinerator, or

3 other waste disposal facility shall be considered, for

4 purposes of subsection (a), to be a separate facility

5 requiring authorization in order to accept waste gen6 erated outside the State.

7 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A landfill, incinerator, or

8 other waste disposal facility may be expanded for

9 purposes of receiving waste generated outside the

10 State without an authorization under subsection (a)

11 to accept such waste at the expansion only if—

12 ‘‘(A) with respect to a facility for which

13 the owner or operator has obtained authoriza14 tion as described in subsection (a) or in para15 graph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (b), at the

16 time the owner or operator obtained such au17 thorization—

18 ‘‘(i) the owner or operator owned or

19 possessed an option to purchase the land

20 on which the expansion of the facility is

21 proposed to occur; and

22 ‘‘(ii) the area of expansion of the fa23 cility was indicated in documents filed with

24 the affected local government before ob25 taining such authorization; or
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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to a facility described in

2 paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (b) for which

3 the owner or operator is not required to obtain

4 authorization, the owner or operator, during

5 calendar year 1993, owned or possessed an op6 tion to purchase the land on which the expan7 sion of the facility is proposed to occur.

8 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT CON9 TROL BY GOVERNOR.—In any case in which an affected

10 local government is considering granting an authorization

11 to receive municipal solid waste generated outside the

12 State, and the disposal or incineration of such waste pre13 cludes the use of solid waste management capacity that

14 is identified under the State plan to be used for disposal

15 or incineration of municipal solid waste generated within

16 the region (identified under section 4006(a)) in which the

17 local government is located, the Governor may prohibit the

18 affected local government from granting the authorization.

19 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF GOVERNOR TO RESTRICT OUT20 OF-STATE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—

21 ‘‘(1)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (5), if

22 requested in writing by both an affected local gov23 ernment, and an affected local solid waste planning

24 unit (if such a local solid waste planning unit exists

25 under State law), a Governor may, with respect to
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1 landfills to which subsection (a) does not apply (as

2 set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection

3 (b)), limit the amount of out-of-State municipal solid

4 waste received for disposal at each such landfill in

5 the State to an amount equal to the amount of out6 of-State municipal solid waste received for disposal

7 at the landfill during calendar year 1993.

8 ‘‘(B) Prior to submitting a request under this

9 section to limit the disposal of out-of-State munici10 pal solid waste, the affected local government and

11 the affected local solid waste planning unit, if any,

12 shall—

13 ‘‘(i) provide notice and opportunity for

14 public comment concerning any such proposed

15 request; and

16 ‘‘(ii) following notice and comment, take

17 formal action upon any such proposed request

18 at a public meeting.

19 ‘‘(3) In responding to requests by affected local

20 governments under paragraph (1)(A), the Governor

21 shall respond in a consistent manner that does not

22 discriminate against any particular landfill within

23 the State and does not discriminate against any

24 shipments of out-of-State municipal solid waste on

25 the basis of State of origin.
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1 ‘‘(4)(A) Any Governor who intends to exercise

2 the authority provided in this subsection shall, with3 in 60 days after the date of enactment of this sec4 tion, submit to the Administrator information docu5 menting the amount of out-of-State municipal solid

6 waste received for disposal in the Governor’s State

7 during calendar year 1993.

8 ‘‘(B) Upon receipt of such information, the Ad9 ministrator shall notify the Governor of each State

10 and the public and shall provide a comment period

11 of not less than 30 days.

12 ‘‘(C) Not later than 120 days after the date of

13 enactment of this section, the Administrator shall

14 publish a list of the amount of out-of-State munici15 pal solid waste that was received at each landfill to

16 which subsection (a) does not apply (as set forth in

17 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b)) for dis18 posal in the State during calendar year 1993.

19 ‘‘(5) A Governor may not exercise the authority

20 granted under this subsection if such action would

21 be inconsistent with State law or would result in the

22 violation of or failure to perform any provision of—

23 ‘‘(i) a written, legally binding contract, in24 cluding a host agreement, that was lawfully en25 tered into by the owner or operator of a landfill
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1 and the affected local government and which

2 authorizes the landfill to receive municipal solid

3 waste generated outside the jurisdiction of the

4 affected local government; or

5 ‘‘(ii) a written, legally binding contract for

6 disposal at a landfill of municipal solid waste

7 generated outside the State in which the landfill

8 is located that was in effect on May 31, 1992.

9 ‘‘(f) CONTINUED APPLICABILITY OF SECTION CONDI10 TIONED ON CERTAIN LANDFILL REQUIREMENTS.—Sub11 sections (a) through (e) of this section shall not apply

12 after January 1, 1997, in a State unless each operating

13 municipal solid waste landfill in the State—

14 ‘‘(1) meets the design and location standards

15 that are applicable to landfills constructed on and

16 after October 1993; or

17 ‘‘(2) is on an enforceable schedule—

18 ‘‘(A) to stop receiving waste by January 1,

19 2000; and

20 ‘‘(B) to implement a closure plan.

21 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘affected local government’, with

23 respect to a landfill, incinerator, or other waste dis24 posal facility, means the elected officials of the city,

25 town, borough, county, or parish in which the facil-
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1 ity is located. Within 90 days after enactment of this

2 section, the Governor of each State shall designate

3 and publish notice of which entity listed in the pre4 ceding sentence shall serve as the affected local gov5 ernment for purposes of actions taken under this

6 section after the date of publication of such notice.

7 No such designation shall affect host agreements

8 concluded before the date of publication of such no9 tice. If the Governor fails to make such designation,

10 the affected local government shall be the city, town,

11 borough, county, parish, or other public body created

12 by or pursuant to State law with primary jurisdic13 tion over the use of the land on which the facility

14 is located or proposed to be located.

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘affected local solid waste plan16 ning unit’ means a political subdivision of a State

17 with authority relating to solid waste management

18 planning in accordance with state law.

19 ‘‘(3) The term ‘out-of-State municipal solid

20 waste’, with respect to a State, means municipal

21 solid waste generated outside of the State.

22 ‘‘(4) The term ‘municipal solid waste’ means

23 solid waste that is refuse (and refuse-derived fuel)

24 generated by the general public and from residential,

25 commercial, institutional, and industrial sources con-
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1 sisting of paper, wood, yard wastes, food wastes,

2 plastics, leather, rubber, and other combustible ma3 terials and noncombustible materials such as metal,

4 glass, and rock. The term does not include—

5 ‘‘(A) hazardous waste or waste containing

6 polychlorinated biphenyls;

7 ‘‘(B) industrial waste;

8 ‘‘(C) medical waste;

9 ‘‘(D) recyclable materials that have been

10 separated from waste otherwise destined for

11 disposal (either at the source of the waste or at

12 processing facilities) or that have been managed

13 separately from waste destined for disposal; and

14 ‘‘(E) materials and products returned from

15 a dispenser or distributor to the manufacturer

16 or its agent for credit, evaluation, and possible

17 reuse.

18 ‘‘(5) The term ‘host agreement’ means a writ19 ten, legally binding agreement, lawfully entered into

20 between an owner or operator of a landfill or incin21 erator and an affected local government that author22 izes the landfill or incinerator to receive municipal

23 solid waste generated outside the jurisdiction of the

24 affected local government.’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table

2 of contents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended

3 by adding at the end of the items relating to subtitle D

4 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 4011. Interstate transportation and disposal of municipal solid waste.’’.

5 SEC. 3. RECYCLING OF NEWSPRINT.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis7 posal Act is amended by adding after section 4011 the

8 following new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 4012. RECYCLING OF NEWSPRINT.

10 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL AGGREGATE USE.—(1) Effective Janu11 ary 1, 1996, at least 35 percent of the total amount of

12 newsprint used in publishing a covered newspaper during

13 a calendar year shall consist of recycled content.

14 ‘‘(2) Effective January 1, 2004, at least 50 percent

15 of the total amount of newsprint used in publishing a cov16 ered newspaper during a calendar year shall consist of re17 cycled content.

18 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than

19 March 1 of each year, beginning with March 1, 1997, the

20 owner of a covered newspaper shall submit to the Adminis21 trator a report on the manner in which the owner complied

22 with the requirements of this section during the preceding

23 calendar year. The report shall include, at a minimum—
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1 ‘‘(1) the total amount of newsprint used in pro2 ducing the newspaper during such calendar year;

3 and

4 ‘‘(2) the average amount of recycled content in

5 such newsprint during such calendar year, expressed

6 as a percentage of the total amount of newsprint re7 ported under paragraph (1).

8 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.—If a covered newspaper does

9 not comply with an applicable recycled content require10 ment under subsection (a) with respect to a calendar year,

11 as determined by the Administrator, both of the following

12 provisions apply:

13 ‘‘(1) PENALTY.—The owner of the covered

14 newspaper shall pay a penalty to the Administrator

15 in an amount equal to the amount determined by

16 multiplying the number of tons of newsprint in non17 compliance during such calendar year by $25. For

18 purposes of this paragraph, the number of tons of

19 newsprint in noncompliance is the amount equal to

20 the product of—

21 ‘‘(A) the total number of tons of newsprint

22 used in producing such newspaper during such

23 calendar year, and
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1 ‘‘(B) the percentage equal to 100 percent

2 reduced by the percentage determined by divid3 ing—

4 ‘‘(i) the average amount of recycled

5 content in the newsprint of such newspaper

6 during such calendar year (expressed as a

7 percentage of the total amount of news8 print used in producing such newspaper

9 during such calendar year), by

10 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of recycled con11 tent required under subsection (a) for such

12 calendar year.

13 ‘‘(2) CONTENT DISCLOSURE.—(A) Effective on

14 March 1 of the year following such calendar year,

15 the owner of the covered newspaper shall ensure that

16 the following language appears each day prominently

17 at the top of the front page of the newspaper: ‘The

18 newsprint on which the lllllllll is

19 printed does not meet the Federal Government’s re20 quired percentage of recycled content.’, with the

21 blank being filled in with the name of the news22 paper.

23 ‘‘(B) The requirement of subparagraph (A)

24 shall continue in effect until the owner of the cov25 ered newspaper demonstrates to the Administrator
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1 that the newspaper complies with the applicable re2 cycled content requirement under subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(d) NEWSPRINT RECYCLING FUND.—

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—The proceeds

5 of any penalties collected by the Administrator

6 under subsection (c)(1) shall be deposited in a spe7 cial fund in the United States Treasury, to be

8 known as the ‘Newsprint Recycling Fund’. Amounts

9 in such fund shall thereafter be available for appro10 priation and shall remain available until expended.

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUND.— Subject to appropriation,

12 amounts in such fund shall be available for distribu13 tion by the Administrator to local governments in

14 the principal area served by any covered newspaper

15 paying a penalty under subsection (c)(1) for the pur16 pose of establishing and implementing necessary pro17 grams to collect and recycle old newsprint.

18 ‘‘(e) SMALL NEWSPAPERS.—Not later than Decem19 ber 31, 1996, the Administrator shall submit a report to

20 Congress describing the impact of paragraph (1) of sub21 section (a) on the price of recycled newsprint and other

22 newsprint available to newspapers whose average daily cir23 culation is less than 200,000. If the Administrator finds

24 that the requirements of such paragraph (1) have resulted

25 in a significant increase in the price of such newsprint for
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1 such newspapers, the Administrator, by rule, after notice

2 and opportunity for comment, may reduce the 50 percent

3 requirement set forth in paragraph (2) of subsection (a)

4 to prevent a significant increase in the price of such news5 print for such newspapers.

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

7 following definitions apply:

8 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered newspaper’ means a

9 newspaper with an average daily circulation of

10 200,000 or more.

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘recycled content’, when used in

12 connection with newsprint, means the portion of the

13 dry weight of the newsprint that is attributable to

14 previously used paper fibers.’’.

15 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

16 subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (contained in

17 section 1001 of that Act) is amended by adding after the

18 item relating to section 4011 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 4012. Recycling of newsprint.’’.

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