Union Calendar No. 408

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4683

[Report No. 103–738]

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide

other purposes.transportation of municipal solid waste, and forcongressional authorization of State control over

SEPTEMBER 22, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 408

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4683

[Report No. 103–738]

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide congressional authorization

of State control over transportation of municipal solid waste, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 29, 1994

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

Committee on Energy and Commerce

SEPTEMBER 22, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 29, 1994]

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide congressional authorization of State control over transportation

of 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,
2

•HR 4683 RH

1 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF STATE

2 CONTROL OVER TRANSPORTATION, MANAGE3 MENT, AND DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL SOLID

4 WASTE.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis6 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding

7 at the end the following new section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 4011. CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF STATE

9 CONTROL OVER TRANSPORTATION, MANAGE10 MENT, AND DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL SOLID

11 WASTE.

12 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Each State and each qualified po13 litical subdivision may, in accordance with this section, ex14 ercise flow control authority within the boundaries of such

15 State or political subdivision, as the case may be, for each

16 of the following:

17 ‘‘(1) Municipal solid waste generated from house18 hold sources within the boundaries of the State or

19 qualified political subdivision.

20 ‘‘(2) Municipal solid waste generated within the

21 boundaries of the State or qualified political subdivi22 sion, if, before May 15, 1994, the State or qualified

23 political subdivision adopted a law, ordinance, regu24 lation, solid waste management plan or legally bind25 ing provision that—
3

•HR 4683 RH

1 ‘‘(A) exercised flow control authority over

2 such solid waste with respect to a proposed or ex3 isting waste management facility designated be4 fore May 15, 1994, or

5 ‘‘(B) identified the use of 1 or more waste

6 management methods that will be necessary for

7 the transportation, management, or disposal of

8 municipal solid waste generated within its

9 boundaries, and committed to the designation of

10 1 or more waste management facilities for that

11 method or methods.

12 ‘‘(3) Recyclable materials generated within the

13 boundaries of the State or subdivision.

14 Any State or qualified political subdivision meeting the re15 quirements of subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (2)

16 may also, after the effective date of this section, direct, limit,

17 regulate or prohibit the transportation, management, and

18 disposal of such solid waste from any existing or future

19 waste management facility to any other existing or future

20 waste management facility, and may do so without regard

21 to subsection (b)(2).

22 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—(1) A State or qualified political

23 subdivision may exercise the authority described in para24 graph (3) of subsection (a) with respect to recyclable mate25 rials only if—
4

•HR 4683 RH

1 ‘‘(A) the generator or owner of the materials vol2 untarily made the materials available to the State or

3 qualified political subdivision, or the designee of the

4 State or qualified political subdivision, and relin5 quished any rights to, or ownership of, such mate6 rials; and

7 ‘‘(B) the State or qualified political subdivision,

8 or the designee of the State or qualified political sub9 division, assumes such rights to, or ownership of, such

10 materials.

11 ‘‘(2) A State or qualified political subdivision may ex12 ercise the authority provided by subsection (a)(1) or (a)(3)

13 only if the State or qualified political subdivision—

14 ‘‘(A) before exercising the authority described in

15 subsection (a)(1), establishes a program to separate,

16 or divert at the point of generation, recyclable mate17 rials from the municipal solid waste, for purposes of

18 recycling, reclamation, or reuse, in accordance with

19 any Federal or State law or municipal solid waste

20 planning requirements in effect; and

21 ‘‘(B) after conducting 1 or more public hear22 ings—

23 ‘‘(i) finds, on the basis of the record devel24 oped at the hearing or hearings that it is nec25 essary to exercise the authority to meet the cur-
5

•HR 4683 RH

1 rent solid waste management needs (as of the

2 date of the record) or the anticipated solid waste

3 management needs of the State or qualified polit4 ical subdivision for management of municipal

5 solid waste or recyclable materials; and

6 ‘‘(ii) provides a written explanation of the

7 reasons of the finding described in clause (i).

8 ‘‘(3) The authority to direct, limit, regulate, or pro9 hibit the transportation, management, or disposal of solid

10 waste pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall apply only to the

11 specific classes or categories of solid waste to which the au12 thority under subsection (a)(2)(A) was applied by the State

13 or qualified political subdivision before May 15, 1994, and/

14 or to the specific classes or categories of solid waste for

15 which the State or qualified political subdivision committed

16 to designate a waste management facility under subsection

17 (a)(2)(B).

18 ‘‘(4) The authority granted under subsection (a)(2)

19 shall expire if a State or qualified political subdivision has

20 not designated, by law, ordinance, regulation, solid waste

21 management plan, or other legally binding provision, 1 or

22 more proposed or existing waste management facilities

23 within 5 years of the date of enactment of this section.

24 ‘‘(c) COMPETITIVE DESIGNATION PROCESS.—A State

25 or qualified political subdivision may exercise the authority
6

•HR 4683 RH

1 provided by subsection (a) only if the State or qualified po2 litical subdivision develops and implements a competitive

3 designation process with respect to waste management fa4 cilities or facilities for recyclable materials which—

5 ‘‘(1) ensures that the designation process is based

6 on, or is part of, a municipal solid waste manage7 ment plan that is adopted by the State or qualified

8 political subdivision and that is designed to ensure

9 long-term management capacity for municipal solid

10 waste or recyclable materials generated within the

11 boundaries of the State or subdivision;

12 ‘‘(2) sets forth the goals of the designation proc13 ess, including at a minimum—

14 ‘‘(A) capacity assurance;

15 ‘‘(B) the establishment of provisions to pro16 vide that protection of human health and the en17 vironment will be achieved; and

18 ‘‘(C) any other goals determined to be rel19 evant by the State or qualified political subdivi20 sion;

21 ‘‘(3) identifies and compares reasonable and

22 available alternatives and options for designation of

23 the facilities;

24 ‘‘(4) provides for public participation and com25 ment;
7

•HR 4683 RH

1 ‘‘(5) ensures that the designation of the facilities

2 is accomplished through an open competitive process

3 during which the State or qualified political subdivi4 sion—

5 ‘‘(A) identifies in writing the criteria to be

6 utilized for selection of the facilities;

7 ‘‘(B) provides an opportunity for interested

8 public persons and private persons to offer their

9 existing (as of the date of the process) or pro10 posed facilities for designation; and

11 ‘‘(C) evaluates and selects the facilities for

12 designation based on the merits of the facilities

13 in meeting the criteria identified; and

14 ‘‘(6) bases the designation of each such facility

15 on reasons that shall be stated in a public record.

16 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION.—(1) A Governor of any State

17 may certify that the laws and regulations of the State in

18 effect on May 15, 1994, satisfy the requirements for a com19 petitive designation process under subsection (c).

20 ‘‘(2) In making a certification under paragraph (1),

21 a Governor shall—

22 ‘‘(A) publish notice of the proposed certification

23 in a newspaper of general circulation and provide

24 such additional notice of the proposed certification as

25 may be required by State law;
8

•HR 4683 RH

1 ‘‘(B) include in the notice of the proposed certifi2 cation or otherwise make readily available a state3 ment of the laws and regulations subject to the certifi4 cation and an explanation of the basis for a conclu5 sion that they satisfy the requirements of subsection

6 (c);

7 ‘‘(C) provide interested persons an opportunity

8 to comment on the proposed certification, for a period

9 of time not less than 60 days after publication of the

10 notice; and

11 ‘‘(D) public notice of the final certification, to12 gether with an explanation of the basis for the final

13 certification, in a newspaper of general circulation

14 and provide such additional notice of the final certifi15 cation as may be required by State law.

16 ‘‘(e) OWNERSHIP OF RECYCLABLE MATERIALS.—

17 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON REQUIRED TRANSFERS.—

18 Nothing in this section shall authorize any State or

19 qualified political subdivision (or any designee there20 of) to require any generator or owner of recyclable

21 materials to transfer any recyclable materials to such

22 State or qualified political subdivision, unless the

23 generator or owner voluntarily made the materials

24 available to the State or qualified political subdivi-
9

•HR 4683 RH

1 sion (or any designee thereof) and relinquished any

2 rights to, or ownership of, such materials.

3 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON PROHIBITED TRANS4 ACTIONS.—Nothing in this section shall prohibit any

5 person from selling, purchasing, or accepting, convey6 ing, or transporting any recyclable materials for pur7 poses of transformation or remanufacture into usable

8 or marketable materials, unless the generator or

9 owner voluntarily made the materials available to the

10 State or qualified political subdivision (or any des11 ignee thereof) and relinquished any rights to, or own12 ership of, such materials.

13 ‘‘(f) EXISTING LAWS AND CONTRACTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not

15 supersede, abrogate, or otherwise modify any of the

16 following:

17 ‘‘(A) Any contract or other agreement (in18 cluding any contract containing an obligation to

19 repay the outstanding indebtedness on any pro20 posed or existing waste management facility) en21 tered into before May 15, 1994, by a State or

22 qualified political subdivision in which such

23 State or qualified political subdivision has des24 ignated a proposed or existing waste manage25 ment facility pursuant to a law, ordinance, reg-
10

•HR 4683 RH

1 ulation, solid waste management plan or legally

2 binding provision adopted by such State or

3 qualified political subdivision before May 15,

4 1994.

5 ‘‘(B) Any other contract or agreement en6 tered into before May 15, 1994, for the manage7 ment of solid waste.

8 ‘‘(C)(i) Any law, ordinance, regulation,

9 solid waste management plan or legally binding

10 provision—

11 ‘‘(I) that is adopted before May 15,

12 1994; and

13 ‘‘(II) that pertain to the transpor14 tation, management, or disposal of munici15 pal solid waste generated within the bound16 aries of a State or qualified political sub17 division;

18 if the law, ordinance, regulation, solid waste

19 management plan or legally binding provision is

20 applied to the transportation, management, or

21 disposal of municipal solid waste, generated

22 from household sources within its boundaries, to

23 a proposed or existing waste management facil24 ity designated before May 15, 1994, under such
11

•HR 4683 RH

1 law, ordinance, regulation, solid waste manage2 ment plan or legally binding provision.

3 ‘‘(ii) Any law, ordinance, regulation, solid

4 waste management plan or legally binding pro5 vision—

6 ‘‘(I) that is adopted before May 15,

7 1994;

8 ‘‘(II) that pertains to the transpor9 tation, management, or disposal or munici10 pal solid waste generated within the bound11 aries of a State or qualified political sub12 division; and

13 ‘‘(III) under which a State or qualified

14 political subdivision, prior to May 15,

15 1994, directed, limited, regulated, or prohib16 ited the transportation, management, or

17 disposal of municipal solid waste that is

18 generated, or is commingled with municipal

19 solid waste that is generated, from commer20 cial, institutional, or industrial sources

21 within its boundaries, or construction de22 bris or demolition debris, generated within

23 its boundaries;

24 provided that the law, ordinance, regulation,

25 solid waste management plan or legally binding
12

•HR 4683 RH

1 provision is applied to the transportation, man2 agement, or disposal of such solid waste de3 scribed in subclause (III), to a proposed or exist4 ing waste management facility designated before

5 May 15, 1994, under such law, ordinance, regu6 lation, solid waste management plan or legally

7 binding provision.

8 ‘‘(iii) Any law, ordinance, regulation, solid

9 waste management plan or legally binding pro10 vision—

11 ‘‘(I) that is adopted before May 15,

12 1994; and

13 ‘‘(II) that pertains to the transpor14 tation or management of recyclable mate15 rials generated within the boundaries of a

16 State or qualified political subdivision;

17 provided that the law, ordinance, regulation,

18 solid waste management plan or legally binding

19 provision is applied to the transportation or

20 management of recyclable materials, that are

21 generated within its boundaries and with respect

22 to which the generator or owner of the materials,

23 and the State or qualified political subdivision,

24 have met the appropriate conditions described in

25 subsection (b)(1), to a proposed or existing facil-
13

•HR 4683 RH

1 ity for recyclable materials designated before

2 May 15, 1994, under such law, ordinance, regu3 lation, solid waste management plan or legally

4 binding provision.

5 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT INFORMATION.—A party to a

6 contract or other agreement that is described in sub7 paragraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall provide

8 a copy of the contract or agreement to the State or

9 qualified political subdivision on request. Any propri10 etary information contained in the contract or agree11 ment may be omitted in the copy, but the information

12 that appears in the copy shall include at least the

13 date that the contract or agreement was signed, the

14 volume of municipal solid waste covered by the con15 tract or agreement with respect to which the State or

16 qualified political subdivision could otherwise exercise

17 authority under subsection (a) or paragraph (1)(C),

18 the source of the waste or materials, the destination

19 of the waste or materials, the duration of the contract

20 or agreement, and the parties to the contract or agree21 ment.

22 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Any designation by a State

23 or qualified political subdivision of any waste man24 agement facility or facility for recyclable materials

25 after the date of enactment of this section shall com-
14

•HR 4683 RH

1 ply with subsection (c). Nothing in this paragraph

2 shall affect any designation made before the date of

3 enactment of this section, and any such designation

4 shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of sub5 section (c).

6 ‘‘(g) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—(1) Nothing in this section is

7 intended to supersede, amend, or otherwise modify Federal

8 or State environmental laws and regulations that apply to

9 the disposal or management of solid waste at waste manage10 ment facilities or facilities for recyclable materials.

11 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to au12 thorize a qualified political subdivision to exercise the au13 thority granted by this section in a manner inconsistent

14 with State law.

15 ‘‘(h) EFFECT ON INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—The exer16 cise of flow control authority in compliance with this sec17 tion by a State or qualified political subdivision shall itself

18 be considered a reasonable regulation of commerce and shall

19 not itself be considered as imposing an undue burden on

20 or otherwise impairing, restraining, or discriminating

21 against interstate commerce.

22 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

23 ‘‘(1) FLOW CONTROL AUTHORITY.—The term

24 ‘flow control authority’ means the authority to control

25 the movement of solid waste or recyclable materials
15

•HR 4683 RH

1 and direct the transportation of such waste or recy2 clable materials to one or more designated waste

3 management facilities or facilities for recyclable mate4 rials.

5 ‘‘(2) INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE.—The term ‘in6 dustrial solid waste’ means solid waste generated by

7 manufacturing or industrial processes, including

8 waste generated during scrap processing and scrap

9 recycling, that is not hazardous waste regulated under

10 subtitle C.

11 ‘‘(3) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—(i) The term ‘munici13 pal solid waste’ means all waste materials dis14 carded for disposal by households, including sin15 gle and multifamily residences.

16 ‘‘(ii) The term also includes waste materials

17 generated by commercial, institutional, and in18 dustrial sources, to the extent such wastes—

19 ‘‘(I) are essentially the same as waste

20 normally generated by households; or

21 ‘‘(II) were collected and disposed of

22 with other municipal solid waste as part of

23 normal municipal solid waste collection

24 services, and regardless of when generated,

25 would be considered conditionally exempt
16

•HR 4683 RH

1 small quantity generator waste under sec2 tion 3001(d).

3 ‘‘(iii) The term includes residue remaining

4 after recyclable materials have been separated, or

5 diverted at the point of generation, from waste

6 materials described in clause (i) or (ii).

7 ‘‘(iv) The term also includes any waste ma8 terial or waste substance removed from a septic

9 tank, septic pit, or cesspool.

10 ‘‘(v) Examples of municipal solid waste in11 clude food and yard waste, paper, clothing, ap12 pliances, consumer product packaging, disposable

13 diapers, office supplies, cosmetics, glass and

14 metal food containers, elementary or secondary

15 school science laboratory waste, and household

16 hazardous waste.

17 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term does not in18 clude any of the following:

19 ‘‘(i) Any solid waste identified or listed

20 as a hazardous waste under section 3001.

21 ‘‘(ii) Solid waste containing a poly22 chlorinate biphenyl regulated under the

23 Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C.

24 2601 et seq.).
17

•HR 4683 RH

1 ‘‘(iii) Any solid waste, including con2 taminated soil and debris, resulting from—

3 ‘‘(I) a response action taken under

4 section 104 or 106 of the Comprehen5 sive Environmental Response, Com6 pensation, and Liability Act (42

7 U.S.C. 9604 or 9606),

8 ‘‘(II) a response action taken

9 under a State law with authorities

10 comparable to the authorities of section

11 104 or 106, or

12 ‘‘(III) a corrective action taken

13 under this Act.

14 ‘‘(iv) Recyclable materials.

15 ‘‘(v) Materials and products returned

16 from a dispenser or distributor to the man17 ufacturer or an agent of the manufacturer

18 for credit, evaluation, and possible reuse.

19 ‘‘(vi) Industrial solid waste.

20 ‘‘(vii) Any solid waste that is—

21 ‘‘(I) generated by an industrial

22 facility; and

23 ‘‘(II) transported for the purpose

24 of treatment, storage, or disposal to a

25 facility that is owned or operated by
18

•HR 4683 RH

1 the generator of the waste, or is located

2 on property owned by the generator or

3 a company with which the generator is

4 affiliated.

5 ‘‘(viii) Any medical waste referred to

6 in section 11002 that is segregated from, or

7 not mixed with, solid waste.

8 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.—The

9 term ‘qualified political subdivision’ means a govern10 mental entity or political subdivision of a State, as

11 authorized by the State, to plan for, or determine the

12 methods to be utilized for, the collection, transpor13 tation, disposal or other management of municipal

14 solid waste generated within the boundaries of the

15 governmental entity or political subdivision.

16 ‘‘(5) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘recy17 clable material’ means any material (including any

18 metal, glass, plastic, textile, wood, paper, rubber, or

19 other material) that has been separated, or diverted at

20 the point of generation, from solid waste for the pur21 pose of recycling, reclamation, or reuse.

22 ‘‘(6) SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The

23 term ‘solid waste management plan’ means a plan for

24 the transportation, treatment, processing, composting,

25 combustion, disposal or other management of munici-
19

•HR 4683 RH

1 pal solid waste adopted by a State or qualified politi2 cal subdivision pursuant to and conforming with

3 State law.

4 ‘‘(7) WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY.—The term

5 ‘waste management facility’ means any facility or fa6 cilities in which solid waste is separated, stored,

7 transferred, treated, processed, combusted, deposited or

8 disposed.

9 ‘‘(8) COMMITTED TO THE DESIGNATION OF ONE

10 OR MORE WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES.—The

11 phrase ‘Committed to the designation of one or more

12 waste management facilities’ as used in subsection

13 (a)(2)(B) means that the State or qualified political

14 subdivision, prior to May 15, 1994, was legally bound

15 to designate one or more existing or future waste

16 management facilities, or performed or caused to be

17 performed one or more of the following actions for the

18 purpose of designating one or more such facilities:

19 ‘‘(A) Solicitation of proposals for designa20 tion of a waste management facility.

21 ‘‘(B) Purchase of land on which the waste

22 management facility to be designated will be

23 located.

24 ‘‘(C) Execution of a legally binding contract

25 or franchise agreement for waste collection serv-
20

•HR 4683 RH

1 ices expressly for the delivery of waste to a waste

2 management facility to be designated.

3 ‘‘(D) Other action since January 1, 1993,

4 that evidences recent significant financial com5 mitment for the continuing development of a

6 waste management facility for which a designa7 tion will be made unless such action has been

8 halted by a court order based upon a ruling

9 under the Constitution of the United States.’’.

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

11 such subtitle D is amended by adding at the end of the items

12 relating to such subtitle the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 4011. Congressional authorization of State control over transportation, management, and disposal of municipal solid waste.’’.

HR 4683 RH——2