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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1523

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require producers and importers

of newsprint to recycle a certain percentage of newsprint each year,

to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

to establish a recycling credit system for carrying out such recycling

requirement, to establish a management and tracking system for such

newsprint, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 7, 1995

Mr. TORRES (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.

BONIOR, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. BRYANT of Texas, Mr. DELLUMS,

Ms. ESHOO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mr.

FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Ms. HARMAN, Mr.

KLECZKA, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MILLER

of California, Mr. MINETA, Mr. MORAN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. ROMEROBARCELO ́, Mr. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, Mr. VENTO, Mr. WALSH, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms.

WOOLSEY, and Mr. YATES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require producers

and importers of newsprint to recycle a certain percentage of newsprint each year, to require the Administrator

of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a

recycling credit system for carrying out such recycling

requirement, to establish a management and tracking

system for such newsprint, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Newsprint Recycling

5 Incentives Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Of the total United States waste-stream of

9 206.9 million tons per year, paper and related prod10 ucts compose 77.8 million tons, or 34 percent of the

11 total.

12 (2) 54.3 percent of old newspaper waste in the

13 United States is not recycled and ends up in the

14 waste-stream.

15 (3) State and local newspaper recycling pro16 grams have helped create a growing surplus of old

17 newspaper waste and have helped to bring about a

18 collapse of the market for recycled newsprint.

19 (4) The current glut of old newspaper waste

20 has caused the market for old newspaper waste to

21 vary from a price of $75 per ton to a cost or loss

22 of $0 per ton.

23 (5) The price of new newsprint does not reflect

24 the increasing cost to communities of disposal and
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1 landfilling of old newspaper waste. Such cost cur2 rently is between $87 and $134 per ton, on average.

3 (6) The cost of recycling old newspaper waste

4 is substantially less than the cost of disposal.

5 (7) The demand for old newspaper waste needs

6 to be increased to provide both an outlet for the rap7 idly increasing glut of old newspaper waste and sta8 ble markets for recyclers to invest in de-inking facili9 ties.

10 (8) A minimum recycling requirement can be

11 used to create a market which accurately reflects the

12 societal costs of old newspaper waste.

13 (9) The creation of an efficient market for recy14 cled newsprint requires that the cost of disposal be

15 included in the cost of unrecycled products.

16 (10) The Administrator of the Environmental

17 Protection Agency requires additional statutory au18 thority to increase recycling of old newspaper waste

19 and to stimulate demand.

20 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS TO RECYCLE NEWSPRINT.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis22 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding

23 at the end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 4011. NEWSPRINT RECYCLING REQUIREMENTS.

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—(1) Beginning not

3 later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of

4 the Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act, a producer or im5 porter of newsprint each year shall recycle, using a method

6 described in paragraph (2), an amount of newsprint equal

7 to at least that amount of newsprint determined by—

8 ‘‘(A) multiplying the newsprint produced or im9 ported that year by such person, by

10 ‘‘(B) the recycling percentage established by the

11 Administrator under subsection (b).

12 ‘‘(2) A producer or importer of newsprint may comply

13 with this subsection—

14 ‘‘(A) by recycling, through de-inking, newsprint

15 for purposes of producing recycled newsprint;

16 ‘‘(B) by purchasing recycled newsprint for pur17 poses of combining with shipments of virgin news18 print; or

19 ‘‘(C) by purchasing recycling credits under the

20 recycling credit system established pursuant to sub21 section (c).

22 ‘‘(b) RECYCLING PERCENTAGE.—The Administrator

23 each year shall establish a recycling percentage for use

24 under subsection (a). The percentage applicable during

25 the first year that the requirement established by sub26 section (a) is in effect shall be not less than 20 percent.
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1 For each of the ten years thereafter, the recycling percent2 age shall be an additional 2 percentage points higher than

3 the percentage of the previous year.

4 ‘‘(c) CREDIT SYSTEM FOR RECYCLING NEWS5 PRINT.—(1) Not later than 18 months after the date of

6 the enactment of the Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act,

7 the Administrator shall promulgate regulations to estab8 lish a system under which (A) producers or importers of

9 recycled newsprint may create credits for used newsprint

10 recycling, and (B) producers or importers of newsprint

11 (virgin or recycled) may purchase such recycling credits

12 from such recyclers, for purposes of complying with sub13 section (a). The regulations shall include a mechanism or

14 mechanisms (including an auction) for any allocation of

15 credits that may be necessary. No person may create such

16 credits, and no producer or importer of newsprint may

17 purchase such credits, except in accordance with this sub18 section and the regulations promulgated under this sub19 section.

20 ‘‘(2) At a minimum, the regulations under subsection

21 (c) shall include the following requirements:

22 ‘‘(A) The producer or importer of recycled

23 newsprint shall maintain records of the receipt of old

24 newsprint and other paper products for de-inking
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1 and subsequent recycling. Such records shall be

2 maintained for at least 2 years.

3 ‘‘(B) The producer of recycled newsprint shall

4 notify the Environmental Protection Agency of the

5 producer’s capacity to recycle old newsprint. Such

6 notification shall state the overall newsprint capacity

7 and that portion dedicated to de-inking and recy8 cling.

9 ‘‘(C) The importer of recycled newsprint shall

10 notify the United States Customs Service of the

11 amount of newsprint being imported by the im12 porter. Such notice shall be accompanied by a cer13 tification verifying the accuracy of the notice. The

14 certification shall be made by the official responsible

15 for negotiating trade agreements of the country from

16 which the importer is shipping newsprint to the

17 United States.

18 ‘‘(D) Producers or importers of newsprint shall

19 maintain records of sales of virgin and recycled

20 newsprint, including quantities and prices of recy21 cled newsprint and sales or other disposition of such

22 recycling credits as may be used to demonstrate

23 compliance with the requirements of this section.

24 Such records shall be maintained for at least 2

25 years.
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1 ‘‘(E) Producers and importers of newsprint

2 shall report to the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency annually and on an in4 terim quarterly basis—

5 ‘‘(i) the amount of recycled content news6 print produced or imported each year;

7 ‘‘(ii) the number of credits purchased or

8 otherwise acquired from other producers or im9 porters; and

10 ‘‘(iii) the number of credits sold or other11 wise distributed to other producers or import12 ers.

13 ‘‘(3) The Administrator may include such other re14 quirements in the regulations under paragraph (1) with

15 respect to qualifications for recyclers, importers, and pro16 ducers; methods for auditing compliance with the system;

17 and enforcement of the system; as the Administrator con18 siders necessary or appropriate for administering the recy19 cling credit system established under this subsection.

20 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘recycling

21 credit’ means a legal record of a recycling activity under22 taken in accordance with this subsection that represents

23 an amount of newsprint recycled through de-inking for

24 purposes of complying with this section.
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1 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—(1) Not later than 6 years after the

2 date of the enactment of the Newsprint Recycling Incen3 tives Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress an

4 interim report on the implementation of this section. The

5 report shall include, at a minimum—

6 ‘‘(A) a discussion of the effects of the require7 ments of this section on the newsprint and news8 paper industry and on the environment; and

9 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the level of the recycling

10 percentage under subsection (b) and recommenda11 tions on whether, and at what rate, the percentage

12 should be increased in future years above the per13 centage applicable under subsection (b).

14 ‘‘(2) Not later than 10 years after such date, the Ad15 ministrator shall submit to Congress a final report on the

16 implementation of this section. The report shall include

17 an updated version of the discussion and evaluation re18 quired in the interim report, as well as such other findings

19 and recommendations with respect to the implementation

20 of this section as the Administrator considers appropriate.

21 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to any

22 person who produces or imports more than 10 tons of

23 newsprint a year.

24 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall pro25 mulgate regulations to implement this section not later
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1 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of the

2 Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act. If the Administrator

3 fails to promulgate such regulations by that date, the recy4 cling percentage under subsection (b) shall be 20 percent

5 until such time as the regulations are promulgated.

6 ‘‘(g) CIVIL PENALTY.—

7 ‘‘(1) Whoever violates this section shall be liable

8 to the United States for a civil penalty in an amount

9 not to exceed $2,500 for each such violation. Such

10 civil penalty shall be assessed by the Administrator

11 of the Environmental Protection Agency by an order

12 made on the record after opportunity for a hearing

13 in accordance with section 554 of title 5, United

14 States Code. Before issuing such an order, the Ad15 ministrator shall give written notice to the person to

16 be assessed a civil penalty and provide such person

17 an opportunity to request, within 15 days of the

18 date the notice is received by such person, a hearing

19 on the order.

20 ‘‘(2) In determining the amount of a civil pen21 alty, the Administrator shall take into account the

22 nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the vio23 lation or violations and, with respect to the violator,

24 ability to pay, effect on ability to continue to do

25 business, any history of prior violations under this
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1 section, the degree of culpability, and such other

2 matters as justice may require.

3 ‘‘(3) The Administrator may compromise, mod4 ify, or remit, with or without conditions, any civil

5 penalty which may be imposed under this subsection.

6 The amount of such penalty, when finally deter7 mined, or the amount agreed upon in compromise,

8 may be deducted from any sums owing by the

9 United States to the person charged.

10 ‘‘(4) Any person who requested in accordance

11 with this subsection a hearing respecting the assess12 ment of a civil penalty and who is aggrieved by an

13 order assessing a civil penalty may file a petition for

14 judicial review of such order with the United States

15 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir16 cuit or for any other circuit in which such person re17 sides or transacts business. Such a petition may only

18 be filed within the 30-day period beginning on the

19 date the order making such assessment was issued.

20 ‘‘(5) If any person fails to pay an assessment

21 of a civil penalty—

22 ‘‘(A) after the order making the assess23 ment has become a final order and if such per24 son does not file a petition for judicial review

25 of the order in accordance with this section, or
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1 ‘‘(B) after a court in an action brought

2 under this section has entered a final judgment

3 in favor of the Administrator,

4 the Attorney General shall recover the amount as5 sessed (plus interest at currently prevailing rates

6 from the date of the expiration of the 30-day period

7 referred to in paragraph (4) or the date of such final

8 judgment, as the case may be) in an action brought

9 in any appropriate district court of the United

10 States. In such an action, the validity, amount, and

11 appropriateness of such penalty shall not be subject

12 to review.

13 ‘‘(h) HIGH GRADE PAPER RECYCLING.—(1) Not

14 later than three years after the date of the enactment of

15 the Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act, the Administrator

16 shall submit to Congress a plan, based on the experience

17 with the implementation of this section, for the recycling

18 of post-consumer high grade paper. The plan shall discuss

19 the desirability and feasibility, in terms of environmental

20 impacts resulting from reduced volume and economic im21 pacts, of requiring the recycling of such paper, and the

22 specific manner in which such recycling could be accom23 plished if the Administrator concludes that such recycling

24 is feasible. The plan also shall include an incentive-based
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1 method or methods for accomplishing the recycling, such

2 as a credit system (as established under subsection (c)).

3 ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the plan is submit4 ted under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall begin to

5 implement the plan. For purposes of implementing the

6 plan, the Administrator is authorized to carry out any of

7 the methods for accomplishing the recycling of the paper

8 that are included in the plan.

9 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘high

10 grade paper’, means printed or unprinted sheets, shavings,

11 guillotined books, quire waste, and cuttings of sulphite or

12 sulphate ledger, bond, and writing paper (and all other

13 papers which have a similar fiber and filler content).

14 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

15 for subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (contained

16 in section 1001 of such Act) is amended by adding at the

17 end thereof the following:

‘‘Sec. 4011. Newsprint recycling requirements.’’.

18 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION.

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin20 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

21 $1,200,000 to carry out section 4011 of the Solid Waste

22 Disposal Act (as added by section 3). Such funds shall

23 be used to hire the equivalent of at least six additional

24 full-time employees to carry out such provisions. Such

25 funds shall remain available until expended.
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Æ