I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1696

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to

exempt certain small landfills from the ground water monitoring requirements contained in landfill regulations promulgated by the Agency.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 24, 1995

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

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to exempt certain small landfills from the

ground water monitoring requirements contained in landfill regulations promulgated by the Agency.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO EXEMPT CERTAIN SMALL

2 LANDFILLS FROM GROUND WATER MONITOR3 ING REQUIREMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL

4 PROTECTION AGENCY LANDFILL REGULA5 TIONS.

6 (a) AMENDMENT OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT.—

7 Section 4010(c) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

8 U.S.C. 6949a(c)) is amended as follows:

9 (1) By inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Not later than

10 March 31, 1988,’’.

11 (2) In the last sentence, by inserting ‘‘, except

12 as provided in paragraph (2),’’ before ‘‘ground water

13 monitoring’’.

14 (3) By adding at the end the following new

15 paragraphs:

16 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN UNITS.—The re17 quirements of the criteria relating to ground water mon18 itoring shall not apply to any new municipal solid waste

19 landfill unit, any existing municipal solid waste landfill

20 unit, and any lateral expansion of an existing municipal

21 solid waste landfill unit—

22 ‘‘(A) at which less than 20 tons of municipal

23 solid waste is disposed of daily;

24 ‘‘(B) where there is no evidence of existing

25 ground water contamination from the unit; and

26 ‘‘(C) which serves a community—
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1 ‘‘(i) that experiences an annual interrup2 tion of at least 3 consecutive months of surface

3 transportation that prevents access to a re4 gional waste management facility;

5 ‘‘(ii) that has no practicable waste manage6 ment alternative; or

7 ‘‘(iii) is in an area that receives 25 inches

8 or less of precipitation annually.

9 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF GROUND WATER RE10 SOURCES.—

11 ‘‘(A) MONITORING REQUIREMENT.—A State

12 may require ground water monitoring of a solid

13 waste landfill unit that would otherwise be exempt

14 under paragraph (2) if necessary to protect ground

15 water resources and ensure compliance with a State

16 ground water protection plan, where applicable, if

17 the State ascertains (using its own resources) that

18 such monitoring will produce evidence of contamina19 tion.

20 ‘‘(B) METHODS.—If a State requires ground

21 water monitoring of a solid waste landfill unit under

22 subparagraph (A), the State may allow the use of a

23 method other than the use of ground water monitor24 ing wells to detect a release of contamination from

25 the unit.
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1 ‘‘(C) CORRECTIVE ACTION.—If a State finds a

2 release from a solid waste landfill unit, the State

3 shall require corrective action as appropriate.

4 ‘‘(4) REMOTE ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGES.—Upon

5 certification by the Governor of the State of Alaska that

6 application of the requirements of the criteria described

7 in paragraph (1) to a solid waste landfill unit of a Native

8 village (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims

9 Settlement Act (16 U.S.C. 1602)) would be infeasible,

10 would not be cost-effective, or is otherwise inappropriate

11 because of the remote location of the unit, the unit shall

12 be exempt from those requirements.’’.

13 (b) REINSTATEMENT OF REGULATORY EXEMP14 TION.—It is the intent of section 4010(e)(2) of the Solid

15 Waste Disposal Act, as added by subsection (u), to imme16 diately reinstate subpart E of part 258 of title 40, Code

17 of Federal Regulations, as added by the final rule pub18 lished at 56 Federal Register 50798 on October 9, 1991.

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