I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2443

To amend subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 29, 1995

Mr. PAXON (for himself, Mr. FRISA, Mr. MANTON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. KING, Mr.

ACKERMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. PALLONE,

Mr. LAZIO of New York, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. SERRANO,

Mr. HASTERT, Mr. WALSH, and Mrs. ROUKEMA) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 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. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF MUNICI4 PAL SOLID WASTE.

5 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste

6 Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 4011. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF MUNICIPAL

2 SOLID WASTE.

3 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT OUT-OF-STATE MU4 NICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—(1) Except as provided in para5 graph (4), beginning January 1, 1996, if requested in

6 writing by an affected local government, a State may pro7 hibit the disposal of out-of-State municipal solid waste in

8 any landfill or incinerator that is not covered by the excep9 tions provided in subsection (b) and that is subject to the

10 jurisdiction of the State and the affected local government.

11 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraph (4), imme12 diately upon the date of publication of the list required

13 in paragraph (6)(C) and notwithstanding the absence of

14 a request in writing by the affected local government, a

15 State, in accordance with paragraph (5), may limit the

16 quantity of out-of-State municipal solid waste received for

17 disposal at each landfill or incinerator covered by the ex18 ceptions provided in subsection (b) that is subject to the

19 jurisdiction of the State, to an annual amount equal to

20 or greater than the quantity of out-of-State municipal

21 solid waste received for disposal at such landfill or inciner22 ator during calendar year 1993.

23 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (4), any

24 State that imported more than 750,000 tons of out-of25 State municipal solid waste in 1993 may establish a limit

26 under this paragraph on the amount of out-of-State mu-
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1 nicipal solid waste received for disposal at landfills and

2 incinerators that are not covered by host community

3 agreements in the importing State as follows:

4 ‘‘(i) In calendar year 1997, 95 percent of the

5 amount exported to the State in calendar year 1993.

6 ‘‘(ii) In calendar years 1998 through 2003, 95

7 percent of the amount exported to the State in the

8 previous year.

9 ‘‘(iii) In calendar year 2004, and each succeed10 ing year, the limit shall be 65 percent of the amount

11 exported in 1993.

12 ‘‘(iv) No exporting State shall be required

13 under this subparagraph to reduce its exports to any

14 importing State below the proportionate amount es15 tablished herein.

16 ‘‘(B) No State may export to landfills or incinerators

17 in any 1 State that are not covered by host community

18 agreements or permits authorizing receipt of out-of-State

19 municipal solid waste more than the following net amounts

20 of municipal solid waste:

21 ‘‘(i) In calendar year 1996, the greater of

22 1,700,000 tons or 95 percent of the net amount ex23 ported to the State in calendar year 1993.
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1 ‘‘(ii) In calendar year 1997, the greater of

2 1,500,000 tons or 95 percent of the net amount ex3 ported to the State in calendar year 1996.

4 ‘‘(iii) In calendar year 1998, the greater of

5 1,400,000 tons or 95 percent of the net amount ex6 ported to the State in calendar year 1997.

7 ‘‘(iv) In calendar year 1999, the greater of

8 1,300,000 tons or 95 percent of the net amount ex9 ported to the State in calendar year 1998.

10 ‘‘(v) In calendar year 2000, the greater of

11 1,200,000 tons or 95 percent of the net amount ex12 ported to the State in calendar year 1999.

13 ‘‘(vi) In calendar year 2001, 1,100,000 tons.

14 ‘‘(vii) In calendar year 2002 or any calendar

15 year thereafter, 1,000,000 tons.

16 For purposes of this clause, the term ‘net amount’ means,

17 for any exporting State in any calendar year, the amount

18 by which the total amount of municipal solid waste ex19 ported by that State in the calendar year to an importing

20 State for disposal in landfills or incinerators in the import21 ing State exceeds the total amount of municipal solid

22 waste exported in the same calendar year by the importing

23 State to the exporting State for disposal in landfills or

24 incinerators in the exporting State.
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1 ‘‘(C) The authority provided by subparagraphs (A)

2 and (B) shall apply for as long as a State exceeds the

3 permissible levels as determined by the Administrator

4 under paragraph (6)(C).

5 ‘‘(D) An importing State may take action to restrict

6 levels of imports to reflect the appropriate level of out7 of-State municipal solid waste imports if—

8 ‘‘(i) the importing State has notified the Gov9 ernor of the exporting State and the Administrator,

10 12 months prior to taking any such action, of the

11 importing State’s intention to impose the require12 ments of this section;

13 ‘‘(ii) the Governor of the importing State has

14 notified the Governor of the exporting State and the

15 Administrator of the violation by the exporting State

16 of this section at least 90 days prior to taking any

17 such action; and

18 ‘‘(iii) the restrictions imposed by the importing

19 State are uniform at all facilities and the importing

20 State may only apply subparagraph (A) or (B) but

21 not both.

22 ‘‘(4)(A) A State may not exercise the authority grant23 ed under this section if such action would result in the

24 violation of, or would otherwise be inconsistent with, the

25 terms of a host community agreement or a permit issued
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1 from the State to receive out-of-State municipal solid

2 waste.

3 ‘‘(B) A limit or prohibition under this section shall

4 be treated as conflicting and inconsistent with a permit

5 or host community agreement if—

6 ‘‘(i) the permit or host community agreement

7 establishes a higher limit; or

8 ‘‘(ii) the permit or host community agreement

9 does not establish any limit.

10 ‘‘(C) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a State

11 may not exercise the authority granted under this section

12 in a manner that would require any owner or operator of

13 a landfill or incinerator covered by the exceptions provided

14 in subsection (b) to reduce the amount of out-of-State mu15 nicipal solid waste received from any State for disposal

16 at such landfill or incinerator to an annual quantity less

17 than the amount received from such State for disposal at

18 such landfill or incinerator during calendar year 1993.

19 ‘‘(5) Any limitation imposed by a State under para20 graph (2) or (3)—

21 ‘‘(A) shall be applicable throughout the State;

22 ‘‘(B) shall not directly or indirectly discriminate

23 against any particular landfill or incinerator within

24 the State; and
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1 ‘‘(C) shall not directly or indirectly discriminate

2 against any shipments of out-of-State municipal

3 solid waste on the basis of place of origin and all

4 such limitations shall be applied to all States in vio5 lation of paragraph (3).

6 ‘‘(6)(A) Within 90 days after enactment of this sec7 tion and on April 1 of each year thereafter the owner or

8 operator of each landfill or incinerator receiving out-of9 State municipal solid waste shall submit to the affected

10 local government and to the Governor of the State in

11 which the landfill or incinerator is located, information

12 specifying the amount and State of origin of out-of-State

13 municipal solid waste received for disposal during the pre14 ceding calendar year, and the amount of waste that was

15 received pursuant to host community agreements or per16 mits authorizing receipt of out-of-State municipal solid

17 waste. Within 120 days after enactment of this section

18 and on May 1 of each year thereafter each State shall

19 publish and make available to the Administrator, the Gov20 ernor of the State of origin and the public, a report con21 taining information on the amount of out-of-State munici22 pal solid waste received for disposal in the State during

23 the preceding calendar year.

24 ‘‘(B) Each submission referred to in this section shall

25 be such as would result in criminal penalties in case of
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1 false or misleading information. Such information shall in2 clude the date and amount of waste received, the State

3 of origin, and the type of out-of-State municipal solid

4 waste. States making submissions referred to in this sec5 tion to the Administrator shall notice these submissions

6 for public review and comment at the State level before

7 submitting them to the Administrator.

8 ‘‘(C) The Administrator shall publish a list of import9 ing States and the out-of-State municipal solid waste re10 ceived from each State at landfills or incinerators not cov11 ered by host community agreements or permits authoriz12 ing receipt of out-of-State municipal solid waste. The list

13 for any calendar year shall be published by June 1 of the

14 following calendar year.

15 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed

16 to preempt any State requirement that requires more fre17 quent reporting of information.

18 ‘‘(E) For purposes of developing the list required in

19 this section, the Administrator shall be responsible for col20 lating and publishing only that information provided to

21 the Administrator by States pursuant to this section. The

22 Administrator shall not be required to gather additional

23 data over and above that provided by the States pursuant

24 to this section, nor to verify data provided by the States

25 pursuant to this section, nor to arbitrate or otherwise en-
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1 tertain or resolve disputes between States or other parties

2 concerning interstate movements of municipal solid waste.

3 ‘‘(7) Any affected local government that intends to

4 submit a request under paragraph (1) or take formal ac5 tion to enter into a host community agreement after the

6 date of enactment of this section shall, prior to taking

7 such action—

8 ‘‘(A) notify the Governor, contiguous local gov9 ernments, and any contiguous Indian tribes;

10 ‘‘(B) publish notice of the action in a news11 paper of general circulation at least 30 days before

12 taking such action;

13 ‘‘(C) provide an opportunity for public com14 ment; and

15 ‘‘(D) following notice and comment, take formal

16 action on any proposed request or action at a public

17 meeting.

18 ‘‘(8) Any owner or operator seeking a host commu19 nity agreement after the date of enactment of this section

20 shall provide to the affected local government the following

21 information, which shall be made available to the public

22 from the affected local government:

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

24 including a description of the facility size, ultimate
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1 waste capacity, and anticipated monthly and yearly

2 waste quantities to be handled.

3 ‘‘(B) A map of the facility site that indicates

4 the location of the facility in relation to the local

5 road system and topographical and hydrological fea6 tures and any buffer zones and facility units to be

7 acquired by the owner or operator of the facility.

8 ‘‘(C) A description of the existing environ9 mental conditions at the site, and any violations of

10 applicable laws or regulations.

11 ‘‘(D) A description of environmental controls to

12 be utilized at the facility.

13 ‘‘(E) A description of the site access controls to

14 be employed, and roadway improvements to be

15 made, by the owner or operator, and an estimate

16 of the timing and extent of increased local truck

17 traffic.

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

19 local permits.

20 ‘‘(G) Any information that is required by State

21 or Federal law to be provided with respect to any

22 violations of environmental laws (including regula23 tions) by the owner and operator, the disposition of

24 enforcement proceedings taken with respect to the
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1 violations, and corrective measures taken as a result

2 of the proceedings.

3 ‘‘(H) Any information that is required by State

4 or Federal law to be provided with respect to compli5 ance by the owner or operator with the State solid

6 waste management plan.

7 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS TO AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT

8 OUT-OF-STATE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—(1) The au9 thority to prohibit the disposal of out-of-State municipal

10 solid waste provided under subsection (a)(1) shall not

11 apply to landfills and incinerators in operation on the date

12 of enactment of this section that—

13 ‘‘(A) received during calendar year 1993 docu14 mented shipments of out-of-State municipal solid

15 waste; and

16 ‘‘(B)(i) in the case of landfills, are in compli17 ance with all applicable Federal and State laws and

18 regulations relating to operation, design and location

19 standards, leachate collection, ground water monitor20 ing, and financial assurance for closure and post-clo21 sure and corrective action; or

22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of incinerators, are in compli23 ance with the applicable requirements of section 129

24 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7429) and applica-
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1 ble State laws and regulations relating to facility de2 sign and operations.

3 ‘‘(2) A State may not prohibit the disposal of out4 of-State municipal solid waste pursuant to subsection

5 (a)(1) at facilities described in this subsection that are not

6 in compliance with applicable Federal and State laws and

7 regulations unless disposal of municipal solid waste gen8 erated within the State at such facilities is also prohibited.

9 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY TO LIMIT OUT-OF10 STATE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—(1) In any case in

11 which an affected local government is considering entering

12 into a host community agreement and the disposal or in13 cineration of out-of-State municipal solid waste under

14 such agreement would preclude the use of municipal solid

15 waste management capacity described in paragraph (2),

16 the State in which the affected local government is located

17 may prohibit the execution of such host community agree18 ment with respect to that capacity.

19 ‘‘(2) The municipal solid waste management capacity

20 referred to in paragraph (1) is that capacity—

21 ‘‘(A) that is permitted under Federal or State

22 law;

23 ‘‘(B) that is identified under the State plan;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(C) for which a legally binding commitment

2 between the owner or operator and another party

3 has been made for its use for disposal or inciner4 ation of municipal solid waste generated within the

5 region (identified under section 4006(a)) in which

6 the local government is located.

7 ‘‘(d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall

8 be interpreted or construed—

9 ‘‘(1) to have any effect on State law relating to

10 contracts;

11 ‘‘(2) to affect the authority of any State or local

12 government to protect public health and the environ13 ment through laws, regulations, and permits, includ14 ing the authority to limit the total amount of munic15 ipal solid waste that landfill or incinerator owners or

16 operators within the jurisdiction of a State may ac17 cept during a prescribed period: Provided That such

18 limitations do not discriminate between in-State and

19 out-of-State municipal solid waste, except to the ex20 tent authorized by this section; or

21 ‘‘(3) to authorize, require, result in the violation

22 or failure of, or mandate the renegotiation of, a

23 written, legally binding contract entered into before

24 the enactment of this section.

25 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
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1 ‘‘(1)(A) The term ‘affected local government’,

2 used with respect to a landfill or incinerator,

3 means—

4 ‘‘(i) the public body created by State law

5 with responsibility to plan for municipal solid

6 waste management, a majority of the members

7 of which are elected officials, for the area in

8 which the facility is located or proposed to be

9 located; or

10 ‘‘(ii) the elected officials of the city, town,

11 township, borough, county, or parish exercising

12 primary responsibility over municipal solid

13 waste management, or the land or the use of

14 land in the jurisdiction in which the facility is

15 located or is proposed to be located.

16 ‘‘(B)(i) Within 90 days after the date of enact17 ment of this section, a Governor may designate and

18 publish notice of which entity listed in clause (i) or

19 (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall serve as the affected

20 local government for actions taken under this section

21 and after publication of such notice.

22 ‘‘(ii) If a Governor fails to make and publish

23 notice of such a designation, the affected local gov24 ernment shall be the elected officials of the city,

25 town, township, borough, county, parish, or other
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1 public body created pursuant to State law with pri2 mary jurisdiction over the land or the use of land

3 on which the facility is located or is proposed to be

4 located.

5 ‘‘(C) For purposes of host community agree6 ments entered into before the date of publication of

7 the notice, the term means either a public body de8 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i) or the elected offi9 cials of any of the public bodies described in sub10 paragraph (A)(ii).

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘host community agreement’

12 means a written, legally binding document or docu13 ments executed by duly authorized officials of an af14 fected local government and an owner or operator of

15 a landfill or incinerator and that specifically author16 izes a landfill or incinerator to receive municipal

17 solid waste generated out-of-State, but does not in18 clude any agreement to pay differential host commu19 nity fees for receipt of waste unless additional spe20 cific authorization to receive out-of-State municipal

21 solid waste is also included. In the case of an agree22 ment entered into prior to December 31, 1987, pro23 visions for the payment of a fee by the owner or op24 erator for disposal by any State or out-of-State en-
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1 tity shall be treated as a specific authorization to

2 import waste from outside the State.

3 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘specifically authorized’ ‘specific

4 authorization’ and ‘specifically authorizes’ refer to

5 an explicit authorization, contained in a host com6 munity agreement or permit, to import waste from

7 outside the State. Such authorization may include a

8 reference to a fixed radius surrounding the landfill

9 or incinerator that includes an area outside the

10 State or a reference to any place of origin, reference

11 to specific places outside the State, or use of such

12 phrases as ‘regardless of origin’ or ‘outside the

13 State’. The language for such authorization may

14 vary as long as it reasonably evidences the approval

15 or consent of the affected local government or State

16 for receipt of municipal solid waste from sources

17 outside the State.

18 ‘‘(4) The term ‘out-of-State municipal solid

19 waste’ means, with respect to any State, municipal

20 solid waste generated outside of the State. Unless

21 the President determines it is inconsistent with the

22 North American Free Trade Agreement and the

23 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the term

24 shall include municipal solid waste generated outside

25 of the United States. Notwithstanding any other
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1 provision of law, generators of municipal solid waste

2 outside the United States shall possess no greater

3 right of access to disposal facilities in a State than

4 United States generators of municipal solid waste

5 outside of that State.

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

7 refuse (and refuse-derived fuel) generated by the

8 general public or from a residential, commercial, in9 stitutional, or industrial source (or any combination

10 thereof), consisting of paper, wood, yard wastes,

11 plastics, leather, rubber, or other combustible or

12 noncombustible materials such as metal or glass (or

13 any combination thereof). The term ‘municipal solid

14 waste’ does not include—

15 ‘‘(A) any solid waste identified or listed as

16 a hazardous waste under section 3001;

17 ‘‘(B) any solid waste, including contami18 nated soil and debris, resulting from a response

19 action taken under section 104 or 106 of the

20 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com21 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C.

22 9604 or 9606) or a corrective action taken

23 under this Act;

24 ‘‘(C) any metal, pipe, glass, plastic, paper,

25 textile, or other material that has been sepa-
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1 rated or diverted from municipal solid waste (as

2 otherwise defined in this paragraph) and has

3 been transported into a State for the purpose of

4 recycling or reclamation;

5 ‘‘(D) any solid waste that is—

6 ‘‘(i) generated by an industrial facil7 ity; and

8 ‘‘(ii) transported for the purpose of

9 treatment, storage, or disposal to a facility

10 that is owned or operated by the generator

11 of the waste, or is located on property

12 owned by the generator of the waste, or is

13 located on property owned by a company in

14 which the generator of the waste has an

15 ownership interest;

16 ‘‘(E) any solid waste generated incident to

17 the provision of service in interstate, intrastate,

18 foreign, or overseas air transportation;

19 ‘‘(F) any industrial waste that is not iden20 tical to municipal solid waste (as otherwise de21 fined in this paragraph) with respect to the

22 physical and chemical state of the industrial

23 waste, and composition;

24 ‘‘(G) any construction and demolition de25 bris from any source;
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1 ‘‘(H) any sewage sludge and residuals from

2 any sewage treatment plant; or

3 ‘‘(I) any combustion ash generated by re4 source recovery facilities or municipal inciner5 ators, or waste from manufacturing or process6 ing (including pollution control) operations not

7 essentially the same as waste normally gen8 erated by households; or

9 ‘‘(J) any medical waste that is segregated

10 from or not mixed with municipal solid waste

11 (as otherwise defined in this paragraph); or

12 ‘‘(K) any material or product returned

13 from a dispenser or distributor to the manufac14 turer for credit, evaluation, or possible reuse.

15 ‘‘(5) The term ‘compliance’ means a pattern or

16 practice of adhering to and satisfying standards and

17 requirements promulgated by the Federal or a State

18 government for the purpose of preventing significant

19 harm to human health and the environment. Actions

20 undertaken in accordance with compliance schedules

21 for remediation established by Federal or State en22 forcement authorities shall be considered compliance

23 for purposes of this section.

24 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT.—Any

25 State may adopt such laws and regulations, not inconsist-
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1 ent with this section, as are necessary to implement and

2 enforce this section, including provisions for penalties.

3 ‘‘(g) SUNSET.—The provisions of this section shall

4 cease to apply on the date 10 years after the enactment

5 of this section.’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table

7 of contents in section 1001 of the Solid Waste Disposal

8 Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901) is amended by adding at the

9 end of the items relating to subtitle D the following new

10 item:

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

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