I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 908

To disqualify any individual or business concern who violates a Federal

environmental law, or who holds a beneficial business interest in a

person who has violated such a law, from being eligible to receive certain

benefits from the Environmental Protection Agency for a period of 10

years.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 16, 1993

Mr. PAXON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To disqualify any individual or business concern who violates

a Federal environmental law, or who holds a beneficial

business interest in a person who has violated such a

law, from being eligible to receive certain benefits from

the Environmental Protection Agency for a period of

10 years.

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. DENIAL OF EPA BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN PER2 SONS.

3 (a) INELIGIBILITY.—Any person who applies for an

4 Environmental Protection Agency benefit is ineligible from

5 receiving the benefit if the person has been—

6 (1) convicted of violating any Federal environ7 mental law; or

8 (2) found by the Administrator to hold, or pre9 viously to have held, a beneficial business interest in

10 any business concern which is required to be listed

11 on the person’s disclosure statement under section 2

12 and which has been convicted of violating a Federal

13 environmental law.

14 (b) DETERMINATION OF INELIGIBILITY.—The Ad15 ministrator shall determine whether a person applying for

16 an Environmental Protection Agency benefit is ineligible

17 for the benefit by reason of subsection (a). Such deter18 mination shall be made not later than 6 months after the

19 person submits a disclosure statement under section 2.

20 (c) REHABILITATION.—The Administrator may not

21 determine that a person is ineligible for a benefit by rea22 son of subsection (a)(1) if the person demonstrates by

23 clear and convincing evidence that the person has been

24 rehabilitated. Factors that the Administrator may con25 sider in reviewing the evidence include the following:
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1 (1) The nature and responsibilities of the posi2 tion held by the person.

3 (2) The nature and seriousness of the offense.

4 (3) The circumstances under which the offense

5 occurred.

6 (4) The date of the offense.

7 (5) The age of the person when the offense was

8 committed.

9 (6) Whether the offense was an isolated or re10 peated incident.

11 (d) PERIOD OF INELIGIBILITY.—The ineligibility for

12 benefits under this section shall apply for a period, as de13 termined by the Administrator of the Environmental Pro14 tection Agency, of not less than 10 years after the date

15 of the conviction or finding by the Administrator under

16 subsection (a).

17 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.

18 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR SUBMISSION OF DISCLOSURE

19 STATEMENT.—For purposes of enforcing section 1, the

20 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

21 shall require any person who—

22 (1) applies for any permit under a Federal envi23 ronmental law;

24 (2) applies for any type of grant or loan from

25 the Environmental Protection Agency;
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1 (3) in the case of a procurement for goods or

2 services being conducted by the Environmental Pro3 tection Agency, submits a sealed bid or competitive

4 proposal to the agency in response to a solicitation

5 for bids or request for proposals for the goods or

6 services; or

7 (4) applies for any other Environmental Protec8 tion Agency benefit;

9 to submit a disclosure statement as described in sub10 section (b). Such disclosure statement shall be submitted

11 to the Environmental Protection Agency at the same time

12 as the application, bid, or proposal is submitted.

13 (b) CONTENTS OF DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.—The

14 following information shall be included in the disclosure

15 statement submitted under subsection (a):

16 (1) In the case of an individual, the full name

17 and business address of the individual. In the case

18 of a business concern, the full name and business

19 address of any officers, directors, partners, or key

20 employees of the business concern and all individuals

21 or business concerns holding any equity in or debt

22 liability of the business concern, or, if the business

23 concern is a publicly traded corporation, all individ24 uals or business concerns holding more than 5 per-
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1 cent of the equity in or debt liability of the business

2 concern.

3 (2) The full name and business address of all

4 officers, directors, or partners of any business con5 cern disclosed in the statement and the names and

6 addresses of all individuals or business concerns

7 holding any equity in or debt liability of any busi8 ness concern so disclosed, or, if the business concern

9 is a publicly traded corporation, all individuals or

10 business concerns holding more than 5 percent of

11 the equity in or debt liability of that business con12 cern.

13 (3) The full name and business address of any

14 business concern which collects, transports, treats,

15 stores, or disposes of solid waste or hazardous waste

16 in which the individual or business concern submit17 ting the disclosure statement holds an equity inter18 est.

19 (4) A description of the experience and creden20 tials in, including any past or present licenses for,

21 the collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or

22 disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste possessed

23 by the individual or business concern, or by any key

24 employee, officer, director, or partner of the business

25 concern.
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1 (5) A listing and explanation of any notices of

2 violation or prosecution, administrative orders, or li3 cense or permit revocations issued by any State or

4 Federal authority, in the 10 years immediately pre5 ceding the submission of the disclosure statement,

6 which are pending or have resulted in a finding or

7 a settlement of a violation of any law, rule, or regu8 lation relating to the collection, transportation,

9 treatment, storage, or disposal of solid waste or haz10 ardous waste by the individual or business concern,

11 or by any key employee, officer, director, or partner

12 of the business concern.

13 (6) A listing and explanation of any judgment

14 of liability or conviction which was rendered, pursu15 ant to any State or Federal statute or local ordi16 nance, against the individual or business concern, or

17 against any key employee, officer, director, or part18 ner of the business concern.

19 (7) A listing of any State or local agencies

20 which had regulatory responsibility over the individ21 ual or business concern in connection with the indi22 vidual’s or business concern’s collection, transpor23 tation, treatment, storage, or disposal of solid waste

24 or hazardous waste.
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1 (8) Any other information the Administrator

2 may require that relates to the competency, reliabil3 ity, or good character of the individual or business

4 concern.

5 (c) REVISIONS.—Each person that submits a disclo6 sure statement under this section shall, if any information

7 required to be included in the disclosure statement

8 changes, or if any additional information should be added

9 after the submission of the statement, provide that infor10 mation to the Administrator in writing not later than 30

11 days after the change or addition.

12 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall enforce

14 section 1 by examination of the disclosure statement re15 quired under section 2 and by such other means, including

16 record and field investigations, as the Administrator con17 siders necessary.

18 (b) ACCESS ENTRY.—For purposes of enforcing this

19 Act—

20 (1) any officer, employee, or representative of

21 the Environmental Protection Agency may enter at

22 reasonable times any establishment or other place

23 where a person who applies for an Environmental

24 Protection Agency benefit carries out business; and
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1 (2) any person who applies for an Environ2 mental Protection Agency benefit shall, upon request

3 of any such officer, employee, or representative, fur4 nish information relating to the benefit application

5 and disclosure statement and permit any such offi6 cer, employee, or representative at all reasonable

7 times to have access to, and to copy all records re8 lating to, such application and statement.

9 (c) HEARING.—Any person who is determined by the

10 Administrator to be ineligible for an Environmental Pro11 tection Agency benefit under this Act shall, upon written

12 request to the Administrator not later than 30 days after

13 the determination is made, be afforded the opportunity for

14 a hearing on the record in accordance with section 554

15 of title 5, United States Code.

16 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY.—(1) Except as provided in

17 paragraph (2), disclosure statements, records, and other

18 information obtained from individuals or business con19 cerns under this Act shall be available to the public.

20 (2) Upon a showing satisfactory to the Administrator

21 by an individual or business concern that the public disclo22 sure of a disclosure statement, record, or other informa23 tion obtained under this Act would divulge information en24 titled to protection under section 1905 of title 18, United
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1 States Code, such information shall be considered con2 fidential in accordance with the purposes of that section.

3 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than six months after

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator

5 shall prescribe regulations to administer and enforce this

6 Act.

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

8 For purposes of this Act:

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency.

12 (2) BENEFICIAL BUSINESS INTEREST.—The

13 term ‘‘beneficial business interest’’ means any form

14 of monetary interest in a business concern, including

15 an equity interest, debt liability, or other interest, by

16 means of which the holder of the interest may influ17 ence, decide, or manage the activities of the business

18 concern.

19 (3) BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘‘business

20 concern’’ means any corporation, firm, joint stock

21 company, association, partnership, trust, or other

22 form of commercial organization.

23 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

24 BENEFIT.—The term ‘‘Environmental Protection

25 Agency benefit’’ means any of the following:
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1 (A) A permit under a Federal environ2 mental law.

3 (B) Any type of grant or loan awarded by

4 the Administrator pursuant to a Federal envi5 ronmental law.

6 (C) Any other benefit awarded by the Ad7 ministrator pursuant to a Federal environ8 mental law that is determined by the Adminis9 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency

10 to be appropriate for inclusion under this Act.

11 (5) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW.—The

12 term ‘‘Federal environmental law’’ includes the fol13 lowing:

14 (A) The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et

15 seq.).

16 (B) The Comprehensive Environmental

17 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

18 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).

19 (C) The Safe Drinking Water Act (42

20 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).

21 (D) The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

22 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).

23 (E) The Toxic Substances Control Act (15

24 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
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1 (6) KEY EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘key em2 ployee’’ means a person employed by an individual

3 or business concern to carry out supervisory, mana4 gerial, or decisionmaking duties.

5 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in6 dividual or a business concern.

7 (8) SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE.—The

8 terms ‘‘solid waste’’ and ‘‘hazardous waste’’ have the

9 meaning given such terms by section 1004 of the

10 Solid Waste Disposal Act.

11 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 This Act shall apply to any person who applies for

13 an Environmental Protection Agency benefit after the ex14 piration of the six-month period beginning on the date of

15 the enactment of this Act.

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