II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1209

To provide for a delay in the applicability of certain regulations to certain

municipal solid waste landfills under the Solid Waste Disposal Act,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 1 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. KEMPTHORNE (for himself, Mr. HATCH, and Mr. CRAIG) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To provide for a delay in the applicability of certain regulations to certain municipal solid waste landfills under

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. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Local Government Landfill Compliance Deadline Act’’.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to

7 strengthen the ability of county and city officials to fulfill

8 the goals established for municipal solid waste landfills by

9 allowing adequate time for wise, environmentally sound,
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1 and fiscally responsible decisionmaking by the officials in

2 a manner consistent with the obligations of the officials

3 to the citizens they serve.

4 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN LANDFILLS

5 FROM MEETING REVISED CRITERIA.

6 (a) TEMPORARY EXEMPTION.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), during the 1-year period beginning on Oc9 tober 9, 1993, each municipal solid waste landfill

10 that—

11 (A) is in existence on October 8, 1993; and

12 (B) meets the requirements of the criteria

13 contained in regulations issued pursuant to sec14 tions 4004(a) and 4010(c) of the Solid Waste

15 Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6944(a) and 6949a(c),

16 respectively) as in effect on January 1, 1993,

17 shall not be required to meet any revised criteria

18 that take effect after the date specified in subpara19 graph (B).

20 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator of

22 the Environmental Protection Agency (referred

23 to in this section as the ‘Administrator’), or the

24 appropriate official of a State with a plan ap25 proved by the Administrator pursuant to title
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1 IV of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.

2 6941 et seq.) (referred to in this section as an

3 ‘‘appropriate State official’’), determines that

4 the owner or operator of a municipal solid

5 waste landfill did not make a good faith effort

6 before October 9, 1993, to comply with any re7 vised criteria that took effect after the date

8 specified in paragraph (1)(B), the exemption

9 described in paragraph (1) shall not apply to

10 the landfill.

11 (B) TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF EXEMP12 TION.—The owner or operator of a municipal

13 solid waste landfill that is the subject of an ex14 emption under paragraph (1) may submit an

15 application to the Administrator or an appro16 priate State official (in the case of a State re17 ferred to in subparagraph (A)) for a 180-day

18 extension of the exemption. The Administrator

19 (or the appropriate State official) shall grant

20 the extension if the Administrator (or the ap21 propriate State official) determines that the

22 owner or operator cannot achieve compliance

23 with the revised criteria referred to in such

24 paragraph by the end of the 1-year period spec25 ified in such paragraph because of 1 or more
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1 factors beyond the control of the owner or oper2 ator, including—

3 (i) litigation;

4 (ii) adverse weather conditions that

5 slow or bring to a temporary halt the con6 struction of a landfill;

7 (iii) a breakdown in negotiations for

8 the construction or use of a regional land9 fill that requires any local government par10 ticipating in the negotiations to pursue

11 other arrangements for waste disposal; or

12 (iv) any delay in siting, permitting, or

13 patenting a landfill or transfer station, in14 cluding any delay attributable to—

15 (I) the unavailability of, or inac16 cessibility to, technical assistance; or

17 (II) procedures for purchasing,

18 leasing, permitting, or patenting a site

19 on Federal land, including carrying

20 out any necessary environmental as21 sessments or preparing environmental

22 impact statements pursuant to the

23 National Environmental Policy Act of

24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
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1 (C) MANDATORY EXTENSION.—The Ad2 ministrator (or the appropriate State official)

3 may not disapprove any application referred to

4 in subparagraph (B) in any case in which the

5 Administrator (or appropriate State official) de6 termines that the failure of a Federal agency or

7 a department or agency of a State to issue a

8 permit, patent, or other necessary approval for

9 a landfill that is the subject of the application,

10 or a transfer station associated with the land11 fill, has been a factor in the inability of the

12 owner or operator of the landfill to achieve com13 pliance with the revised criteria referred to in

14 paragraph (1).

15 (b) PRIOR CRITERIA APPLICABLE DURING EXEMP16 TION PERIOD.—During the period specified in subsection

17 (a)(1), and during any applicable additional period speci18 fied in subsection (a)(2)(B), a landfill subject to an ex19 emption pursuant to this section shall be subject to the

20 criteria referred to in subsection (a)(1)(B).

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REVISED CRITERIA.—Ex22 cept as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, begin23 ning on October 9, 1994, each municipal solid waste land24 fill shall be subject to the revised criteria applicable to the

25 landfill issued pursuant to sections 4004(a) and 4010(c)
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1 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6944(a) and

2 6949a(c), respectively), and any subsequent revision to the

3 criteria.

4 (d) CITIZEN SUITS.—No person may commence a

5 civil action pursuant to section 7002 of the Solid Waste

6 Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6972) on the basis of the failure

7 of a municipal solid waste landfill subject to the exemption

8 described in subsection (a)(1) to meet any requirement

9 with respect to which the exemption applies.

10 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF EFFECTIVE DATE OF FINANCIAL AS11 SURANCE REQUIREMENTS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, the Administrator shall issue regulations that

14 revise the financial assurance requirements under subpart

15 G of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to broaden the

16 mechanisms available to an owner or operator of a munici17 pal solid waste landfill for demonstrating financial respon18 sibility. The revised regulations shall include revised cri19 teria for determining whether mechanisms in addition to

20 the mechanisms specified in the regulations may be ap21 proved by the Administrator. The revised criteria shall

22 take into account the financial circumstances of small mu23 nicipalities and counties (as defined and determined by the

24 Administrator).
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The revised regulations pro2 mulgated pursuant to subsection (a) shall take effect on

3 the date that is 2 years after the promulgation of the regu4 lations.

5 (c) APPLICABILITY.—During the period beginning on

6 the effective date specified in section 258.70 of title 40,

7 Code of Federal Regulations, and ending on the date spec8 ified in subsection (b), the financial assurance require9 ments under subpart G of part 258 of title 40, Code of

10 Federal Regulations, shall not apply.

11 SEC. 4. GROUND WATER MONITORING.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall

14 issue regulations that exempt from the ground water mon15 itoring requirements under sections 258.51 through

16 258.55 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, any mu17 nicipal solid waste landfill unit described in the matter

18 preceding clause (i) in section 258.1(f)(1), as added by

19 the final rule published at 56 Fed. Reg. 50798 on October

20 9, 1991, (referred to in this section as a ‘‘small land21 fill’’)—

22 (1) in a community that experiences an annual

23 interruption of at least 3 consecutive months of sur24 face transportation that prevents access to a re25 gional waste management facility; or
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1 (2) in a community that has no practicable

2 waste management alternative and that has a small

3 landfill unit located in an area that annually receives

4 less than or equal to 25 inches of precipitation.

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulations promulgated

6 pursuant to subsection (a) shall take effect on the date

7 that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

8 (c) EXEMPTION.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, before the effective date of the regulations re10 ferred to in subsection (b), a landfill referred to in sub11 section (a) shall not be required to carry out any ground

12 water monitoring activities required under Federal law.

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