I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3865

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) to provide for the clean up of municipal waste landfill Superfund sites, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1994

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut (for herself and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts)

introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees

on Energy and Commerce and Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) to provide for the clean up of municipal waste landfill

Superfund sites, 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. STATE PROGRAMS FOR CLEAN UP OF MUNICI4 PAL WASTE LANDFILL SUPERFUND SITES.

5 (a) STATE PROGRAMS.—(1) The Comprehensive En6 vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

7 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) is amended by adding at

8 the end of title I the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 127. MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILL SITES.

2 ‘‘(a) STATE PROGRAMS.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State may develop

4 and submit to the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency a State program under

6 which the State will remediate, in accordance with

7 this section, qualified municipal waste landfills.

8 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis9 trator shall require that State programs under this

10 section be submitted at such time, in such form, and

11 in such manner as the Administrator deems appro12 priate. Not later than 180 days after receipt of a

13 State program, the Administrator shall approve or

14 disapprove the program. The Administrator shall ap15 prove the program if the Administrator determines

16 that the program provides for the remediation of

17 qualified municipal waste landfills in accordance

18 with the provisions of subsection (b). Upon approval

19 of such program, the provisions of this title (other

20 than this section and section 101) shall not apply to

21 any release or threatened release at any qualified

22 municipal waste landfill which is covered by such

23 program. If the program is disapproved, the Admin24 istrator shall inform the State of the reasons for the

25 disapproval and permit the State to correct and re26 submit the program for approval.
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1 ‘‘(b) REMEDIATION.—The President shall promul2 gate, after opportunity for notice and comment, regula3 tions governing response action under this section. Such

4 regulations shall provide for a presumptive remedy based

5 on streamlined site characterization using the Environ6 mental Protection Agency’s Model Municipal Landfill Re7 medial Investigation and Feasibility Study Guidance and

8 for closure of the site consistent with subtitle D of the

9 Solid Waste Disposal Act. Such presumptive remedy shall

10 include each of the following:

11 ‘‘(1) Waste consolidation where feasible if mul12 tiple discrete disposal sites can be more economically

13 contained in one unit.

14 ‘‘(2) Final cover, including a barrier layer with

a permeability equal to 1 x 10¥5 15 cm per second or

16 a flexible membrane liner of at least 30mm thick17 ness, and properly maintained vegetative cover.

18 Upon demonstration, existing caps providing com19 parable control may be used or upgraded as needed.

20 ‘‘(3) Landfill gas control consistent with sub21 title D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and where

22 necessary passive gas controls unless gas volumes

23 and composition require active collection.

24 ‘‘(4) Surface water controls.
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1 ‘‘(5) Control of leachate where feasible and nec2 essary given the landfill’s design and as required by

3 its contact with ground water.

4 ‘‘(6) Ground water monitoring as required by

5 subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

6 ‘‘(7) Where ground water has been impacted by

7 the site, assurance of no migration of contamination

8 beyond the facility boundary or, if appropriate,

9 treatment at point of withdrawal.

10 ‘‘(8) Institutional controls to prevent future ex11 posure to waste, including, where appropriate and

12 consistent with local zoning authority, prohibitions

13 on the use of private wells on site or on adjacent

14 properties; creation of buffer zones; use of zoning to

15 prevent future land uses which would disturb the

16 site’s final cover. To the maximum extent feasible

17 and as authorized by the local land control author18 ity, beneficial uses consistent with maintenance of

19 proper closure should be employed (e.g., use as park20 land, conservation district, active waste management

21 facility, limited access industrial activity, roadway).

22 Residential use is not permitted at sites employing

23 presumptive remedies.

24 ‘‘(9) Site security to prevent access inconsistent

25 with closure requirements.
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1 ‘‘(10) A post-closure care plan that ensures the

2 maintenance and stability of containment and insti3 tutional control measures for so long as each meas4 ure is necessary to assure the integrity of the

5 remedy.

6 If the President has reason to believe, based on site-spe7 cific risk factors such as records of disposal of significant

8 quantities of hazardous waste, that the presumptive rem9 edy will not protect human health and the environment,

10 he may require additional protections, including but not

11 limited to, removal of drums or other discrete, accessible

12 areas of high concentration waste where practicable.

13 ‘‘(c) REMEDIATION COSTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) REIMBURSEMENT FROM SUPERFUND.—

15 The President shall reimburse each State with an

16 approved municipal waste landfill remediation pro17 gram for all costs incurred by the State for the re18 mediation, in accordance with subsection (b), of haz19 ardous substances, pollutants and contaminants at

20 facilities listed on the National Priorities List which

21 are qualified municipal waste landfills located in that

22 State. The President shall use funds in the Hazard23 ous Substance Superfund, up to an amount not ex24 ceeding $5,000,000,000, for purposes of providing

25 such reimbursement. Reimbursement shall be pro-
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1 vided for costs incurred with respect to facilities

2 which have a higher ranking on the Hazard Ranking

3 System before reimbursement is provided for costs

4 incurred for facilities having a lower ranking on such

5 system. No reimbursement shall be provided under

6 this section for any transaction costs or other relat7 ed costs.

8 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Reimbursement under

9 paragraph (1) shall be provided for any remediation

10 costs incurred after the date of approval of a State

11 program under this section if the remediation is in

12 accordance with such program.

13 ‘‘(3) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.—(A) If remedi14 ation commenced before approval of a program

15 under this section and was not completed before

16 January 1, 1994, the President shall reimburse each

17 person who incurred costs for such remediation for

18 such costs if the President determines that the re19 mediation is consistent with, or provides at least

20 equivalent protection for public health and the envi21 ronment as, the remediation specified in subsection

22 (b).

23 ‘‘(B) The Administrator may not reimburse any

24 State or other person for costs incurred for remedi25 ation which was completed before January 1, 1994.
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1 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY EXEMPTION.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State has an approved

3 remediation program which covers qualified munici4 pal waste landfills, no person who is otherwise liable

5 under this Act or under any other Federal law with

6 respect to any release or threatened release of a haz7 ardous substance or pollutant or contaminant from

8 any qualified such landfill shall be subject to liability

9 to any other person under this Act or any such other

10 law for injuries, costs, damages, expenses, or other

11 liability (including claims for indemnification or con12 tribution and claims by third parties for death, per13 sonal injury, illness or loss of or damage to property

14 or economic loss) that results from such release or

15 threatened release.

16 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—(A) The exemption under

17 this subsection shall not apply in the case of any

18 landfill at which the remediation was completed be19 fore January 1, 1994.

20 ‘‘(B) The exemption under this subsection shall

21 not apply to any person who violated any Federal,

22 State, or local law relating to the generation,

23 transporation, or disposal of any solid waste which

24 is present at the facility concerned. Any such person

25 shall be liable, in the same manner as provided in
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1 section 107, to the State for any costs incurred by

2 the State pursuant to the State program under this

3 section; and such person shall be liable to the Ad4 ministrator in the same manner for any such costs

5 for which the Administrator has reimbursed the

6 State under this section.

7 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF MUNICIPAL WASTE LAND8 FILLS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified

9 municipal waste landfill’ means a landfill listed on the Na10 tional Priorities List as of the date of enactment of this

11 section which is designated by the Administrator as—

12 ‘‘(1) a site owned by a municipality or county,

13 or

14 ‘‘(2) a privately-owned site which has a record

15 of receiving municipal waste.

16 The Administrator shall publish a list of such sites

17 within 30 days after the enactment of this section.’’.

18 (2) The table of contents for title I of such Act is

19 amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 127. Municipal waste landfills.’’.

20 (b) USES OF SUPERFUND.—Section 111(a) of the

21 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

22 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9611(a)) is amended

23 by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new para24 graph:
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1 ‘‘(7) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS FOR REMEDI2 ATION OF MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILLS.—Payment

3 of not to exceed $5,000,000,000 for the costs of re4 mediation of municipal waste landfills in accordance

5 with section 127.’’.

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