II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 542

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow States to regulate the

disposal of municipal solid waste generated outside of the State, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 13 (legislative day, MARCH 6), 1995

Mr. CONRAD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow States

to regulate the disposal of municipal solid waste generated outside of the State, 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. AUTHORITY TO REGULATE OUT-OF-STATE

4 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. AUTHORIZATION FOR STATES TO REGULATE

2 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE GENERATED IN AN3 OTHER STATE.

4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

5 ‘‘(1) AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The

6 term ‘affected local government’ means the elected

7 officials of a political subdivision of a State in which

8 a facility for the treatment, incineration, or disposal

9 of municipal solid waste is located (as designated by

10 the State pursuant to subsection (d)).

11 ‘‘(2) AFFECTED LOCAL SOLID WASTE PLAN12 NING UNIT.—The term ‘affected local solid waste

13 planning unit’ means a planning unit, established

14 pursuant to State law, that has—

15 ‘‘(A) jurisdiction over the geographic area

16 in which a facility for the treatment, inciner17 ation, or disposal of municipal waste is located;

18 and

19 ‘‘(B) authority relating to solid waste man20 agement planning.

21 ‘‘(3) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—The term

22 ‘municipal solid waste’—

23 ‘‘(A) means refuse, and any nonhazardous

24 residue generated from the combustion of the

25 refuse, generated by—

26 ‘‘(i) the general public;
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1 ‘‘(ii) a residential, commercial, or in2 dustrial source (or any combination of the

3 sources); or

4 ‘‘(iii) a municipal solid waste inciner5 ator facility; and

6 ‘‘(B) includes refuse that consists of paper,

7 wood, yard waste, plastic, leather, rubber, or

8 other combustible or noncombustible material

9 such as metal or glass (or any combination of

10 the materials); but

11 ‘‘(C) does not include—

12 ‘‘(i) hazardous waste identified under

13 section 3001;

14 ‘‘(ii) waste resulting from an action

15 taken under section 104 or 106 of the

16 Comprehensive Environmental Response,

17 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

18 (42 U.S.C. 9604, 9606);

19 ‘‘(iii) material collected for the pur20 pose of recycling or reclamation;

21 ‘‘(iv) waste generated in the provision

22 of service in interstate, intrastate, foreign,

23 or overseas air transportation;

24 ‘‘(v) industrial waste (including debris

25 from construction or demolition) that is
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1 not identical to municipal solid waste in

2 composition and physical and chemical

3 characteristics; or

4 ‘‘(vi) medical waste that is segregated

5 from municipal solid waste.

6 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO REGULATE.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State is authorized to

8 enact and enforce a State law that regulates the

9 treatment, incineration, and disposal of municipal

10 solid waste generated in another State.

11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITIES.—A State law described in

12 paragraph (1) may include provisions for—

13 ‘‘(A) the imposition of a ban or limit on

14 the importation of municipal solid waste gen15 erated outside of the State; and

16 ‘‘(B) the collection of differential fees or

17 other charges for the treatment, incineration, or

18 disposal of municipal solid waste generated in

19 another State.

20 ‘‘(c) LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPROVAL.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2) or as otherwise provided under State law,

23 the owner or operator of a landfill, incinerator, or

24 other waste disposal facility in a State may not ac25 cept for treatment, incineration, or disposal any mu-
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1 nicipal solid waste generated outside of the State un2 less the owner or operator has obtained a written

3 authorization to accept the waste from—

4 ‘‘(A) the affected local government; and

5 ‘‘(B) any affected local solid waste plan6 ning unit established under State law.

7 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall

9 not apply with respect to an owner or operator

10 of a landfill, incinerator, or other waste disposal

11 facility that—

12 ‘‘(i) otherwise complies with all appli13 cable laws of the State in which the facility

14 is located relating to the treatment, incin15 eration, or disposal of municipal solid

16 waste; and

17 ‘‘(ii) prior to the date of enactment of

18 this section, accepted for treatment, incin19 eration, or disposal municipal solid waste

20 generated outside of the State.

21 ‘‘(B) EXISTING AUTHORIZATIONS.—An

22 owner or operator of a facility described in

23 paragraph (1) that, prior to the date of enact24 ment of this section, obtained a written author25 ization from—
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1 ‘‘(i) the appropriate official of a politi2 cal subdivision of the State (as determined

3 by the State); and

4 ‘‘(ii) any affected local solid waste

5 planning unit established pursuant to the

6 law of the State,

7 to carry out the treatment, incineration, or dis8 posal of municipal solid waste generated outside

9 of the State shall, during the period of author10 ization, be considered to be in compliance with

11 the requirements of paragraph (1).

12 ‘‘(C) FACILITIES UNDER CONSTRUC13 TION.—If, prior to the date of enactment of

14 this section, an appropriate political subdivision

15 of a State (as determined by the State) and any

16 affected local solid waste planning unit estab17 lished under the law of the State issued a writ18 ten authorization for a facility that is under

19 construction, or is to be constructed, to accept

20 for treatment, incineration, or disposal munici21 pal solid waste generated outside the State, the

22 owner or operator of the facility, when con23 struction is completed, shall be considered to be

24 in compliance with paragraph (1) during the

25 period of authorization.
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1 ‘‘(3) EXPANSION OF FACILITIES.—An owner or

2 operator that expands a landfill, incinerator, or

3 other waste disposal facility shall be required to ob4 tain the authorizations required under paragraph (1)

5 prior to accepting for treatment, incineration, or dis6 posal municipal solid waste that is generated outside

7 the State.

8 ‘‘(4) PRIOR DISCLOSURE.—Prior to formal ac9 tion with respect to an authorization to receive mu10 nicipal solid waste or incinerator ash generated out11 side the State, the affected local government and the

12 affected local solid waste planning unit shall—

13 ‘‘(A) require from the owner or operator of

14 the facility seeking the authorization and make

15 readily available to the Governor, adjoining In16 dian tribes, and other interested persons for in17 spection and copying—

18 ‘‘(i) a brief description of the planned

19 facility, including a description of the facil20 ity size, ultimate waste capacity, and an21 ticipated monthly and yearly waste quan22 tity to be handled;

23 ‘‘(ii) a map of the facility site that

24 discloses—
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1 ‘‘(I) the location of the facility in

2 relation to the local road system and

3 topographical and hydrological fea4 tures; and

5 ‘‘(II) any buffer zones and facil6 ity units that are to be acquired by

7 the owner or operator of the facility;

8 ‘‘(iii) a description of the then current

9 environmental characteristics of the site,

10 including information regarding—

11 ‘‘(I) ground water resources; and

12 ‘‘(II) alterations that may be ne13 cessitated by or occur as a result of

14 the facility;

15 ‘‘(iv) a description of—

16 ‘‘(I) appropriate environmental

17 controls to be used at the site, includ18 ing run-on or run-off management, air

19 pollution control devices, source sepa20 ration procedures, methane monitor21 ing and control, landfill covers, liners,

22 leachate collection systems, and mon23 itoring and testing programs; and

24 ‘‘(II) any waste residuals gen25 erated by the facility, including leach-
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1 ate or ash, and the planned manage2 ment of the residuals;

3 ‘‘(v) a description of the site access

4 controls to be employed and roadway im5 provements to be made by the owner or op6 erator and an estimate of the timing and

7 extent of increased local truck traffic;

8 ‘‘(vi) a list of all required Federal,

9 State, and local permits required to oper10 ate the landfill and receive waste generated

11 outside of the State;

12 ‘‘(vii) estimates of the personnel re13 quirements of the facility, including infor14 mation regarding the probable skill and

15 education levels required for jobs at the fa16 cility that distinguishes between employ17 ment statistics for pre-operational levels

18 and those for post-operational levels;

19 ‘‘(viii)(I) information with respect to

20 any violations of regulations by the owner

21 or operator, or subsidiaries;

22 ‘‘(II) the disposition of enforcement

23 proceedings taken with respect to the viola24 tions; and
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1 ‘‘(III) corrective action and rehabilita2 tion measures taken as a result of the pro3 ceedings;

4 ‘‘(ix) information required by State

5 law to be provided with respect to gifts,

6 contributions, and contracts by the owner

7 or operator to any elected or appointed

8 public official, agency, institution, busi9 ness, or charity located within the affected

10 local area to be served by the facility;

11 ‘‘(x) information required by State

12 law to be provided by the owner or opera13 tor with respect to compliance by the

14 owner or operator with the State solid

15 waste management plan in effect pursuant

16 to section 4007;

17 ‘‘(xi) information with respect to the

18 source and amount of capital required to

19 construct and operate the facility in ac20 cordance with the information provided

21 under clauses (i) through (vii); and

22 ‘‘(xii) information with respect to the

23 source and amount of insurance, collateral,

24 or bond secured by the applicant to meet

25 all Federal and State requirements;
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1 ‘‘(B) provide opportunity for public com2 ment, including at least 1 public hearing; and

3 ‘‘(C) not less than 30 days prior to formal

4 action—

5 ‘‘(i) publish notice of the action in a

6 newspaper of general circulation; and

7 ‘‘(ii) notify the Governor, adjoining

8 local governments, and adjoining Indian

9 tribes.

10 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERN11 MENT.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enact12 ment of this section, the Governor of each State shall, for

13 the purpose of this section, designate the type of political

14 subdivision of the State that shall serve as the affected

15 local government with respect to authorizing a facility to

16 accept for treatment, incineration, or disposal of municipal

17 solid waste generated outside of the State. If the Governor

18 of a State fails to make a designation by the date specified

19 in this subsection, the affected local government shall be

20 the public body with primary jurisdiction over the land or

21 use of the land on which the facility is located.’’.

22 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

23 subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended

24 by adding after the item relating to section 4010 the fol25 lowing new item:
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‘‘Sec. 4011. Authorization for States to regulate municipal solid waste generated

in another State.’’.

Æ