I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 518 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize States to restrict 

receipt of foreign municipal solid waste and implement the Agreement 

Concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste between 

the United States and Canada, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. DINGELL (for himself, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. 

MCCOTTER, Mr. UPTON, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. 

MILLER of Michigan, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. CAMP of Michigan, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. STUPAK, 

Mr. WYNN, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. GILLMOR) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize States 

to restrict receipt of foreign municipal solid waste and 

implement the Agreement Concerning the Transboundary 

Movement of Hazardous Waste between the United 

States and Canada, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Solid 

5 Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL 

2 OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis4 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 after section 4010 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 4011. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND DIS7 POSAL OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 

8 ‘‘(a) STATE AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS IMPORTATION

9 AND MANAGEMENT OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Until the date on which all 

11 final regulations issued by the Administrator to im12 plement and enforce the Agreement (including notice 

13 and consent provisions of the Agreement) become ef14 fective, a State may enact a law or laws or issue reg15 ulations or orders imposing limitations on the receipt 

16 and disposal of foreign municipal solid waste within 

17 the State. Laws, regulations, and orders enacted or 

18 issued before that date may continue in effect ac19 cording to their terms after that date. 

20 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN

21 COMMERCE.—No State action taken as authorized 

22 by this section shall be considered to impose an 

23 undue burden on interstate and foreign commerce or 

24 to otherwise impair, restrain, or discriminate against 

25 interstate and foreign commerce. 


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1 ‘‘(3) TRADE AND TREATY OBLIGATIONS.— 

2 Nothing in this section affects, replaces, or amends 

3 prior law relating to the need for consistency with 

4 international trade obligations. 

5 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning immediately 

7 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad8 ministrator shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) perform the functions of the Des10 ignated Authority of the United States de11 scribed in the Agreement with respect to the 

12 importation and exportation of municipal solid 

13 waste under the Agreement; and 

14 ‘‘(B) implement and enforce the notice and 

15 consent and other provisions of the Agreement. 

16 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 24 months 

17 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad18 ministrator shall issue final regulations with respect 

19 to the Administrator’s responsibilities under para20 graph (1). 

21 ‘‘(3) CONSENT TO IMPORTATION.—In consid22 ering whether to consent to the importation under 

23 article 3(c) of the Agreement, the Administrator 

24 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) give substantial weight to the views of 

2 the State or States into which the municipal 

3 solid waste is to be imported, and consider the 

4 views of the local government with jurisdiction 

5 over the location where the waste is to be dis6 posed; 

7 ‘‘(B) consider the impact of the importa8 tion on— 

9 ‘‘(i) continued public support for and 

10 adherence to State and local recycling pro11 grams; 

12 ‘‘(ii) landfill capacity as provided in 

13 comprehensive waste management plans; 

14 ‘‘(iii) air emissions from increased ve15 hicular traffic; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) road deterioration from in17 creased vehicular traffic; and 

18 ‘‘(C) consider the impact of the importa19 tion on homeland security, public health, and 

20 the environment. 

21 ‘‘(4) ACTIONS IN VIOLATION OF THE AGREE22 MENT.—No person shall import, transport, or export 

23 municipal solid waste for final disposal or for incin24 eration in violation of the Agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—(1) Whenever on the 

2 basis of any information the Administrator determines 

3 that any person has violated or is in violation of this sec4 tion, the Administrator may issue an order assessing a 

5 civil penalty for any past or current violation, requiring 

6 compliance immediately or within a specified time period, 

7 or both, or the Administrator may commence a civil action 

8 in the United States district court in the district in which 

9 the violation occurred for appropriate relief, including a 

10 temporary or permanent injunction. 

11 ‘‘(2) Any order issued pursuant to this subsection 

12 shall state with reasonable specificity the nature of the vio13 lation. Any penalty assessed in the order shall not exceed 

14 $25,000 per day of noncompliance for each violation. In 

15 assessing such a penalty, the Administrator shall take into 

16 account the seriousness of the violation and any good faith 

17 efforts to comply with applicable requirements. 

18 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC HEARING.—Any order issued under this 

19 section shall become final unless, not later than 30 days 

20 after the order is served, the person or persons named 

21 therein request a public hearing. Upon such request, the 

22 Administrator shall promptly conduct a public hearing. In 

23 connection with any proceeding under this section, the Ad24 ministrator may issue subpoenas for the attendance and 

25 testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant paVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:53 Jan 21, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H518.IH H518

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1 pers, books, and documents, and may promulgate rules for 

2 discovery procedures. 

3 ‘‘(e) VIOLATION OF COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—If a vio4 lator fails to take corrective action within the time speci5 fied in a compliance order, the Administrator may assess 

6 a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each day of 

7 continued noncompliance with the order. 

8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘Agreement’ 

10 means— 

11 ‘‘(A) the Agreement Concerning the 

12 Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste 

13 between the United States and Canada, signed 

14 at Ottawa on October 28, 1986 (TIAS 11099) 

15 and amended on November 25, 1992; and 

16 ‘‘(B) any regulations promulgated and or17 ders issued to implement and enforce that 

18 Agreement. 

19 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—The 

20 term ‘foreign municipal solid waste’ means munic21 ipal solid waste generated outside of the United 

22 States. 

23 ‘‘(3) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) WASTE INCLUDED.—Except as pro2 vided in subparagraph (B), the term ‘municipal 

3 solid waste’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) all waste materials discarded for 

5 disposal by households, including single 

6 and multifamily residences, and hotels and 

7 motels; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) all waste materials discarded for 

9 disposal that were generated by commer10 cial, institutional, municipal, and industrial 

11 sources, to the extent such materials— 

12 ‘‘(I) are essentially the same as 

13 materials described in clause (i); and 

14 ‘‘(II) were collected and disposed 

15 of with other municipal solid waste 

16 described in clause (i) or subclause (I) 

17 of this clause as part of normal mu18 nicipal solid waste collection services, 

19 except that this subclause does not 

20 apply to hazardous materials other 

21 than hazardous materials that, pursu22 ant to regulations issued under sec23 tion 3001(d), are not subject to regu24 lation under subtitle C. 


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1 Examples of municipal solid waste include 

2 food and yard waste, paper, clothing, appli3 ances, consumer product packaging, dis4 posable diapers, office supplies, cosmetics, 

5 glass and metal food containers, and 

6 household hazardous waste. Such term 

7 shall include debris resulting from con8 struction, remodeling, repair, or demolition 

9 of structures. 

10 ‘‘(B) WASTE NOT INCLUDED.—The term 

11 ‘municipal solid waste’ does not include any of 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) Any solid waste identified or list14 ed as a hazardous waste under section 

15 3001, except for household hazardous 

16 waste. 

17 ‘‘(ii) Any solid waste, including con18 taminated soil and debris, resulting from— 

19 ‘‘(I) a response action taken 

20 under section 104 or 106 of the Com21 prehensive Environmental Response, 

22 Compensation, and Liability Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 9604 or 9606); 

24 ‘‘(II) a response action taken 

25 under a State law with authorities 


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1 comparable to the authorities of such 

2 section 104 or 106; or 

3 ‘‘(III) a corrective action taken 

4 under this Act. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Recyclable materials that have 

6 been separated, at the source of the waste, 

7 from waste otherwise destined for disposal 

8 or that have been managed separately from 

9 waste destined for disposal. 

10 ‘‘(iv) Scrap rubber to be used as a 

11 fuel source. 

12 ‘‘(v) Materials and products returned 

13 from a dispenser or distributor to the man14 ufacturer or an agent of the manufacturer 

15 for credit, evaluation, and possible reuse. 

16 ‘‘(vi) Any solid waste that is— 

17 ‘‘(I) generated by an industrial 

18 facility; and 

19 ‘‘(II) transported for the purpose 

20 of treatment, storage, or disposal to a 

21 facility or unit thereof that is owned 

22 or operated by the generator of the 

23 waste, located on property owned by 

24 the generator or a company with 

25 which the generator is affiliated, or 


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1 the capacity of which is contractually 

2 dedicated exclusively to a specific gen3 erator, so long as the disposal area 

4 complies with local and State land use 

5 and zoning regulations applicable to 

6 the disposal site. 

7 ‘‘(vii) Any medical waste that is seg8 regated from or not mixed with solid 

9 waste. 

10 ‘‘(viii) Sewage sludge and residuals 

11 from any sewage treatment plant. 

12 ‘‘(ix) Combustion ash generated by re13 source recovery facilities or municipal in14 cinerators, or waste from manufacturing or 

15 processing (including pollution control) op16 erations not essentially the same as waste 

17 normally generated by households. 

18 ‘‘(x) Solid waste generated incident to 

19 the provision of service in interstate, intra20 state, foreign, or overseas air transpor21 tation.’’. 

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

23 of contents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 prec. 6901) is amended by adding after the item relating 

25 to section 4010 the following new item: 


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‘‘Sec. 4011. International transportation and disposal of municipal solid 

waste.’’. 

Æ 


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