I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3109 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

AN ACT 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest system. 

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. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hazardous Waste 

3 Electronic Manifest Establishment Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST SYS5 TEM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Dis7 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3024. HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST 

10 SYSTEM. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 

13 Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Gov14 erning Board established under subsection (f). 

15 ‘‘(2) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Haz16 ardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Fund es17 tablished by subsection (d). 

18 ‘‘(3) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ includes an 

19 individual, corporation (including a Government cor20 poration), company, association, firm, partnership, 

21 society, joint stock company, trust, municipality, 

22 commission, Federal agency, State, political subdivi23 sion of a State, or interstate body. 

24 ‘‘(4) SYSTEM.—The term ‘system’ means the 

25 hazardous waste electronic manifest system estab26 lished under subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(5) USER.—The term ‘user’ means a haz2 ardous waste generator, a hazardous waste trans3 porter, an owner or operator of a hazardous waste 

4 treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility, or 

5 any other person that— 

6 ‘‘(A) is required to use a manifest to com7 ply with any Federal or State requirement to 

8 track the shipment, transportation, and receipt 

9 of hazardous waste or other material that is 

10 shipped from the site of generation to an off11 site facility for treatment, storage, disposal, or 

12 recycling; and 

13 ‘‘(B)(i) elects to use the system to com14 plete and transmit an electronic manifest for15 mat; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) submits to the system for data proc17 essing purposes a paper copy of the manifest 

18 (or data from such a paper copy), in accordance 

19 with such regulations as the Administrator may 

20 promulgate to require such a submission. 

21 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 years after 

22 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 

23 shall establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest sys24 tem that may be used by any user. 

25 ‘‘(c) USER FEES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may im2 pose on users such reasonable service fees as the Ad3 ministrator determines to be necessary to pay costs 

4 incurred in developing, operating, maintaining, and 

5 upgrading the system, including any costs incurred 

6 in collecting and processing data from any paper 

7 manifest submitted to the system after the date on 

8 which the system enters operation. 

9 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF FEES.—The Adminis10 trator shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) collect the fees described in para12 graph (1) from the users in advance of, or as 

13 reimbursement for, the provision by the Admin14 istrator of system-related services; and 

15 ‘‘(B) deposit the fees in the Fund for use 

16 in accordance with this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(3) FEE STRUCTURE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in 

19 consultation with information technology ven20 dors, shall determine through the contract 

21 award process described in subsection (e) the 

22 fee structure that is necessary to recover the 

23 full cost to the Administrator of providing sys24 tem-related services, including costs relating 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) materials and supplies; 

2 ‘‘(ii) contracting and consulting; 

3 ‘‘(iii) overhead; 

4 ‘‘(iv) information technology (includ5 ing costs of hardware, software, and re6 lated services); 

7 ‘‘(v) information management; 

8 ‘‘(vi) collection of service fees; 

9 ‘‘(vii) investment of any unused serv10 ice fees; 

11 ‘‘(viii) reporting and accounting; 

12 ‘‘(ix) employment of direct and indi13 rect Government personnel dedicated to es14 tablishing and maintaining the system; and 

15 ‘‘(x) project management. 

16 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS IN FEE AMOUNT.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

18 shall increase or decrease amount of a 

19 service fee determined under the fee struc20 ture described in subparagraph (A) to a 

21 level that will— 

22 ‘‘(I) result in the collection of an 

23 aggregate amount for deposit in the 

24 Fund that is sufficient to cover cur25 rent and projected system-related 


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1 costs (including any necessary system 

2 upgrades); and 

3 ‘‘(II) minimize, to the maximum 

4 extent practicable, the accumulation 

5 of unused amounts in the Fund. 

6 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR INITIAL PERIOD

7 OF OPERATION.—The requirement de8 scribed in clause (i)(II) shall not apply to 

9 any additional fees that accumulate in the 

10 Fund, in an amount that does not exceed 

11 $2,000,000, during the 3-year period be12 ginning on the date on which the system 

13 enters operation. 

14 ‘‘(iii) TIMING OF ADJUSTMENTS.—Ad15 justments to service fees described in 

16 clause (i) shall be made— 

17 ‘‘(I) initially, at the time at 

18 which initial development costs of the 

19 system have been recovered by the 

20 Administrator such that the service 

21 fee may be reduced to reflect the 

22 elimination of the system development 

23 component of the fee; and 

24 ‘‘(II) periodically thereafter, upon 

25 receipt and acceptance of the findings 


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1 of any annual accounting or auditing 

2 report under subsection (d)(6), if the 

3 report discloses a significant disparity 

4 for a fiscal year between the funds 

5 collected from service fees under this 

6 subsection for the fiscal year and ex7 penditures made for the fiscal year to 

8 provide system-related services. 

9 ‘‘(d) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST

10 SYSTEM FUND.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

12 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, 

13 to be known as the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic 

14 Manifest System Fund’, consisting of— 

15 ‘‘(A) such amounts as are appropriated to 

16 the Fund under paragraph (2); and 

17 ‘‘(B) any interest earned on investment of 

18 amounts in the Fund under paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—There are appro20 priated to the Fund amounts equivalent to amounts 

21 collected as fees and received by the Administrator 

22 under subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph 

25 (2), on request by the Administrator, the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:43 Sep 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3109.RFH S3109

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1 retary of the Treasury shall transfer from the 

2 Fund to the Administrator such amounts as the 

3 Administrator determines to be necessary to 

4 pay costs incurred in developing, operating, 

5 maintaining, and upgrading the system under 

6 subsection (c). 

7 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Fees collected by 

9 the Administrator and deposited in the 

10 Fund under this section shall be available 

11 to the Administrator for use in accordance 

12 with this section without fiscal year limita13 tion and without further appropriation. 

14 ‘‘(ii) OVERSIGHT.—The Administrator 

15 shall carry out all necessary measures to 

16 ensure that amounts in the Fund are used 

17 only to carry out the goals of establishing, 

18 operating, maintaining, upgrading, man19 aging, supporting, and overseeing the sys20 tem. 

21 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

23 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund 

24 as is not, in the judgment of the Secretary of 


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1 the Treasury and the Administrator, required 

2 to meet current withdrawals. 

3 ‘‘(B) INTEREST-BEARING OBLIGATIONS.— 

4 Investments may be made only in— 

5 ‘‘(i) interest-bearing obligations of the 

6 United States; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) obligations, participations, or 

8 other instruments that are lawful invest9 ments for fiduciaries, trusts, or public 

10 funds, as determined by the Secretary of 

11 the Treasury. 

12 ‘‘(C) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For 

13 the purpose of investments under paragraph 

14 (1), obligations may be acquired— 

15 ‘‘(i) on original issue at the issue 

16 price; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) by purchase of outstanding obli18 gations at the market price. 

19 ‘‘(D) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obliga20 tion acquired by the Fund may be sold by the 

21 Secretary of the Treasury at the market price. 

22 ‘‘(E) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on, 

23 and the proceeds from the sale or redemption 

24 of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be 

25 credited to, and form a part of, the Fund. 


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1 ‘‘(5) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required 

3 to be transferred to the Fund under this sub4 section shall be transferred at least monthly 

5 from the general fund of the Treasury to the 

6 Fund on the basis of estimates made by the 

7 Secretary of the Treasury. 

8 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment 

9 shall be made in amounts subsequently trans10 ferred to the extent prior estimates were in ex11 cess of or less than the amounts required to be 

12 transferred. 

13 ‘‘(6) ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) ACCOUNTING.—For each 2-fiscal-year 

15 period, the Administrator shall prepare and 

16 submit to Congress a report that includes— 

17 ‘‘(i) an accounting of the fees paid to 

18 the Administrator under subsection (c) and 

19 disbursed from the Fund for the period 

20 covered by the report, as reflected by fi21 nancial statements provided in accordance 

22 with— 

23 ‘‘(I) the Chief Financial Officers 

24 Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576; 


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1 104 Stat. 2838) and amendments 

2 made by that Act; and 

3 ‘‘(II) the Government Manage4 ment Reform Act of 1994 (Public 

5 Law 103–356; 108 Stat. 3410) and 

6 amendments made by that Act; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) an accounting describing actual 

8 expenditures from the Fund for the period 

9 covered by the report for costs described in 

10 subsection (c)(1). 

11 ‘‘(B) AUDITING.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose 

13 of section 3515(c) of title 31, United 

14 States Code, the Fund shall be considered 

15 a component of an Executive agency. 

16 ‘‘(ii) COMPONENTS OF AUDIT.—The 

17 annual audit required in accordance with 

18 sections 3515(b) and 3521 of title 31, 

19 United States Code, of the financial state20 ments of activities carried out using 

21 amounts from the Fund shall include an 

22 analysis of— 

23 ‘‘(I) the fees collected and dis24 bursed under this section; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the reasonableness of the 

2 fee structure in place as of the date of 

3 the audit to meet current and pro4 jected costs of the system; 

5 ‘‘(III) the level of use of the sys6 tem by users; and 

7 ‘‘(IV) the success to date of the 

8 system in operating on a self-sus9 taining basis and improving the effi10 ciency of tracking waste shipments 

11 and transmitting waste shipment 

12 data. 

13 ‘‘(iii) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.— 

14 The Inspector General of the Environ15 mental Protection Agency shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) conduct the annual audit de17 scribed in clause (ii); and 

18 ‘‘(II) submit to the Administrator 

19 a report that describes the findings 

20 and recommendations of the Inspector 

21 General resulting from the audit. 

22 ‘‘(e) CONTRACTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS

24 FUNDED BY SERVICE FEES.—The Administrator 

25 may enter into 1 or more information technology 


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1 contracts with entities determined to be appropriate 

2 by the Administrator (referred to in this subsection 

3 as ‘contractors’) under which— 

4 ‘‘(A) the Administrator agrees to award a 

5 contract for the provision of system-related 

6 services; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the contractor agrees to assume the 

8 initial risk of the information technology invest9 ment, and to obtain reimbursement for invest10 ment costs, operating costs, and other fees, by 

11 receiving as payment an agreed-upon share of 

12 the amounts collected as fees by the Adminis13 trator under subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(2) TERM OF CONTRACT.—A contract awarded 

15 under this subsection shall have a term of not more 

16 than 10 years. 

17 ‘‘(3) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.—The Adminis18 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac19 ticable, that a contract awarded under this sub20 section— 

21 ‘‘(A) is performance-based; 

22 ‘‘(B) identifies objective outcomes; and 

23 ‘‘(C) contains performance standards that 

24 may be used to measure achievement and goals 

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1 forming under the contract and the right of the 

2 contractor to payment for services under the 

3 contract, taking into consideration that a pri4 mary measure of successful performance shall 

5 be the development of a hazardous waste elec6 tronic manifest system that— 

7 ‘‘(i) meets the needs of the user com8 munity (including States that rely on data 

9 contained in manifests); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) attracts sufficient user participa11 tion and service fee revenues to ensure the 

12 viability of the system. 

13 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT STRUCTURE.—Each contract 

14 awarded under this subsection shall include a provi15 sion that specifies— 

16 ‘‘(A) the service fee structure of the con17 tractor that will form the basis for payments to 

18 the contractor; 

19 ‘‘(B) the fixed-share ratio of monthly serv20 ice fee revenues from which the Administrator 

21 shall reimburse the contractor for system-re22 lated development, operation, and maintenance 

23 costs and provide an additional profit or fee 

24 commensurate with the risk undertaken by the 


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1 contractor in performing in accordance with the 

2 contract; 

3 ‘‘(C) the amount of additional trans4 actional costs attributed to— 

5 ‘‘(i) the ancillary costs of the Admin6 istrator in implementing and managing the 

7 system, including the costs of integrating 

8 the applications of the contractor with the 

9 central data exchange architecture of the 

10 Environmental Protection Agency; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the direct and indirect personnel 

12 costs incurred by the Administrator to em13 ploy personnel dedicated to the implemen14 tation and management of the system; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) expenses incurred in procuring 

16 any independent contractor services to as17 sist staff of the Administrator in the prep18 aration of financial statements and reports 

19 and the conduct of regular user group and 

20 governance meetings necessary for the 

21 oversight of the system. 

22 ‘‘(5) CANCELLATION AND TERMINATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator 

24 determines that sufficient funds are not made 

25 available for the continuation in a subsequent 


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1 fiscal year of a contract entered into under this 

2 subsection, the Administrator shall cancel or 

3 terminate the contract. 

4 ‘‘(B) COSTS.—The costs of cancellation or 

5 termination under subparagraph (A) may be 

6 paid using— 

7 ‘‘(i) appropriations available for per8 formance of the contract; 

9 ‘‘(ii) unobligated appropriations avail10 able for acquisition of the information 

11 technology procured under the contract; or 

12 ‘‘(iii) funds subsequently appropriated 

13 for payment of costs of the cancellation or 

14 termination. 

15 ‘‘(C) NEGOTIATION OF AMOUNTS.—The 

16 amount payable in the event of cancellation or 

17 termination of a contract entered into under 

18 this subsection shall be negotiated with the con19 tractor at the time at which the contract is 

20 awarded. 

21 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CON22 TRACTS.—The Administrator may enter into a 

23 contract under this subsection for any fiscal 

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1 cifically available for the full costs of cancella2 tion or termination of the contract, if— 

3 ‘‘(i) funds are available at the time at 

4 which the contract is awarded to make 

5 payments with respect to a contingent li6 ability in an amount equal to at least 100 

7 percent of the estimated costs of a can8 cellation or termination during the first 

9 fiscal year of the contract, as determined 

10 by the Administrator; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) funds described in clause (i) are 

12 not available as described in that clause, 

13 but the contractor— 

14 ‘‘(I) is informed of the amount of 

15 any unfunded contingent liability; and 

16 ‘‘(II) agrees to perform the con17 tract despite the unfunded contingent 

18 liability. 

19 ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON OWNERSHIP.—Regardless 

20 of whether the Administrator enters into a contract 

21 under this subsection, the system shall be owned by 

22 the Federal Government. 

23 ‘‘(f) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST

24 SYSTEM GOVERNING BOARD.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 years 

2 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad3 ministrator shall establish a board to be known as 

4 the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System 

5 Governing Board’. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com7 posed of 7 members, of which— 

8 ‘‘(A) 1 member shall be the Administrator 

9 (or a designee), who shall serve as Chairperson 

10 of the Board; and 

11 ‘‘(B) 6 members shall be individuals ap12 pointed by the Administrator— 

13 ‘‘(i) at least 1 of whom shall have ex14 pertise in information technology; 

15 ‘‘(ii) at least 1 of whom shall have ex16 perience in using the manifest system to 

17 track the transportation of hazardous 

18 waste under this subtitle (or an equivalent 

19 State program); and 

20 ‘‘(iii) at least 1 of whom shall be a 

21 State representative responsible for proc22 essing those manifests. 

23 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Board shall meet annually 

24 to discuss, evaluate the effectiveness of, and provide 


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1 recommendations to the Administrator relating to, 

2 the system. 

3 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PROMULGATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

7 Administrator shall promulgate regulations to 

8 carry out this section. 

9 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The regulations pro10 mulgated pursuant to subparagraph (A) may 

11 include such requirements as the Administrator 

12 determines to be necessary to facilitate the 

13 transition from the use of paper manifests to 

14 the use of electronic manifests, or to accommo15 date the processing of data from paper mani16 fests in the electronic manifest system, includ17 ing a requirement that users of paper manifests 

18 submit to the system copies of the paper mani19 fests for data processing purposes. 

20 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations 

21 promulgated pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

22 shall ensure that each electronic manifest pro23 vides, to the same extent as paper manifests 

24 under applicable Federal and State law, for— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the ability to track and maintain 

2 legal accountability of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the person that certifies that 

4 the information provided in the mani5 fest is accurately described; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the person that acknowl7 edges receipt of the manifest; 

8 ‘‘(ii) if the manifest is electronically 

9 submitted, State authority to access paper 

10 copies of manifest; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) access to all publicly-available 

12 information contained in the manifest. 

13 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS.—Any 

14 regulation promulgated by the Administrator under 

15 paragraph (1) and in accordance with section 3003 

16 relating to electronic manifesting of hazardous waste 

17 shall take effect in each State as of the effective 

18 date specified in the regulation. 

19 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator 

20 shall carry out regulations promulgated under this 

21 subsection in each State unless the State program is 

22 fully authorized to carry out those regulations in lieu 

23 of the Administrator. 

24 ‘‘(h) REQUIREMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH RESPECT

25 TO CERTAIN STATES.—In any case in which the State in 


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1 which waste is generated, or the State in which waste will 

2 be transported to a designated facility, requires that the 

3 waste be tracked through a hazardous waste manifest, the 

4 designated facility that receives the waste shall, regardless 

5 of the State in which the facility is located— 

6 ‘‘(1) complete the facility portion of the applica7 ble manifest; 

8 ‘‘(2) sign and date the facility certification; and 

9 ‘‘(3) submit to the system a final copy of the 

10 manifest for data processing purposes.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con12 tents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901) 

13 is amended by inserting at the end of the items relating 

14 to subtitle C the following: 

‘‘Sec. 3024. Hazardous waste electronic manifest system.’’. 

Passed the Senate September 26 (legislative day, 

September 17), 2008. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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