II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3109 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of 

the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a hazardous waste 

electronic manifest system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2008 

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Electronic Manifest Establishment Act’’. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•S 3109 IS

1 SEC. 2. HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST SYS2 TEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Dis4 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3024. HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST 

7 SYSTEM. 

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

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

10 Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Gov11 erning Board established under subsection (f). 

12 ‘‘(2) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Haz13 ardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Fund es14 tablished by subsection (d). 

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

16 individual, corporation (including a Government cor17 poration), company, association, firm, partnership, 

18 society, joint stock company, trust, municipality, 

19 commission, Federal agency, State, political subdivi20 sion of a State, or interstate body. 

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

22 hazardous waste electronic manifest system estab23 lished under subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(5) USER.—The term ‘user’ means a haz25 ardous waste generator, a hazardous waste trans26 porter, an owner or operator of a hazardous waste 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•S 3109 IS

1 treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility, or 

2 any other person that— 

3 ‘‘(A) is required to use a manifest to com4 ply with any Federal or State requirement to 

5 track the shipment, transportation, and receipt 

6 of hazardous waste or other material that is 

7 shipped from the site of generation to an off8 site facility for treatment, storage, disposal, or 

9 recycling; and 

10 ‘‘(B)(i) elects to use the system to com11 plete and transmit an electronic manifest for12 mat; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) submits to the system for data proc14 essing purposes a paper copy of the manifest 

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

16 with such regulations as the Administrator may 

17 promulgate to require such a submission. 

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

19 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 

20 shall establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest sys21 tem that may be used by any user. 

22 ‘‘(c) USER FEES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may im24 pose on users such reasonable service fees as the Ad25 ministrator determines to be necessary to pay costs 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•S 3109 IS

1 incurred in developing, operating, maintaining, and 

2 upgrading the system, including any costs incurred 

3 in collecting and processing data from any paper 

4 manifest submitted to the system after the date on 

5 which the system enters operation. 

6 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF FEES.—The Adminis7 trator shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) collect the fees described in para9 graph (1) from the users in advance of, or as 

10 reimbursement for, the provision by the Admin11 istrator of system-related services; and 

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

13 in accordance with this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(3) FEE STRUCTURE.— 

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

16 consultation with information technology ven17 dors, shall determine through the contract 

18 award process described in subsection (e) the 

19 fee structure that is necessary to recover the 

20 full cost to the Administrator of providing sys21 tem-related services, including costs relating 

22 to— 

23 ‘‘(i) materials and supplies; 

24 ‘‘(ii) contracting and consulting; 

25 ‘‘(iii) overhead; 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
5 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) information technology (includ2 ing costs of hardware, software, and re3 lated services); 

4 ‘‘(v) information management; 

5 ‘‘(vi) collection of service fees; 

6 ‘‘(vii) investment of any unused serv7 ice fees; 

8 ‘‘(viii) reporting and accounting; 

9 ‘‘(ix) employment of direct and indi10 rect Government personnel dedicated to es11 tablishing and maintaining the system; and 

12 ‘‘(x) project management. 

13 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS IN FEE AMOUNT.— 

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

15 shall increase or decrease amount of a 

16 service fee determined under the fee struc17 ture described in subparagraph (A) to a 

18 level that will— 

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

20 aggregate amount for deposit in the 

21 Fund that is sufficient to cover cur22 rent and projected system-related 

23 costs (including any necessary system 

24 upgrades); and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
6 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(II) minimize, to the maximum 

2 extent practicable, the accumulation 

3 of unused amounts in the Fund. 

4 ‘‘(ii) TIMING OF ADJUSTMENTS.—Ad5 justments to service fees described in 

6 clause (i) shall be made— 

7 ‘‘(I) initially, at the time at 

8 which initial development costs of the 

9 system have been recovered by the 

10 Administrator such that the service 

11 fee may be reduced to reflect the 

12 elimination of the system development 

13 component of the fee; and 

14 ‘‘(II) periodically thereafter, upon 

15 receipt and acceptance of the findings 

16 of any annual accounting or auditing 

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

18 report discloses a significant disparity 

19 for a fiscal year between the funds 

20 collected from service fees under this 

21 subsection for the fiscal year and ex22 penditures made for the fiscal year to 

23 provide system-related services. 

24 ‘‘(d) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST

25 SYSTEM FUND.— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
7 

•S 3109 IS

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

2 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, 

3 to be known as the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic 

4 Manifest System Fund’, consisting of— 

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

6 the Fund under paragraph (2); and 

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

8 amounts in the Fund under paragraph (4). 

9 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—There are appro10 priated to the Fund amounts equivalent to amounts 

11 collected as fees and received by the Administrator 

12 under subsection (c). 

13 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

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

15 (2), on request by the Administrator, the Sec16 retary of the Treasury shall transfer from the 

17 Fund to the Administrator such amounts as the 

18 Administrator determines to be necessary to 

19 pay costs incurred in developing, operating, 

20 maintaining, and upgrading the system under 

21 subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

24 the Administrator and deposited in the 

25 Fund under this section shall be available 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
8 

•S 3109 IS

1 to the Administrator for use in accordance 

2 with this section without fiscal year limita3 tion and without further appropriation. 

4 ‘‘(ii) OVERSIGHT.—The Administrator 

5 shall carry out all necessary measures to 

6 ensure that amounts in the Fund are used 

7 only to carry out the goals of establishing, 

8 operating, maintaining, upgrading, man9 aging, supporting, and overseeing the sys10 tem. 

11 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

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

13 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund 

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

15 the Treasury and the Administrator, required 

16 to meet current withdrawals. 

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

18 Investments may be made only in— 

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

20 United States; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) obligations, participations, or 

22 other instruments that are lawful invest23 ments for fiduciaries, trusts, or public 

24 funds, as determined by the Secretary of 

25 the Treasury. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
9 

•S 3109 IS

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

2 the purpose of investments under paragraph 

3 (1), obligations may be acquired— 

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

5 price; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) by purchase of outstanding obli7 gations at the market price. 

8 ‘‘(D) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obliga9 tion acquired by the Fund may be sold by the 

10 Secretary of the Treasury at the market price. 

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

12 and the proceeds from the sale or redemption 

13 of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be 

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

15 ‘‘(5) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 

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

17 to be transferred to the Fund under this sub18 section shall be transferred at least monthly 

19 from the general fund of the Treasury to the 

20 Fund on the basis of estimates made by the 

21 Secretary of the Treasury. 

22 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment 

23 shall be made in amounts subsequently trans24 ferred to the extent prior estimates were in exVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:31 Jun 11, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3109.IS S3109

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
10 

•S 3109 IS

1 cess of or less than the amounts required to be 

2 transferred. 

3 ‘‘(6) ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING.— 

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

5 period, the Administrator shall prepare and 

6 submit to Congress a report that includes— 

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

8 the Administrator under subsection (c) and 

9 disbursed from the Fund for the period 

10 covered by the report, as reflected by fi11 nancial statements provided in accordance 

12 with— 

13 ‘‘(I) the Chief Financial Officers 

14 Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576; 

15 104 Stat. 2838) and amendments 

16 made by that Act; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the Government Manage18 ment Reform Act of 1994 (Public 

19 Law 103–356; 108 Stat. 3410) and 

20 amendments made by that Act; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) an accounting describing actual 

22 expenditures from the Fund for the period 

23 covered by the report for costs described in 

24 subsection (c)(1). 

25 ‘‘(B) AUDITING.— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
11 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose 

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

3 States Code, the Fund shall be considered 

4 a component of an Executive agency. 

5 ‘‘(ii) COMPONENTS OF AUDIT.—The 

6 annual audit required in accordance with 

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

8 United States Code, of the financial state9 ments of activities carried out using 

10 amounts from the Fund shall include an 

11 analysis of— 

12 ‘‘(I) the fees collected and dis13 bursed under this section; 

14 ‘‘(II) the reasonableness of the 

15 fee structure in place as of the date of 

16 the audit to meet current and pro17 jected costs of the system; 

18 ‘‘(III) the level of use of the sys19 tem by users; and 

20 ‘‘(IV) the success to date of the 

21 system in operating on a self-sus22 taining basis and improving the effi23 ciency of tracking waste shipments 

24 and transmitting waste shipment 

25 data. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
12 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.— 

2 The Inspector General of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) conduct the annual audit de5 scribed in clause (ii); and 

6 ‘‘(II) submit to the Administrator 

7 a report that describes the findings 

8 and recommendations of the Inspector 

9 General resulting from the audit. 

10 ‘‘(e) CONTRACTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS

12 FUNDED BY SERVICE FEES.—The Administrator 

13 may enter into 1 or more information technology 

14 contracts with entities determined to be appropriate 

15 by the Administrator (referred to in this subsection 

16 as ‘contractors’) under which— 

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

18 contract for the provision of system-related 

19 services; and 

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

21 initial risk of the information technology invest22 ment, and to obtain reimbursement for invest23 ment costs, operating costs, and other fees, by 

24 receiving as payment an agreed-upon share of 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
13 

•S 3109 IS

1 the amounts collected as fees by the Adminis2 trator under subsection (c). 

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

4 under this subsection shall have a term of not more 

5 than 10 years. 

6 ‘‘(3) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.—The Adminis7 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac8 ticable, that a contract awarded under this sub9 section— 

10 ‘‘(A) is performance-based; 

11 ‘‘(B) identifies objective outcomes; and 

12 ‘‘(C) contains performance standards that 

13 may be used to measure achievement and goals 

14 to evaluate the success of a contractor in per15 forming under the contract and the right of the 

16 contractor to payment for services under the 

17 contract, taking into consideration that a pri18 mary measure of successful performance shall 

19 be the development of a hazardous waste elec20 tronic manifest system that— 

21 ‘‘(i) meets the needs of the user com22 munity (including States that rely on data 

23 contained in manifests); and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
14 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) attracts sufficient user participa2 tion and service fee revenues to ensure the 

3 viability of the system. 

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

5 awarded under this subsection shall include a provi6 sion that specifies— 

7 ‘‘(A) the service fee structure of the con8 tractor that will form the basis for payments to 

9 the contractor; 

10 ‘‘(B) the fixed-share ratio of monthly serv11 ice fee revenues from which the Administrator 

12 shall reimburse the contractor for system-re13 lated development, operation, and maintenance 

14 costs and provide an additional profit or fee 

15 commensurate with the risk undertaken by the 

16 contractor in performing in accordance with the 

17 contract; 

18 ‘‘(C) the amount of additional trans19 actional costs attributed to— 

20 ‘‘(i) the ancillary costs of the Admin21 istrator in implementing and managing the 

22 system, including the costs of integrating 

23 the applications of the contractor with the 

24 central data exchange architecture of the 

25 Environmental Protection Agency; 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
15 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) the direct and indirect personnel 

2 costs incurred by the Administrator to em3 ploy personnel dedicated to the implemen4 tation and management of the system; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) expenses incurred in procuring 

6 any independent contractor services to as7 sist staff of the Administrator in the prep8 aration of financial statements and reports 

9 and the conduct of regular user group and 

10 governance meetings necessary for the 

11 oversight of the system. 

12 ‘‘(5) CANCELLATION AND TERMINATION.— 

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

14 determines that sufficient funds are not made 

15 available for the continuation in a subsequent 

16 fiscal year of a contract entered into under this 

17 subsection, the Administrator shall cancel or 

18 terminate the contract. 

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

20 termination under subparagraph (A) may be 

21 paid using— 

22 ‘‘(i) appropriations available for per23 formance of the contract; 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
16 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) unobligated appropriations avail2 able for acquisition of the information 

3 technology procured under the contract; or 

4 ‘‘(iii) funds subsequently appropriated 

5 for payment of costs of the cancellation or 

6 termination. 

7 ‘‘(C) NEGOTIATION OF AMOUNTS.—The 

8 amount payable in the event of cancellation or 

9 termination of a contract entered into under 

10 this subsection shall be negotiated with the con11 tractor at the time at which the contract is 

12 awarded. 

13 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CON14 TRACTS.—The Administrator may enter into a 

15 contract under this subsection for any fiscal 

16 year, regardless of whether funds are made spe17 cifically available for the full costs of cancella18 tion or termination of the contract, if— 

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

20 which the contract is awarded to make 

21 payments with respect to a contingent li22 ability in an amount equal to at least 75 

23 percent of the estimated costs of a can24 cellation or termination during the first 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
17 

•S 3109 IS

1 fiscal year of the contract, as determined 

2 by the Administrator; or 

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

4 not available as described in that clause, 

5 but the contractor— 

6 ‘‘(I) is informed of the amount of 

7 any unfunded contingent liability; and 

8 ‘‘(II) agrees to perform the con9 tract despite the unfunded contingent 

10 liability. 

11 ‘‘(f) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST

12 SYSTEM GOVERNING BOARD.— 

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

14 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad15 ministrator shall establish a board to be known as 

16 the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System 

17 Governing Board’. 

18 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com19 posed of 7 members, of which— 

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

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

22 of the Board; and 

23 ‘‘(B) 6 members shall be individuals ap24 pointed by the Administrator— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
18 

•S 3109 IS

1 ‘‘(i) at least 1 of whom shall have ex2 pertise in information technology; 

3 ‘‘(ii) at least 1 of whom shall have ex4 perience in using the manifest system to 

5 track the transportation of hazardous 

6 waste under this subtitle (or an equivalent 

7 State program); and 

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

9 State representative responsible for proc10 essing those manifests. 

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

12 to discuss, evaluate the effectiveness of, and provide 

13 recommendations to the Administrator relating to, 

14 the system. 

15 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) PROMULGATION.— 

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

18 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

19 Administrator shall promulgate regulations to 

20 carry out this section. 

21 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The regulations pro22 mulgated pursuant to subparagraph (A) may 

23 include such requirements as the Administrator 

24 determines to be necessary to facilitate the 

25 transition from the use of paper manifests to 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
19 

•S 3109 IS

1 the use of electronic manifests, or to accommo2 date the processing of data from paper mani3 fests in the electronic manifest system, includ4 ing a requirement that users of paper manifests 

5 submit to the system copies of the paper mani6 fests for data processing purposes. 

7 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations 

8 promulgated pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

9 shall ensure that each electronic manifest pro10 vides, to the same extent as paper manifests 

11 under applicable Federal and State law, for— 

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

13 accountability of— 

14 ‘‘(I) the person that certifies that 

15 the information provided in the mani16 fest is accurately described; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the person that acknowl18 edges receipt of the manifest; 

19 ‘‘(ii) if the manifest is electronically 

20 submitted, State authority to access paper 

21 copies of manifest; and 

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

23 information contained in the manifest. 

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

25 regulation promulgated by the Administrator under 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
20 

•S 3109 IS

1 paragraph (1) and in accordance with section 3003 

2 relating to electronic manifesting of hazardous waste 

3 shall take effect in each State as of the effective 

4 date specified in the regulation. 

5 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator 

6 shall carry out regulations promulgated under this 

7 subsection in each State unless the State program is 

8 fully authorized to carry out those regulations in lieu 

9 of the Administrator. 

10 ‘‘(h) REQUIREMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH RESPECT

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

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

13 be transported to a designated facility, requires that the 

14 waste be tracked through a hazardous waste manifest, the 

15 designated facility that receives the waste shall, regardless 

16 of the State in which the facility is located— 

17 ‘‘(1) complete the facility portion of the applica18 ble manifest; 

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

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

21 manifest for data processing purposes.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901) 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
21 

•S 3109 IS

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

2 to subtitle C the following: 

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

Æ 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS