II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1172 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to facilitate 

the production of clean, renewable energy from municipal solid waste, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2009 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to facilitate the production of clean, renewable 

energy from municipal solid waste, 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 ‘‘Rubbish to Renewables 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) municipal solid waste, a plentiful resource, 

2 can be a substantial source of clean, renewable en3 ergy; 

4 (2) by collecting methane produced by landfills 

5 and converting the methane into productive energy, 

6 landfills can contribute significantly to the reduction 

7 of greenhouse gas emissions; 

8 (3) clean energy policy of the United States 

9 should fully recognize and support the ability of 

10 landfills to provide clean energy and contribute to 

11 the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; 

12 (4) further investment is needed to promote 

13 new technologies and develop new processes for the 

14 conversion of municipal solid waste into clean, re15 newable energy; and 

16 (5) investment in municipal solid waste clean 

17 energy projects can create jobs, reduce greenhouse 

18 gas emissions, and lessen the dependence of the 

19 United States on foreign oil. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

24 project’’ means a project carried out to produce 

25 clean, renewable energy from municipal solid 


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1 waste (including from methane generated from 

2 a municipal solid waste landfill) that reduces 

3 greenhouse gas emissions substantially more 

4 than the flaring of landfill gas, as determined 

5 by the Secretary. 

6 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘eligible 

7 project’’ includes projects described in subpara8 graph (A) that use technologies such as anaer9 obic digestion, plasma arc, or thermal gasifi10 cation (including pyrolysis). 

11 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘eligible 

12 project’’ does not include a project described in 

13 subparagraph (A) that uses an oxidizing tech14 nology, such as combustion or incineration. 

15 (2) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

16 gas’’ means any of— 

17 (A) carbon dioxide; 

18 (B) methane; 

19 (C) nitrous oxide; 

20 (D) sulfur hexafluoride; 

21 (E) a perfluorocarbon; or 

22 (F) a hydrofluorocarbon. 

23 (3) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘municipal 

25 solid waste’’ means— 


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1 (i) material discarded for disposal 

2 by— 

3 (I) households (including single 

4 and multifamily residences); and 

5 (II) public lodgings, such as ho6 tels and motels; and 

7 (ii) material discarded for disposal 

8 that was generated by commercial, institu9 tional, and industrial sources, to the extent 

10 that the material— 

11 (I)(aa) is essentially the same as 

12 material described in clause (i); or 

13 (bb) is collected or disposed of 

14 with material described in clause (i) 

15 as part of a normal municipal solid 

16 waste collection service; and 

17 (II) is not subject to regulation 

18 as a hazardous waste under subtitle C 

19 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.). 

21 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘municipal 

22 solid waste’’ includes— 

23 (i) appliances; 

24 (ii) clothing; 

25 (iii) consumer product packaging; 


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1 (iv) cosmetics; 

2 (v) debris resulting from construction, 

3 remodeling, repair, or demolition of a 

4 structure; 

5 (vi) disposable diapers; 

6 (vii) food containers made of glass or 

7 metal; 

8 (viii) food waste; 

9 (ix) household hazardous waste; 

10 (x) office supplies; 

11 (xi) paper; and 

12 (xii) yard waste. 

13 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘municipal 

14 solid waste’’ does not include— 

15 (i) solid waste identified or listed as a 

16 hazardous waste under section 3001 of the 

17 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 6921), except for household hazardous 

19 waste; 

20 (ii) solid waste, including contami21 nated soil and debris, resulting from— 

22 (I) a response action taken under 

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1 pensation, and Liability Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 9604, 9606); 

3 (II) a response action taken 

4 under a State law with authorities 

5 comparable to the authorities con6 tained in either of those sections; or 

7 (III) a corrective action taken 

8 under the Solid Waste Disposal Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.); 

10 (iii) recyclable material— 

11 (I) that has been separated, at 

12 the source of the material, from waste 

13 destined for disposal; or 

14 (II) that has been managed sepa15 rately from waste destined for dis16 posal, including scrap rubber to be 

17 used as a fuel source; 

18 (iv) a material or product returned 

19 from a dispenser or distributor to the man20 ufacturer or an agent of the manufacturer 

21 for credit, evaluation, and possible poten22 tial reuse; 

23 (v) solid waste that is— 

24 (I) generated by an industrial fa25 cility; and 


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1 (II) transported for the purpose 

2 of treatment, storage, or disposal to a 

3 facility (which facility is in compliance 

4 with applicable State and local land 

5 use and zoning laws and regulations) 

6 or facility unit— 

7 (aa) that is owned or oper8 ated by the generator of the 

9 waste; 

10 (bb) that is located on prop11 erty owned by the generator of 

12 the waste or a company with 

13 which the generator is affiliated; 

14 or 

15 (cc) the capacity of which is 

16 contractually dedicated exclu17 sively to a specific generator; 

18 (vi) medical waste that is segregated 

19 from or not mixed with solid waste; or 

20 (vii) combustion ash generated by a 

21 resource recovery facility or municipal in22 cinerator. 

23 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 (5) SOLID WASTE.—The term ‘‘solid waste’’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 1004 of the 

3 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 

4 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTA5 TION. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

7 a program under which the Secretary shall provide grants 

8 to eligible entities (as identified by the Secretary) for use 

9 in funding eligible projects— 

10 (1) to position the United States as a world 

11 leader in technologies that generate renewable en12 ergy from municipal solid waste; 

13 (2) to assist entities in the United States in de14 veloping and implementing those technologies; 

15 (3) to generate clean energy jobs; 

16 (4) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and 

17 (5) to conserve scarce landfill space. 

18 (b) APPLICATION.—An entity that seeks to receive a 

19 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an 

20 application at such time and containing such information 

21 as the Secretary shall require. 

22 (c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant pro23 vided by the Secretary to an eligible entity under this sec24 tion shall not exceed $10,000,000. 


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1 (d) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under this sec2 tion, the Secretary shall prioritize grant applications based 

3 on, with respect to project proposed to be carried out in 

4 the application— 

5 (1) the quantity of renewable energy the project 

6 would generate; 

7 (2) the quantity of greenhouse gas emission re8 ductions over and above current best available tech9 nology; 

10 (3) whether the technology required for the pro11 posed project is not yet widely implemented in the 

12 United States; 

13 (4) whether the technology has a high potential 

14 for replication; 

15 (5) the quantity of landfill space the project 

16 would preserve; and 

17 (6) the number of jobs that would be created. 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013. 

21 SEC. 5. REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 

22 THROUGH LANDFILLS. 

23 (a) ADDITIONALITY.—Under any legislation enacted 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act to regulate the 

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1 trade system, a landfill gas control measure that reduces 

2 the emission of a greenhouse gas at a level greater than 

3 required under Federal, State, or local laws (including reg4 ulations) used for that reduction shall be considered to 

5 meet additionality criteria under that legislation. 

6 (b) DOMESTIC OFFSETS.—If a landfill gas control 

7 measure described in subsection (a) meets criteria under 

8 legislation described in that subsection to qualify as a do9 mestic offset, the domestic offset shall be at a level that 

10 is equal to the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted that 

11 is less than the baseline quantity of the greenhouse gases 

12 emitted. 

Æ 


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