I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4049

To permit States to prohibit the disposal of solid waste imported from

other nations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 11, 1996

Mr. GILLMOR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To permit States to prohibit the disposal of solid waste

imported from other nations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE IMPORTED FROM

4 OTHER NATIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Solid Waste Dis6 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is amended by adding

7 after section 1008 the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1009. DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE IMPORTED FROM

2 OTHER NATIONS.

3 ‘‘(a) BAN ON DISPOSAL OF FOREIGN SOLID

4 WASTE.—After the date of enactment of this section, any

5 State may prohibit the disposal in that State of any solid

6 waste imported into the United States from any foreign

7 country.

8 ‘‘(b) EXEMPTION.—(1) No State prohibition under

9 subsection (a) shall apply to any solid waste received at

10 a solid waste disposal facility pursuant to an existing host

11 community agreement if—

12 ‘‘(A) the agreement specifically authorizes the

13 owner or operator of the facility at which such waste

14 is received to accept foreign solid waste; and

15 ‘‘(B) the owner or operator complies with all of

16 the terms and conditions of the host community

17 agreement.

18 The owner or operator shall provide a copy of the host

19 community agreement, within 90 days after the enactment

20 of this Act, to the State and affected local government

21 and make such a copy available for inspection by the pub22 lic in the affected local community.

23 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLIANCE WITH CER24 TAIN REQUIREMENTS.—The exemption under this sub25 section shall not apply to a solid waste disposal facility

26 in operation on the date of the enactment of this section
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1 if the State determines that the facility was not in compli2 ance as of such date with applicable Federal and State

3 laws and regulations relating to facility operation and de4 sign and—

5 ‘‘(A) in the case of landfills, facility location

6 standards, leachate collection standards, ground7 water monitoring standards, and standards for fi8 nancial assurance and for closure and post-closure

9 and corrective action, or

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of incinerators, the applicable

11 requirements of section 129 of the Clean Air Act (42

12 U.S.C. 7429),

13 and that such noncompliance constitutes a threat to

14 human health or the environment.

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

16 ‘‘(1) AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—For

17 any solid waste disposal facility, the term ‘affected

18 local government’ shall mean—

19 ‘‘(A) the public body authorized by State

20 law to plan for the management of solid waste,

21 a majority of the members of which are elected

22 officials, for the area in which the landfill or in23 cinerator is located or proposed to be located,

24 or
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1 ‘‘(B) if there is no such body created by

2 State law, the elected officials of the city, town,

3 township, borough, county, or parish exercising

4 primary responsibility for the use of land on

5 which the facility is located or proposed to be

6 located.

7 ‘‘(2) HOST COMMUNITY AGREEMENT.—The

8 term ‘host community agreement’ means a written,

9 legally binding agreement, lawfully entered into be10 tween an owner or operator of a solid waste disposal

11 facility and an affected local government, that spe12 cifically authorizes the facility to receive foreign

13 solid waste.

14 ‘‘(3) EXISTING HOST COMMUNITY AGREE15 MENT.—The term ‘existing host community agree16 ment’ means a host community agreement that is in

17 effect as of the date of the enactment of this section.

18 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN SOLID WASTE.—The term ‘for19 eign waste’, means waste generated outside of the

20 United States.

21 ‘‘(5) SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATION.—For purposes

22 of this section, the term ‘specifically authorizes’ re23 fers to an explicit authorization, contained in a host

24 community agreement or permit, to accept for dis25 posal waste from outside the United States. The lan-
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1 guage for such authorization may vary as long as it

2 reasonably evidences such approval or consent. The

3 term shall not include general references to the re4 ceipt of waste from outside the jurisdiction of the af5 fected local government.’’.

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

7 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901) is

8 amended by adding after the item relating to section 1008

9 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 1009. Disposal of solid waste imported from other nations.’’.

Æ