I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4009

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to improve public accountability

and public safety in the management of hazardous waste facilities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1996

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

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to improve public

accountability and public safety in the management of

hazardous waste facilities.

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 Fa5 cilities Public Accountability Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FACILITY SITING STANDARDS.

7 Section 3004(o)(7) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act

8 (42 U.S.C. 6924(o)(7)) is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(7)(A) The Administrator shall not authorize a

10 State program unless, within 12 months after the date of
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1 the enactment of the Hazardous Waste Facilities Public

2 Accountability Act of 1996, the State promulgates stand3 ards for the acceptable location of new treatment, storage,

4 and disposal facilities, and the expansion of treatment,

5 storage, and disposal facilities, as may be necessary to

6 protect human health and the environment. The standards

7 shall include requirements related to adverse geologic set8 tings such as flood plains and seismic impact zones; unsta9 ble terrain such as karst terrain; ecological resources such

10 as wetlands and wildlife habitat; proximity to residences,

11 schools, hospitals, churches and synagogues; complex

12 hydrogeology; and vulnerable significant ground water re13 sources. If a State does not promulgate such siting stand14 ards sufficient to protect human health and the environ15 ment, the Administrator shall promulgate such standards

16 with respect to the State.

17 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘com18 plex hydrogeology’ means an area where 1 or more of the

19 following activities cannot be performed fully and ade20 quately:

21 ‘‘(i) Sufficient ground water characterization to

22 determine ground water and surface water flow and

23 ascertain upgradient and downgradient directions.

24 ‘‘(ii) The installation of a ground water mon25 itoring network which will detect releases into
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1 ground water from a monitored unit at the earliest

2 opportunity.

3 ‘‘(iii) Characterization of the nature and extent

4 of potential releases from a monitored unit.

5 ‘‘(iv) Determination of what corrective actions

6 are appropriate in response to a release, and con7 ducting the corrective actions that may be re8 quired.’’.

9 SEC. 3. PERMIT FEES.

10 Section 3006 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

11 U.S.C. 6926) is amended by adding at the end the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘(i) STATE PROGRAM SUPPORT.—(1) Within 12

14 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection,

15 the Administrator shall promulgate regulations requiring

16 that the owner or operator of any facility required to ob17 tain an operating or post-closure permit under this sub18 title pay an annual fee, or the equivalent over some other

19 period, sufficient to cover all reasonable (direct and indi20 rect) costs required to develop and administer the permit

21 program requirements of this title, including the reason22 able costs of each of the following:

23 ‘‘(A) Reviewing and acting upon any application

24 for such a permit.
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1 ‘‘(B) Implementing and enforcing the terms

2 and conditions of any such permit, including correc3 tive action terms and conditions (but not including

4 any court costs associated with any enforcement ac5 tion).

6 ‘‘(C) Waste sampling, analyses, demonstrations,

7 and environmental monitoring.

8 ‘‘(D) Preparing generally applicable regulations

9 or guidance.

10 ‘‘(E) Implementing and enforcing interim sta11 tus requirements, including corrective action orders

12 (but not including any court costs associated with

13 any enforcement action).

14 ‘‘(2) The Administrator shall not authorize a State

15 program under this section, or allow a State program to

16 retain authorization under this section, unless the State

17 demonstrates that it will collect, in the aggregate, a dollar

18 amount that the Administrator determines, after notice

19 and opportunity for public comment, adequately reflects

20 the reasonable costs of the permit program.

21 ‘‘(3) At least every 2 years the Administrator shall

22 review each authorized State program to determine wheth23 er the program is in compliance with this subsection. The

24 Administrator shall publish such determination in the
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1 Federal Register, after notice and opportunity for public

2 comment.

3 ‘‘(4) If the Administrator determines, pursuant to

4 paragraph (2), that the fee provisions of a State program

5 do not meet the requirements of this subsection, or if the

6 Administrator determines that the State is not adequately

7 administering or enforcing an approved program, the Ad8 ministrator may, in addition to taking any other action

9 authorized under this subtitle, collect reasonable fees from

10 the owner or operator of the facilities identified in para11 graph (1). The fees shall be designed solely to cover the

12 Administrator’s costs of administering the provisions of

13 the permit program promulgated by the Administrator.

14 ‘‘(5) In addition to any penalties that may be imposed

15 under other law, any owner or operator that fails to pay

16 fees imposed by the Administrator under paragraph (4),

17 within a reasonable time to be determined by the Adminis18 trator, shall pay a penalty of 50 percent of the fee amount

19 to the Administrator, plus interest on the fee amount com20 puted in accordance with section 6621(a)(2) of the Inter21 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to computation of in22 terest on underpayment of Federal taxes).

23 ‘‘(6) To carry out activities of the Administrator for

24 which fees are collected under this subsection, an amount

25 equal to the total amount of any fees, penalties, and inter-
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1 est collected by the Administrator during any fiscal year

2 under this subsection is authorized to be appropriated to

3 the Administrator. Any amounts appropriated pursuant to

4 this paragraph are authorized to remain available until ex5 pended.

6 ‘‘(7) In imposing fees on facilities under this sub7 section, the Administrator may take into account the size

8 and complexity of the facilities, and other relevant fac9 tors.’’.

10 SEC. 4. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERMITTEES.

11 Section 3005 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

12 U.S.C. 6925) is amended by adding at the end the follow13 ing:

14 ‘‘(k) QUALIFICATIONS OF PERMITTEES.—A person

15 may not obtain a permit for any facility under this title

16 or renew any such permit, obtain authorization to expand

17 the facility, or transfer ownership of the facility to any

18 other person, unless the person demonstrates the following

19 with respect to the person, any firm engaged to operate

20 the facility, the parent firm of the person and any firm

21 engaged to operate the facility, and any firms controlled

22 by the parent firm or the operating firm of the person:

23 ‘‘(1) Each such entity is in compliance with

24 Federal and State environmental and public health

25 statutes and regulations.
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1 ‘‘(2) Each such entity has paid all outstanding

2 fines or penalties imposed on the entity for violations

3 of such statutes and regulations.

4 ‘‘(3) Each such entity has made available a dis5 closure statement to the public at the site, and at

6 local public libraries in the jurisdiction where the fa7 cility would be sited if a permit were obtained. The

8 disclosure statement shall include the following items

9 of formation with respect to the entity:

10 ‘‘(A) A list of each conviction for fraud or

11 any criminal offense during the immediately

12 preceding 10 years in connection with obtaining

13 or attempting to obtain a contract.

14 ‘‘(B) A list of each conviction for a viola15 tion of a State or Federal antitrust law during

16 the immediately preceding 10 years, including

17 convictions relating to unlawful price-fixing, al18 location of customers among competitors, and

19 bid-rigging.

20 ‘‘(C) A list of each citation during the im21 mediately preceding 5 years for a permit viola22 tion under a Federal, State, or local environ23 mental statute.

24 ‘‘(D) A list of each citation during the im25 mediately preceding 5 years for failure to con-
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1 duct proper cleanup, reclamation, or closure of

2 a site or forfeiture of a bond for such a fail3 ure.’’.

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