II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 199

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize the Administrator 

of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out certain authorities 

relating to the importation of municipal solid waste under the Agreement 

Concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste between 

the United States and Canada. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 21, 2003

Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Ms. STABENOW) 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 authorize the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

to carry out certain authorities relating to the importation of municipal solid waste under the Agreement Concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous 

Waste between the United States and Canada.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•S 199 IS 

1 SECTION 1. CANADIAN TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF 

2 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis4 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 4011. CANADIAN TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF 

7 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘Agreement’ 

10 means—

11 ‘‘(A) the Agreement Concerning the 

12 Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste 

13 between the United States and Canada, signed 

14 at Ottawa on October 28, 1986 (TIAS 11099); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) any regulations promulgated to im17 plement and enforce that Agreement. 

18 ‘‘(2) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—The term 

19 ‘municipal solid waste’ has the meaning given the 

20 term in the Agreement. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per22 son to import, transport, or export municipal solid waste, 

23 for final disposal or incineration, in violation of the Agree24 ment. 

25 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.—
3

•S 199 IS 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning immediately 

2 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad3 ministrator shall—

4 ‘‘(A) perform the functions of the Des5 ignated Authority of the United States de6 scribed in the Agreement with respect to the 

7 importation and exportation of municipal solid 

8 waste under the Agreement; and 

9 ‘‘(B) implement and enforce the Agree10 ment (including notice and consent provisions 

11 of the Agreement). 

12 ‘‘(2) CONSENT TO IMPORTATION.—In consid13 ering whether to consent to the importation of mu14 nicipal solid waste under article 3(c) of the Agree15 ment, the Administrator shall—

16 ‘‘(A)(i) give substantial weight to the views 

17 of each State into which the municipal solid 

18 waste is to be imported; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) consider the views of the local govern20 ment having jurisdiction over the location at 

21 which municipal solid waste is to be disposed of; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) consider the impact of the importa24 tion on—
4

•S 199 IS 

1 ‘‘(i) continued public support for, and 

2 adherence to, State and local recycling pro3 grams; 

4 ‘‘(ii) landfill capacity, as provided in 

5 comprehensive waste management plans; 

6 ‘‘(iii) air emissions resulting from in7 creased vehicular traffic; 

8 ‘‘(iv) road deterioration resulting from 

9 increased vehicular traffic; and 

10 ‘‘(v) public health and the environ11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, on the basis of any in14 formation, the Administrator determines that a per15 son has violated or is in violation of this section, the 

16 Administrator may—

17 ‘‘(A) issue an order that—

18 ‘‘(i) assesses a civil penalty against 

19 the person for any past or current violation 

20 of the person; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) requires compliance by the per22 son with this section immediately or by a 

23 specified date; or 

24 ‘‘(B) bring a civil action against the person 

25 for appropriate relief (including a temporary or 
5

•S 199 IS 

1 permanent injunction) in the United States dis2 trict court for the district in which the violation 

3 occurred. 

4 ‘‘(2) SPECIFICITY.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any order issued 

6 under paragraph (1) for a violation of this sub7 section shall state with reasonable specificity 

8 the nature of the violation. 

9 ‘‘(B) PENALTIES.—

10 ‘‘(i) MAXIMUM PENALTY.—Any pen11 alty assessed by an order issued under 

12 paragraph (1) shall not exceed $25,000 per 

13 day of noncompliance for each violation. 

14 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In assessing 

15 a penalty under this section, the Adminis16 trator shall take into account—

17 ‘‘(I) the seriousness of the viola18 tion for which the penalty is assessed; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(II) any good faith efforts of the 

21 person against which the penalty is 

22 assessed to comply with applicable re23 quirements. 

24 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC HEARING.—
6

•S 199 IS 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any order issued under 

2 this section shall become final unless, not later than 

3 30 days after the date of issuance of the order, the 

4 person or persons against which the order is issued 

5 submit to the Administrator a request for a public 

6 hearing. 

7 ‘‘(2) HEARING.—On receipt of a request under 

8 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall promptly 

9 conduct a public hearing. 

10 ‘‘(3) SUBPOENAS.—In connection with any 

11 hearing under this subsection, the Administrator 

12 may—

13 ‘‘(A) issue subpoenas for—

14 ‘‘(i) the attendance and testimony of 

15 witnesses; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the production of relevant pa17 pers, books, and documents; and 

18 ‘‘(B) promulgate regulations that provide 

19 for procedures for discovery. 

20 ‘‘(f) VIOLATION OF COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—If a per21 son against which an order is issued fails to take corrective 

22 action as specified in the order, the Administrator may 

23 assess a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each 

24 day of continued noncompliance with the order.’’. 
7

•S 199 IS 

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

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

3 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

4 subtitle D the following:

‘‘Sec. 4011. Canadian transboundary movement of municipal solid waste.’’.

Æ