II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3871 

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 

SEPTEMBER 7 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 6), 2006 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. JEFFORDS) 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’’. 


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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) SYSTEM.—The term ‘system’ means the 

16 hazardous waste electronic manifest system estab17 lished under subsection (b). 

18 ‘‘(4) USER.—The term ‘user’ means a haz19 ardous waste generator, a hazardous waste trans20 porter, an owner or operator of a hazardous waste 

21 treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility, or 

22 any other individual or entity that— 

23 ‘‘(A) is required to use a manifest to com24 ply with any Federal or State requirement to 

25 track the shipment, transportation, and receipt 

26 of hazardous waste or other material that is 


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1 shipped from the site of generation to an off2 site facility for treatment, storage, disposal, or 

3 recycling; and 

4 ‘‘(B) elects to use the system. 

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

6 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 

7 shall establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest sys8 tem that may be used by any user. 

9 ‘‘(c) USER FEES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may im11 pose on users such reasonable service fees as the Ad12 ministrator determines to be necessary to pay costs 

13 incurred in developing, operating, maintaining, and 

14 upgrading the system. 

15 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF FEES.—The Adminis16 trator shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) collect the fees described in para18 graph (1) from the users in advance of, or as 

19 reimbursement for, the provision by the Admin20 istrator of system-related services; and 

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

22 in accordance with this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(3) FEE STRUCTURE.— 

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

25 consultation with information technology venVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 Sep 14, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3871.IS S3871

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1 dors, shall determine through the contract 

2 award process described in subsection (e) the 

3 fee structure that is necessary to recover the 

4 full cost to the Administrator of providing sys5 tem-related services, including costs relating 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(i) materials and supplies; 

8 ‘‘(ii) contracting and consulting; 

9 ‘‘(iii) overhead; 

10 ‘‘(iv) information technology (includ11 ing costs of hardware, software, and re12 lated services); 

13 ‘‘(v) information management; 

14 ‘‘(vi) collection of service fees; 

15 ‘‘(vii) investment of any unused serv16 ice fees; 

17 ‘‘(viii) reporting and accounting; 

18 ‘‘(ix) employment of direct and indi19 rect government personnel dedicated to es20 tablishing and maintaining the system; and 

21 ‘‘(x) project management. 

22 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS IN FEE AMOUNT.— 

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

24 shall increase or decrease amount of a 

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1 ture described in subparagraph (A) to a 

2 level that will— 

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

4 aggregate amount for deposit in the 

5 Fund that is sufficient to cover cur6 rent and projected system-related 

7 costs (including any necessary system 

8 upgrades); and 

9 ‘‘(II) minimize, to the maximum 

10 extent practicable, the accumulation 

11 of unused amounts in the Fund. 

12 ‘‘(ii) TIMING OF ADJUSTMENTS.—Ad13 justments to service fees described in 

14 clause (i) shall be made— 

15 ‘‘(I) initially, at the time at 

16 which initial development costs of the 

17 system have been recovered by the 

18 Administrator such that the service 

19 fee may be reduced to reflect the 

20 elimination of the system development 

21 component of the fee; and 

22 ‘‘(II) periodically thereafter, upon 

23 receipt and acceptance of the findings 

24 of any annual accounting or auditing 

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


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1 report discloses a significant disparity 

2 for a fiscal year between the funds 

3 collected from service fees under this 

4 subsection for the fiscal year and ex5 penditures made for the fiscal year to 

6 provide system-related services. 

7 ‘‘(d) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST

8 SYSTEM FUND.— 

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

10 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, 

11 to be known as the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic 

12 Manifest System Fund’, consisting of— 

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

14 the Fund under paragraph (2); and 

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

16 amounts in the Fund under paragraph (4). 

17 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—There are appro18 priated to the Fund amounts equivalent to amounts 

19 collected as fees and received by the Administrator 

20 under subsection (c). 

21 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

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

23 (2), on request by the Administrator, the Sec24 retary of the Treasury shall transfer from the 

25 Fund to the Administrator such amounts as the 


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1 Administrator determines to be necessary to 

2 pay costs incurred in developing, operating, 

3 maintaining, and upgrading the system under 

4 subsection (c). 

5 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

7 the Administrator and deposited in the 

8 Fund under this section shall be available 

9 to the Administrator for use in accordance 

10 with this section without fiscal year limita11 tion and without further appropriation. 

12 ‘‘(ii) OVERSIGHT.—The Administrator 

13 shall carry out all necessary measures to 

14 ensure that amounts in the Fund are used 

15 only to carry out the goals of establishing, 

16 operating, maintaining, upgrading, man17 aging, supporting, and overseeing the sys18 tem. 

19 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

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

21 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund 

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

23 the Treasury and the Administrator, required 

24 to meet current withdrawals. 


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

2 Investments may be made only in— 

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

4 United States; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) obligations, participations, or 

6 other instruments that are lawful invest7 ments for fiduciaries, trusts, or public 

8 funds, as determined by the Secretary of 

9 the Treasury. 

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

11 the purpose of investments under paragraph 

12 (1), obligations may be acquired— 

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

14 price; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) by purchase of outstanding obli16 gations at the market price. 

17 ‘‘(D) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obliga18 tion acquired by the Fund may be sold by the 

19 Secretary of the Treasury at the market price. 

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

21 and the proceeds from the sale or redemption 

22 of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be 

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

24 ‘‘(5) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 


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

2 to be transferred to the Fund under this sub3 section shall be transferred at least monthly 

4 from the general fund of the Treasury to the 

5 Fund on the basis of estimates made by the 

6 Secretary of the Treasury. 

7 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment 

8 shall be made in amounts subsequently trans9 ferred to the extent prior estimates were in ex10 cess of or less than the amounts required to be 

11 transferred. 

12 ‘‘(6) ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING.— 

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

14 period, the Administrator shall prepare and 

15 submit to Congress a report that includes— 

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

17 the Administrator under subsection (c) and 

18 disbursed from the Fund for the period 

19 covered by the report, as reflected by fi20 nancial statements provided in accordance 

21 with— 

22 ‘‘(I) the Chief Financial Officers 

23 Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576; 

24 104 Stat. 2838) and amendments 

25 made by that Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the Government Manage2 ment Reform Act of 1994 (Public 

3 Law 103–356; 108 Stat. 3410) and 

4 amendments made by that Act; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) an accounting describing actual 

6 expenditures from the Fund for the period 

7 covered by the report for costs described in 

8 subsection (c)(1). 

9 ‘‘(B) AUDITING.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose 

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

12 States Code, the Fund shall be considered 

13 a component of an Executive agency. 

14 ‘‘(ii) COMPONENTS OF AUDIT.—The 

15 annual audit required in accordance with 

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

17 United States Code, of the financial state18 ments of activities carried out using 

19 amounts from the Fund shall include an 

20 analysis of— 

21 ‘‘(I) the fees collected and dis22 bursed under this section; 

23 ‘‘(II) the reasonableness of the 

24 fee structure in place as of the date of 


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1 the audit to meet current and pro2 jected costs of the system; 

3 ‘‘(III) the level of use of the sys4 tem by users; and 

5 ‘‘(IV) the success to date of the 

6 system in operating on a self-sus7 taining basis and improving the effi8 ciency of tracking waste shipments 

9 and transmitting waste shipment 

10 data. 

11 ‘‘(iii) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.— 

12 The Inspector General of the Environ13 mental Protection Agency shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) conduct the annual audit de15 scribed in clause (ii); and 

16 ‘‘(II) submit to the Administrator 

17 a report that describes the findings 

18 and recommendations of the Inspector 

19 General resulting from the audit. 

20 ‘‘(e) CONTRACTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS

22 FUNDED BY SERVICE FEES.—The Administrator 

23 may enter into 1 or more information technology 

24 contracts with entities determined to be appropriate 


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1 by the Administrator (referred to in this subsection 

2 as ‘contractors’) under which— 

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

4 contract for the provision of system-related 

5 services; and 

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

7 initial risk of the information technology invest8 ment, and to obtain reimbursement for invest9 ment costs, operating costs, and other fees, by 

10 receiving as payment an agreed-upon share of 

11 the amounts collected as fees by the Adminis12 trator under subsection (c). 

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

14 under this subsection shall have a term of not more 

15 than 10 years. 

16 ‘‘(3) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.—The Adminis17 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac18 ticable, that a contract awarded under this sub19 section— 

20 ‘‘(A) is performance-based; 

21 ‘‘(B) identifies objective outcomes; and 

22 ‘‘(C) contains performance standards that 

23 may be used to measure achievement and goals 

24 to evaluate the success of a contractor in per25 forming under the contract and the right of the 


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1 contractor to payment for services under the 

2 contract, taking into consideration that a pri3 mary measure of successful performance shall 

4 be the development of a hazardous waste elec5 tronic manifest system that— 

6 ‘‘(i) meets the needs of the user com7 munity; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) attracts sufficient user participa9 tion and service fee revenues to ensure the 

10 viability of the system. 

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

12 awarded under this subsection shall include a provi13 sion that specifies— 

14 ‘‘(A) the service fee structure of the con15 tractor that will form the basis for payments to 

16 the contractor; 

17 ‘‘(B) the fixed-share ratio of monthly serv18 ice fee revenues from which the Administrator 

19 shall reimburse the contractor for system-re20 lated development, operation, and maintenance 

21 costs and provide an additional profit or fee 

22 commensurate with the risk undertaken by the 

23 contractor in performing in accordance with the 

24 contract; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the amount of additional trans2 actional costs attributed to— 

3 ‘‘(i) the ancillary costs of the Admin4 istrator in implementing and managing the 

5 system, including the costs of integrating 

6 the applications of the contractor with the 

7 central data exchange architecture of the 

8 Environmental Protection Agency; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the direct and indirect personnel 

10 costs incurred by the Administrator to em11 ploy personnel dedicated to the implemen12 tation and management of the system; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) expenses incurred in procuring 

14 any independent contractor services to as15 sist staff of the Administrator in the prep16 aration of financial statements and reports 

17 and the conduct of regular user group and 

18 governance meetings necessary for the 

19 oversight of the system. 

20 ‘‘(5) CANCELLATION AND TERMINATION.— 

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

22 determines that sufficient funds are not made 

23 available for the continuation in a subsequent 

24 fiscal year of a contract entered into under this 


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1 subsection, the Administrator shall cancel or 

2 terminate the contract. 

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

4 termination under subparagraph (A) may be 

5 paid using— 

6 ‘‘(i) appropriations available for per7 formance of the contract; 

8 ‘‘(ii) unobligated appropriations avail9 able for acquisition of the information 

10 technology procured under the contract; or 

11 ‘‘(iii) funds subsequently appropriated 

12 for payment of costs of the cancellation or 

13 termination. 

14 ‘‘(C) NEGOTIATION OF AMOUNTS.—The 

15 amount payable in the event of cancellation or 

16 termination of a contract entered into under 

17 this subsection shall be negotiated with the con18 tractor at the time at which the contract is 

19 awarded. 

20 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CON21 TRACTS.—The Administrator may enter into a 

22 contract under this subsection for any fiscal 

23 year, regardless of whether funds are made spe24 cifically available for the full costs of cancella25 tion or termination of the contract, if— 


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

2 which the contract is awarded to make 

3 payments with respect to a contingent li4 ability in an amount equal to at least 75 

5 percent of the estimated costs of a can6 cellation or termination during the first 

7 fiscal year of the contract, as determined 

8 by the Administrator; or 

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

10 not available as described in that clause, 

11 but the contractor— 

12 ‘‘(I) is informed of the amount of 

13 any unfunded contingent liability; and 

14 ‘‘(II) agrees to perform the con15 tract despite the unfunded contingent 

16 liability. 

17 ‘‘(f) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST

18 SYSTEM GOVERNING BOARD.— 

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

20 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad21 ministrator shall establish a board to be known as 

22 the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System 

23 Governing Board’. 

24 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com25 posed of 7 members, of which— 


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

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

3 of the Board; and 

4 ‘‘(B) 6 members shall be individuals ap5 pointed by the Administrator— 

6 ‘‘(i) at least 1 of whom shall have ex7 pertise in information technology; 

8 ‘‘(ii) at least 1 of whom shall have ex9 perience in using the manifest system to 

10 track the transportation of hazardous 

11 waste under this subtitle (or an equivalent 

12 State program); and 

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

14 State representative responsible for proc15 essing those manifests. 

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

17 to discuss, evaluate the effectiveness of, and provide 

18 recommendations to the Administrator relating to, 

19 the system. 

20 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) PROMULGATION.— 

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

23 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

24 Administrator shall promulgate regulations to 

25 carry out this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations 

2 promulgated under subparagraph (A) shall en3 sure that each electronic manifest provides, to 

4 the same extent as paper manifests under appli5 cable Federal and State law, for— 

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

7 accountability of— 

8 ‘‘(I) the person that certifies that 

9 the information provided in the mani10 fest is accurately described; and 

11 ‘‘(II) the person that acknowl12 edges receipt of the manifest; 

13 ‘‘(ii) if the manifest is electronically 

14 submitted, State authority to access paper 

15 copies of manifest; and 

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

17 information contained in the manifest. 

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

19 regulation promulgated by the Administrator under 

20 paragraph (1) and in accordance with section 3003 

21 relating to electronic manifesting of hazardous waste 

22 shall take effect in each State as of the effective 

23 date specified in the regulation. 

24 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator 

25 shall carry out regulations promulgated under this 


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1 subsection in each State unless the State program is 

2 fully authorized to carry out those regulations in lieu 

3 of the Administrator.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901) 

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

7 to subtitle C the following: 

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

Æ 


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