I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1924

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow petitions to be submitted

to prevent certain waste facilities from being constructed in environmentally disadvantaged communities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 29, 1993

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Energy and Commerce

OCTOBER 13, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. MFUME, Mr.

MILLER of California, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. TORRES, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr.

JEFFERSON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. FILNER, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms. NORTON, Mr.

CLAY, Mr. DELLUMS, Ms. WATERS, Mr. FISH, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr.

RICHARDSON, Mr. PALLONE, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. RUSH, and

Mr. DIXON

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow petitions

to be submitted to prevent certain waste facilities from

being constructed in environmentally disadvantaged communities.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Environmental Equal

3 Rights Act of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) A 1987 study by the United Church of

7 Christ found that the proportion of minorities in

8 communities with large commercial landfills or a

9 high number of commercial waste facilities was 3

10 times greater than in communities without such

11 facilities.

12 (2) The same United Church of Christ study

13 found that approximately 60 percent of African- and

14 Hispanic-Americans live in a community that has an

15 uncontrolled hazardous waste site.

16 (3) An Environmental Protection Agency report

17 released in 1992 found that racial minority and low18 income populations experience higher than average

19 exposures to selected air pollutants and hazardous

20 waste facilities.

21 (4) A 1983 analysis by the General Accounting

22 Office found that, in the southeastern United States,

23 3 of the 4 commercial hazardous waste landfills were

24 located in communities with more blacks than

25 whites, and the percentage of residents near the
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1 sites with incomes below the poverty line ranged

2 from 26 percent to 42 percent.

3 (5) A University of Michigan study released in

4 1990 found that minorities were 4 times more likely

5 than whites to live within 1 mile of a commercial

6 hazardous waste facility in the 3-county Detroit

7 metropolitan area.

8 (6) A National Law Journal study found that

9 penalties imposed for pollution law violations in

10 areas predominantly populated by minorities were

11 dramatically lower than those imposed for violations

12 in largely white areas.

13 SEC. 3. PETITION RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY DIS14 ADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

15 (a) AMENDMENT TO SUBTITLE G.—Subtitle G of the

16 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6971 et seq.) is

17 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

18 ‘‘SEC. 7014. PETITION RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY

19 DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

20 ‘‘(a) RIGHT TO PETITION.—(1) Any citizen residing

21 in a State in which a new facility for the management

22 of solid waste (including a new facility for the manage23 ment of hazardous waste) is proposed to be constructed

24 in an environmentally disadvantaged community may sub25 mit a petition to the appropriate entity (described in para-
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1 graph (2)) to prevent the proposed facility from being is2 sued a permit to be constructed or to operate in that com3 munity.

4 ‘‘(2) A petition under paragraph (1) shall be submit5 ted in accordance with the following subparagraphs:

6 ‘‘(A) In the case of a facility for the manage7 ment of hazardous waste, the petition shall be sub8 mitted to the Administrator or, in the case of a

9 State with an authorized program under section

10 3006, to the State.

11 ‘‘(B) In the case of a facility for the manage12 ment of municipal solid waste, the petition shall be

13 submitted to the Administrator or, in appropriate

14 cases, as determined under regulations implementing

15 this section, to the State.

16 ‘‘(b) AGENCY HEARING.—(1) Within a reasonable pe17 riod of time after receipt of a petition under subsection

18 (a), the Administrator or the State shall hold a public

19 hearing on the petition. An administrative law judge of

20 the Environmental Protection Agency or an equivalent em21 ployee of the State, in the case of a petition submitted

22 to the State, shall preside at the hearing.

23 ‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the administrative law

24 judge or State employee shall approve the petition if, at

25 the hearing, the petitioner establishes that—
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1 ‘‘(A) the proposed facility will be located in an

2 environmentally disadvantaged community; and

3 ‘‘(B) the proposed facility may adversely af4 fect—

5 ‘‘(i) the human health of such community

6 or a portion of such community; or

7 ‘‘(ii) the air, soil, water, or other elements

8 of the environment of such community or a por9 tion of such community.

10 ‘‘(3) After the petitioner has satisfied the require11 ment of paragraph (2), the administrative law judge or

12 State employee shall deny the petition only if, at the

13 hearing, the proponent of the proposed facility establishes

14 that —

15 ‘‘(A) there is no alternative location within the

16 State for the proposed facility that poses fewer risks

17 to human health and the environment than the pro18 posed facility (according to standards for comparing

19 the degree of risk to human health and the environ20 ment promulgated in regulations by the Adminis21 trator for purposes of this section); and

22 ‘‘(B) the proposed facility—

23 ‘‘(i) will not release contaminants; or

24 ‘‘(ii) will not engage in any activity that is

25 likely to increase the cumulative impact of con-
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1 taminants on any residents of the environ2 mentally disadvantaged community.

3 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) The sub4 mission of a petition under subsection (a) stays the issu5 ance of a permit for the facility concerned until a decision

6 on the petition has been rendered under subsection (b).

7 ‘‘(2) If more than one petition relating to the same

8 facility is submitted, the petitions may be consolidated by

9 the appropriate official to promote the efficient resolution

10 and disposition of the petitions.

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘environmentally disadvantaged

13 community’ means an area within 2 miles of the bor14 ders of a site on which a facility for the management

15 of solid waste (including a facility for the manage16 ment of hazardous waste) is proposed to be con17 structed and in which both of the following condi18 tions are met, determined using the most recent

19 data from the Bureau of the Census:

20 ‘‘(A)(i) The percentage of the population

21 consisting of all individuals who are of African,

22 Hispanic, Asian, Native American Indian, Pa23 cific Island, or Native Alaskan ancestry is

24 greater than either—
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1 ‘‘(I) the percentage of the population

2 in the State of all such individuals, or

3 ‘‘(II) the percentage of the population

4 in the United States of all such individ5 uals; or

6 ‘‘(ii)(I) twenty percent or more of the pop7 ulation consists of individuals who are living at

8 or below the poverty line, or

9 ‘‘(II) the area has a per capita income of

10 80 percent or less of the national average,

11 for the most recent 12-month period for which

12 statistics are available.

13 ‘‘(B) The area contains one or more of the

14 following:

15 ‘‘(i) A facility for the management of

16 hazardous waste that is in operation.

17 ‘‘(ii) A facility for the management of

18 hazardous waste that is no longer in oper19 ation but that formerly accepted hazardous

20 waste.

21 ‘‘(iii) A site at which a release or

22 threatened release of hazardous substances

23 (within the meaning of the Comprehensive

24 Environmental Response, Compensation,

25 and Liability Act of 1980) has occurred.
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1 ‘‘(iv) A facility for the management of

2 municipal solid waste.

3 ‘‘(v) A facility whose owner or opera4 tor is required to submit a toxic chemical

5 release form under section 313 of the

6 Emergency Planning and Community

7 Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C.

8 11023), if the releases reported on such

9 form are likely to adversely affect the

10 human health of the community or portion

11 of the community, as determined by the

12 entity that would be appropriate under

13 subsection (a)(2) if a petition were filed

14 with respect to the facility.

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘management’, when used in

16 connection with solid waste (including hazardous

17 waste), means treatment, storage, disposal, combus18 tion, recycling, or other handling of solid waste, but

19 does not include any activities that take place in a

20 materials recovery facility or any other facility that

21 prepares, transfers, or utilizes nonhazardous recycla22 ble materials for purposes other than energy recov23 ery.
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1 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘release’ and ‘contaminant’ have

2 the meanings prescribed by the Administrator for

3 purposes of this section.’’.

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table

5 of contents for subtitle G of such Act is further amended

6 by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 7014. Petition relating to environmentally disadvantaged communities.’’.

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