I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1523
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require producers and importers
of newsprint to recycle a certain percentage of newsprint each year,
to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
to establish a recycling credit system for carrying out such recycling
requirement, to establish a management and tracking system for such
newsprint, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 7, 1995
Mr. TORRES (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.
BONIOR, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. BRYANT of Texas, Mr. DELLUMS,
Ms. ESHOO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mr.
FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Ms. HARMAN, Mr.
KLECZKA, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MILLER
of California, Mr. MINETA, Mr. MORAN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. ROMERO-
BARCELO´, Mr. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms.
SLAUGHTER, Mr. VENTO, Mr. WALSH, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms.
WOOLSEY, and Mr. YATES) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require producers
and importers of newsprint to recycle a certain percent-
age of newsprint each year, to require the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a
recycling credit system for carrying out such recycling
requirement, to establish a management and tracking
system for such newsprint, and for other purposes.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Newsprint Recycling
Incentives Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Of the total United States waste-stream of
206.9 million tons per year, paper and related prod-
ucts compose 77.8 million tons, or 34 percent of the
total.
(2) 54.3 percent of old newspaper waste in the
United States is not recycled and ends up in the
waste-stream.
(3) State and local newspaper recycling pro-
grams have helped create a growing surplus of old
newspaper waste and have helped to bring about a
collapse of the market for recycled newsprint.
(4) The current glut of old newspaper waste
has caused the market for old newspaper waste to
vary from a price of $75 per ton to a cost or loss
of $0 per ton.
(5) The price of new newsprint does not reflect
the increasing cost to communities of disposal and
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landfilling of old newspaper waste. Such cost cur-
rently is between $87 and $134 per ton, on average.
(6) The cost of recycling old newspaper waste
is substantially less than the cost of disposal.
(7) The demand for old newspaper waste needs
to be increased to provide both an outlet for the rap-
idly increasing glut of old newspaper waste and sta-
ble markets for recyclers to invest in de-inking facili-
ties.
(8) A minimum recycling requirement can be
used to create a market which accurately reflects the
societal costs of old newspaper waste.
(9) The creation of an efficient market for recy-
cled newsprint requires that the cost of disposal be
included in the cost of unrecycled products.
(10) The Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency requires additional statutory au-
thority to increase recycling of old newspaper waste
and to stimulate demand.
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS TO RECYCLE NEWSPRINT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis-
posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end thereof the following:
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‘‘SEC. 4011. NEWSPRINT RECYCLING REQUIREMENTS.
‘‘(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—(1) Beginning not
later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of
the Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act, a producer or im-
porter of newsprint each year shall recycle, using a method
described in paragraph (2), an amount of newsprint equal
to at least that amount of newsprint determined by—
‘‘(A) multiplying the newsprint produced or im-
ported that year by such person, by
‘‘(B) the recycling percentage established by the
Administrator under subsection (b).
‘‘(2) A producer or importer of newsprint may comply
with this subsection—
‘‘(A) by recycling, through de-inking, newsprint
for purposes of producing recycled newsprint;
‘‘(B) by purchasing recycled newsprint for pur-
poses of combining with shipments of virgin news-
print; or
‘‘(C) by purchasing recycling credits under the
recycling credit system established pursuant to sub-
section (c).
‘‘(b) RECYCLING PERCENTAGE.—The Administrator
each year shall establish a recycling percentage for use
under subsection (a). The percentage applicable during
the first year that the requirement established by sub-
section (a) is in effect shall be not less than 20 percent.
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For each of the ten years thereafter, the recycling percent-
age shall be an additional 2 percentage points higher than
the percentage of the previous year.
‘‘(c) CREDIT
SYSTEM
FOR
RECYCLING
NEWS-
PRINT.—(1) Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of the Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act,
the Administrator shall promulgate regulations to estab-
lish a system under which (A) producers or importers of
recycled newsprint may create credits for used newsprint
recycling, and (B) producers or importers of newsprint
(virgin or recycled) may purchase such recycling credits
from such recyclers, for purposes of complying with sub-
section (a). The regulations shall include a mechanism or
mechanisms (including an auction) for any allocation of
credits that may be necessary. No person may create such
credits, and no producer or importer of newsprint may
purchase such credits, except in accordance with this sub-
section and the regulations promulgated under this sub-
section.
‘‘(2) At a minimum, the regulations under subsection
(c) shall include the following requirements:
‘‘(A) The producer or importer of recycled
newsprint shall maintain records of the receipt of old
newsprint and other paper products for de-inking
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and subsequent recycling. Such records shall be
maintained for at least 2 years.
‘‘(B) The producer of recycled newsprint shall
notify the Environmental Protection Agency of the
producer’s capacity to recycle old newsprint. Such
notification shall state the overall newsprint capacity
and that portion dedicated to de-inking and recy-
cling.
‘‘(C) The importer of recycled newsprint shall
notify the United States Customs Service of the
amount of newsprint being imported by the im-
porter. Such notice shall be accompanied by a cer-
tification verifying the accuracy of the notice. The
certification shall be made by the official responsible
for negotiating trade agreements of the country from
which the importer is shipping newsprint to the
United States.
‘‘(D) Producers or importers of newsprint shall
maintain records of sales of virgin and recycled
newsprint, including quantities and prices of recy-
cled newsprint and sales or other disposition of such
recycling credits as may be used to demonstrate
compliance with the requirements of this section.
Such records shall be maintained for at least 2
years.
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‘‘(E) Producers and importers of newsprint
shall report to the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency annually and on an in-
terim quarterly basis—
‘‘(i) the amount of recycled content news-
print produced or imported each year;
‘‘(ii) the number of credits purchased or
otherwise acquired from other producers or im-
porters; and
‘‘(iii) the number of credits sold or other-
wise distributed to other producers or import-
ers.
‘‘(3) The Administrator may include such other re-
quirements in the regulations under paragraph (1) with
respect to qualifications for recyclers, importers, and pro-
ducers; methods for auditing compliance with the system;
and enforcement of the system; as the Administrator con-
siders necessary or appropriate for administering the recy-
cling credit system established under this subsection.
‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘recycling
credit’ means a legal record of a recycling activity under-
taken in accordance with this subsection that represents
an amount of newsprint recycled through de-inking for
purposes of complying with this section.