sites with incomes below the poverty line ranged
from 26 percent to 42 percent.
(5) A University of Michigan study released in
1990 found that minorities were 4 times more likely
than whites to live within 1 mile of a commercial
hazardous waste facility in the 3-county Detroit
metropolitan area.
(6) A National Law Journal study found that
penalties imposed for pollution law violations in
areas predominantly populated by minorities were
dramatically lower than those imposed for violations
in largely white areas.
SEC. 3. PETITION RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY DIS-
ADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.
(a) AMENDMENT TO SUBTITLE G.—Subtitle G of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6971 et seq.) is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 7014. PETITION RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY
DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.
‘‘(a) RIGHT TO PETITION.—(1) Any citizen residing
in a State in which a new facility for the management
of solid waste (including a new facility for the manage-
ment of hazardous waste) is proposed to be constructed
in an environmentally disadvantaged community may sub-
mit a petition to the appropriate entity (described in para-
graph (2)) to prevent the proposed facility from being is-
sued a permit to be constructed or to operate in that com-
munity.
‘‘(2) A petition under paragraph (1) shall be submit-
ted in accordance with the following subparagraphs:
‘‘(A) In the case of a facility for the manage-
ment of hazardous waste, the petition shall be sub-
mitted to the Administrator or, in the case of a
State with an authorized program under section
3006, to the State.
‘‘(B) In the case of a facility for the manage-
ment of municipal solid waste, the petition shall be
submitted to the Administrator or, in appropriate
cases, as determined under regulations implementing
this section, to the State.
‘‘(b) AGENCY HEARING.—(1) Within a reasonable pe-
riod of time after receipt of a petition under subsection
(a), the Administrator or the State shall hold a public
hearing on the petition. An administrative law judge of
the Environmental Protection Agency or an equivalent em-
ployee of the State, in the case of a petition submitted
to the State, shall preside at the hearing.
‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the administrative law
judge or State employee shall approve the petition if, at
the hearing, the petitioner establishes that—
‘‘(A) the proposed facility will be located in an
environmentally disadvantaged community; and
‘‘(B) the proposed facility may adversely af-
fect—
‘‘(i) the human health of such community
or a portion of such community; or
‘‘(ii) the air, soil, water, or other elements
of the environment of such community or a por-
tion of such community.
‘‘(3) After the petitioner has satisfied the require-
ment of paragraph (2), the administrative law judge or
State employee shall deny the petition only if, at the
hearing, the proponent of the proposed facility establishes
that —
‘‘(A) there is no alternative location within the
State for the proposed facility that poses fewer risks
to human health and the environment than the pro-
posed facility (according to standards for comparing
the degree of risk to human health and the environ-
ment promulgated in regulations by the Adminis-
trator for purposes of this section); and
‘‘(B) the proposed facility—
‘‘(i) will not release contaminants; or
‘‘(ii) will not engage in any activity that is
likely to increase the cumulative impact of con-
taminants on any residents of the environ-
mentally disadvantaged community.
‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) The sub-
mission of a petition under subsection (a) stays the issu-
ance of a permit for the facility concerned until a decision
on the petition has been rendered under subsection (b).
‘‘(2) If more than one petition relating to the same
facility is submitted, the petitions may be consolidated by
the appropriate official to promote the efficient resolution
and disposition of the petitions.
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘environmentally disadvantaged
community’ means an area within 2 miles of the bor-
ders of a site on which a facility for the management
of solid waste (including a facility for the manage-
ment of hazardous waste) is proposed to be con-
structed and in which both of the following condi-
tions are met, determined using the most recent
data from the Bureau of the Census:
‘‘(A)(i) The percentage of the population
consisting of all individuals who are of African,
Hispanic, Asian, Native American Indian, Pa-
cific Island, or Native Alaskan ancestry is
greater than either—
‘‘(I) the percentage of the population
in the State of all such individuals, or
‘‘(II) the percentage of the population
in the United States of all such individ-
uals; or
‘‘(ii)(I) twenty percent or more of the pop-
ulation consists of individuals who are living at
or below the poverty line, or
‘‘(II) the area has a per capita income of
80 percent or less of the national average,
for the most recent 12-month period for which
statistics are available.
‘‘(B) The area contains one or more of the
following:
‘‘(i) A facility for the management of
hazardous waste that is in operation.
‘‘(ii) A facility for the management of
hazardous waste that is no longer in oper-
ation but that formerly accepted hazardous
waste.
‘‘(iii) A site at which a release or
threatened release of hazardous substances
(within the meaning of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980) has occurred.
‘‘(iv) A facility for the management of
municipal solid waste.
‘‘(v) A facility whose owner or opera-
tor is required to submit a toxic chemical
release form under section 313 of the
Emergency 
Planning 
and 
Community
Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C.
11023), if the releases reported on such
form are likely to adversely affect the
human health of the community or portion
of the community, as determined by the
entity that would be appropriate under
subsection (a)(2) if a petition were filed
with respect to the facility.
‘‘(2) The term ‘management’, when used in
connection with solid waste (including hazardous
waste), means treatment, storage, disposal, combus-
tion, recycling, or other handling of solid waste, but
does not include any activities that take place in a
materials recovery facility or any other facility that
prepares, transfers, or utilizes nonhazardous recycla-
ble materials for purposes other than energy recov-
ery.