I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2109 
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry 
out certain authorities under an agreement with Canada respecting the 
importation of municipal solid waste, to amend the Solid Waste Disposal 
Act to authorize States to restrict receipt of foreign municipal solid 
waste, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2005 
Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, and Ms. BALD-
WIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency to carry out certain authorities under an agree-
ment with Canada respecting the importation of munic-
ipal solid waste, to amend the Solid Waste Disposal 
Act to authorize States to restrict receipt of foreign 
municipal solid waste, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CANADIAN TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF 
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste 
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section: 
‘‘CANADIAN TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF MUNICIPAL 
SOLID WASTE 
‘‘SEC. 4011. (a) PROHIBITION.—No person shall im-
port, transport, or export municipal solid waste for final 
disposal or for incineration in violation of the Agreement 
Between the Government of the United States of America 
and 
the 
Government 
of 
Canada 
Concerning 
the 
Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, or any 
regulations issued to implement and enforce such agree-
ment. 
‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATOR’S AUTHORITY.—The Adminis-
trator shall perform the functions of the Designated Au-
thority of the United States with respect to the importa-
tion and exportation of municipal solid waste under the 
agreement described in subsection (a). Beginning imme-
diately upon the enactment of this section, the Adminis-
trator shall implement and enforce the notice and consent 
provisions of such agreement, as well as the other provi-
sions thereof. In considering whether to consent to the im-
portation of municipal solid waste under article 3(c) of 
such agreement, the Administrator shall—
‘‘(1) give substantial weight to the views of the 
State or States into which the municipal solid waste 
is to be imported, and consider the views of the local 
government with jurisdiction over the location where 
the waste is to be disposed; and 
‘‘(2) consider the impact of the importation 
on— 
‘‘(A) continued public support for and ad-
herence to State and local recycling programs; 
‘‘(B) landfill capacity as provided in com-
prehensive waste management plans; 
‘‘(C) air emissions from increased vehicular 
traffic; 
‘‘(D) road deterioration from increased ve-
hicular traffic; and 
‘‘(E) public health and the environment. 
‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—(1) Whenever on the 
basis of any information the Administrator determines 
that any person has violated or is in violation of this sec-
tion, the Administrator may issue an order assessing a 
civil penalty for any past or current violation, requiring 
compliance immediately or within a specified time period, 
or both, or the Administrator may commence a civil action 
in the United States district court in the district in which
the violation occurred for appropriate relief, including a 
temporary or permanent injunction. 
‘‘(2) Any order issued pursuant to this subsection 
shall state with reasonable specificity the nature of the vio-
lation. Any penalty assessed in the order shall not exceed 
$25,000 per day of noncompliance for each violation. In 
assessing such a penalty, the Administrator shall take into 
account the seriousness of the violation and any good faith 
efforts to comply with applicable requirements. 
‘‘(d) PUBLIC HEARING.—Any order issued under this 
section shall become final unless, not later than 30 days 
after the order is served, the person or persons named 
therein request a public hearing. Upon such request the 
Administrator shall promptly conduct a public hearing. In 
connection with any proceeding under this section the Ad-
ministrator may issue subpoenas for the attendance and 
testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant pa-
pers, books, and documents, and may promulgate rules for 
discovery procedures. 
‘‘(e) VIOLATION OF COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—If a vio-
lator fails to take corrective action within the time speci-
fied in a compliance order, the Administrator may assess 
a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each day of 
continued noncompliance with the order.’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of such subtitle D is amended by adding at 
the end the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 4011. Canadian transboundary movement of municipal solid waste.’’. 
SEC. 2. INTERSTATE AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSPOR-
TATION AND DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL SOLID 
WASTE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis-
posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 4012. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND DIS-
POSAL OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—A State may enact a law or laws 
imposing limitations (including a prohibition) on the re-
ceipt and disposal of foreign municipal solid waste. 
‘‘(b) EFFECT ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COM-
MERCE.—No State action taken as authorized by this sec-
tion shall be considered to impose an undue burden on 
interstate and foreign commerce or to otherwise impair, 
restrain, or discriminate against interstate and foreign 
commerce. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) FOREIGN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—The 
term ‘foreign municipal solid waste’ means munic-
ipal solid waste generated outside of the United 
States.
‘‘(2) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.— 
‘‘(A) WASTE INCLUDED.—Except as pro-
vided in subparagraph (B), the term ‘municipal 
solid waste’ means— 
‘‘(i) all waste materials discarded for 
disposal by households, including single 
and multifamily residences, and hotels and 
motels; and 
‘‘(ii) all waste materials discarded for 
disposal that were generated by commer-
cial, institutional, municipal, and industrial 
sources, to the extent such materials— 
‘‘(I) are essentially the same as 
materials described in clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) were collected and disposed 
of with other municipal solid waste 
described in clause (i) or subclause (I) 
of this clause as part of normal mu-
nicipal solid waste collection services, 
except that this subclause does not 
apply to hazardous materials other 
than hazardous materials that, pursu-
ant to regulations issued under sec-
tion 3001(d), are not subject to regu-
lation under subtitle C.
Examples of municipal solid waste include food 
and yard waste, paper, clothing, appliances, 
consumer product packaging, disposable dia-
pers, office supplies, cosmetics, glass and metal 
food containers, and household hazardous 
waste. Such term shall include debris resulting 
from construction, remodeling, repair, or demo-
lition of structures. 
‘‘(B) WASTE NOT INCLUDED.—The term 
‘municipal solid waste’ does not include any of 
the following: 
‘‘(i) Any solid waste identified or list-
ed as a hazardous waste under section 
3001, except for household hazardous 
waste. 
‘‘(ii) Any solid waste, including con-
taminated soil and debris, resulting from— 
‘‘(I) a response action taken 
under section 104 or 106 of the Com-
prehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act (42 
U.S.C. 9604 or 9606); 
‘‘(II) a response action taken 
under a State law with authorities
comparable to the authorities of such 
section 104 or 106; or 
‘‘(III) a corrective action taken 
under this Act. 
‘‘(iii) Recyclable materials that have 
been separated, at the source of the waste, 
from waste otherwise destined for disposal 
or that have been managed separately from 
waste destined for disposal. 
‘‘(iv) Scrap rubber to be used as a 
fuel source. 
‘‘(v) Materials and products returned 
from a dispenser or distributor to the man-
ufacturer or an agent of the manufacturer 
for credit, evaluation, and possible reuse. 
‘‘(vi) Any solid waste that is— 
‘‘(I) generated by an industrial 
facility; and 
‘‘(II) transported for the purpose 
of treatment, storage, or disposal to a 
facility or unit thereof that is owned 
or operated by the generator of the 
waste, located on property owned by 
the generator or a company with 
which the generator is affiliated, or
the capacity of which is contractually 
dedicated exclusively to a specific gen-
erator, so long as the disposal area 
complies with local and State land use 
and zoning regulations applicable to 
the disposal site. 
‘‘(vii) Any medical waste that is seg-
regated from or not mixed with solid 
waste. 
‘‘(viii) Sewage sludge and residuals 
from any sewage treatment plant. 
‘‘(ix) Combustion ash generated by re-
source recovery facilities or municipal in-
cinerators, or waste from manufacturing or 
processing (including pollution control) op-
erations not essentially the same as waste 
normally generated by households.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 
prec. 6901) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 4012. International transportation and disposal of municipal solid 
waste.’’. 
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