IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 518 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 25, 2007 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works 
AN ACT 
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize States 
to restrict receipt of foreign municipal solid waste and 
implement the Agreement Concerning the Transboundary 
Movement of Hazardous Waste between the United 
States and Canada, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Solid 
Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 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 amended by adding 
after section 4010 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 4011. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND DIS-
POSAL OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. 
‘‘(a) STATE AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS IMPORTATION 
AND MANAGEMENT OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Until the date on which all 
final regulations issued by the Administrator to im-
plement and enforce the Agreement (including notice 
and consent provisions of the Agreement) become ef-
fective, a State may enact a law or laws or issue reg-
ulations or orders imposing limitations on the receipt 
and disposal of foreign municipal solid waste within 
the State. Laws, regulations, and orders enacted or 
issued before that date may continue in effect ac-
cording to their terms after that date. 
‘‘(2) EFFECT
ON
INTERSTATE
AND
FOREIGN 
COMMERCE.—No State action taken as authorized 
by this section shall be considered to impose an 
undue burden on interstate and foreign commerce or 
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to otherwise impair, restrain, or discriminate against 
interstate and foreign commerce. 
‘‘(3) TRADE
AND
TREATY
OBLIGATIONS.— 
Nothing in this section affects, replaces, or amends 
prior law relating to the need for consistency with 
international trade obligations. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Beginning immediately 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad-
ministrator shall— 
‘‘(A) perform the functions of the Des-
ignated Authority of the United States de-
scribed in the Agreement with respect to the 
importation and exportation of municipal solid 
waste under the Agreement; and 
‘‘(B) implement and enforce the notice and 
consent and other provisions of the Agreement. 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 24 months 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad-
ministrator shall issue final regulations with respect 
to the Administrator’s responsibilities under para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(3) CONSENT
TO
IMPORTATION.—In consid-
ering whether to consent to the importation under 
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article 3(c) of the Agreement, the Administrator 
shall— 
‘‘(A) 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 dis-
posed; 
‘‘(B) consider the impact of the importa-
tion on— 
‘‘(i) continued public support for and 
adherence to State and local recycling pro-
grams; 
‘‘(ii) landfill capacity as provided in 
comprehensive waste management plans; 
‘‘(iii) air emissions from increased ve-
hicular traffic; and 
‘‘(iv) road deterioration from in-
creased vehicular traffic; and 
‘‘(C) consider the impact of the importa-
tion on homeland security, public health, and 
the environment. 
‘‘(4) ACTIONS IN VIOLATION OF THE AGREE-
MENT.—No person shall import, transport, or export 
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municipal solid waste for final disposal or for incin-
eration in violation of the Agreement. 
‘‘(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-
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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. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) 
AGREEMENT.—The 
term 
‘Agreement’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) 
the 
Agreement 
Concerning 
the 
Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste 
between the United States and Canada, signed 
at Ottawa on October 28, 1986 (TIAS 11099) 
and amended on November 25, 1992; and 
‘‘(B) any regulations promulgated and or-
ders issued to implement and enforce that 
Agreement. 
‘‘(2) FOREIGN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—The 
term ‘foreign municipal solid waste’ means munic-
ipal solid waste generated outside of the United 
States. 
‘‘(3) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.— 
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‘‘(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. 
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Examples of municipal solid waste include 
food and yard waste, paper, clothing, appli-
ances, consumer product packaging, dis-
posable diapers, office supplies, cosmetics, 
glass and metal food containers, and 
household hazardous waste. Such term 
shall include debris resulting from con-
struction, remodeling, repair, or demolition 
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 
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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 
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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. 
‘‘(x) Solid waste generated incident to 
the provision of service in interstate, intra-
state, foreign, or overseas air transpor-
tation.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 
prec. 6901) is amended by adding after the item relating 
to section 4010 the following new item: 
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‘‘Sec. 4011. International transportation and disposal of municipal solid 
waste.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 24, 2007. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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