I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2017
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the testing of ash
generated from the incineration of municipal solid waste before its disposal.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 6, 1993
Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. DANNER, Mr. LIPIN-
SKI, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. HUGHES, Ms. FURSE, Mr.
EVANS, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr. KLINK, Mr. HINCHEY, and Mr. RUSH) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the test-
ing of ash generated from the incineration of municipal
solid waste before its disposal.
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 ‘‘Solid Waste Inciner-
ator Ash Testing Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States faces a severe and wors-
ening crisis in solid waste management.
(2) Landfilling, historically the primary method
of waste disposal in the United States, poses a seri-
ous threat of contamination to surface and ground
water. This, in turn, introduces contaminants into
the food chain.
(3) Coastal regions, ground water recharge
areas, and regions dependent on a sole source of
drinking water are particularly susceptible to the
threats posed by landfill contamination of drinking
water supplies.
(4) Ash resulting from solid waste incineration
can contain heavy metals and toxic materials which,
when discarded with solid waste in landfills, poses a
serious threat to ground water. This, in turn, jeop-
ardizes human health, wildlife, and the environment.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol-
lowing:
(1) To respect a national policy wherein the
United States treats solid waste according to the fol-
lowing hierarchy:
(A) Volume and toxicity reduction.
(B) Reuse.
(C) Recycling.
(D) Composting.
(E) Disposal.
(2) To encourage removal and recycling of
waste materials containing toxins, heavy metals, and
other contaminants prior to disposal.
(3) To mandate the testing of ash generated by
solid waste incineration in accordance with testing
procedures to be established by the Administrator
pursuant to this Act, prior to landfilling or other
disposal of such ash.
(4) To require that incinerator ash that tests
positive for contaminants hazardous to human
health, wildlife, or the environment be disposed of in
a subtitle C (hazardous waste) landfill, or otherwise
treated to prevent its contamination of drinking
water supplies and the environment.
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO TEST ASH GENERATED FROM
THE INCINERATION OF [CERTAIN] SOLID
WASTE.
Section 3001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42
U.S.C. 6921) is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new subsection:
‘‘(j) ASH TESTING REQUIREMENT.—(1) Under regu-
lations promulgated by the Administrator, ash generated
from municipal solid waste incinerators shall be tested,
prior to disposal, for hazardous waste constituents. The
regulations shall require that any such ash that is shown
to contain hazardous waste constituents may be disposed
of only by land disposal meeting the requirements of sec-
tion 3004. The Administrator may not exempt such ash
from regulation under this subtitle unless such ash is
shown to contain no hazardous waste constituents.
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘munic-
ipal solid waste incinerator’ means a facility that meets
the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection
(i) and that receives not less than 1 ton of waste daily.’’.
Æ