Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act
PL 112-195 (S.710), enacted 10/05/2012

126 STAT. 1452 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
Public Law 112–195 
112th Congress 
An Act 
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency to establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest system. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hazardous Waste Electronic 
Manifest Establishment Act’’. 
SEC. 2. HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act 
(42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 3024. HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST SYSTEM. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the Hazardous Waste 
Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board established under 
subsection (f). 
‘‘(2) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Hazardous Waste 
Electronic Manifest System Fund established by subsection 
(d). 
‘‘(3) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ includes an individual, 
corporation (including a Government corporation), company, 
association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, 
trust, municipality, commission, Federal agency, State, political 
subdivision of a State, or interstate body. 
‘‘(4) SYSTEM.—The term ‘system’ means the hazardous 
waste electronic manifest system established under subsection 
(b). 
‘‘(5) USER.—The term ‘user’ means a hazardous waste 
generator, a hazardous waste transporter, an owner or operator 
of a hazardous waste treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal 
facility, or any other person that— 
‘‘(A) is required to use a manifest to comply with any 
Federal or State requirement to track the shipment, 
transportation, and receipt of hazardous waste or other 
material that is shipped from the site of generation to 
an off-site facility for treatment, storage, disposal, or 
recycling; and 
‘‘(B)(i) elects to use the system to complete and 
transmit an electronic manifest format; or 
‘‘(ii) submits to the system for data processing purposes 
a paper copy of the manifest (or data from such a paper 
42 USC 6939g. 
Hazardous Waste 
Electronic 
Manifest 
Establishment 
Act. 
42 USC 6901 
note. 
Oct. 5, 2012 
[S. 710] 
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126 STAT. 1453 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
copy), in accordance with such regulations as the Adminis-
trator may promulgate to require such a submission. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 
of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall establish a 
hazardous waste electronic manifest system that may be used by 
any user. 
‘‘(c) USER FEES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with paragraph (4), the 
Administrator may impose on users such reasonable service 
fees as the Administrator determines to be necessary to pay 
costs incurred in developing, operating, maintaining, and 
upgrading the system, including any costs incurred in collecting 
and processing data from any paper manifest submitted to 
the system after the date on which the system enters operation. 
‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF FEES.—The Administrator shall— 
‘‘(A) collect the fees described in paragraph (1) from 
the users in advance of, or as reimbursement for, the 
provision by the Administrator of system-related services; 
and 
‘‘(B) deposit the fees in the Fund. 
‘‘(3) FEE STRUCTURE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consultation 
with information technology vendors, shall determine 
through the contract award process described in subsection 
(e) the fee structure that is necessary to recover the full 
cost to the Administrator of providing system-related serv-
ices, including— 
‘‘(i) contractor costs relating to— 
‘‘(I) materials and supplies; 
‘‘(II) contracting and consulting; 
‘‘(III) overhead; 
‘‘(IV) information technology (including costs 
of hardware, software, and related services); 
‘‘(V) information management; 
‘‘(VI) collection of service fees; 
‘‘(VII) reporting and accounting; and 
‘‘(VIII) project management; and 
‘‘(ii) costs of employment of direct and indirect 
Government personnel dedicated to establishing, man-
aging, and maintaining the system. 
‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS IN FEE AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta-
tion with the Board, shall increase or decrease the 
amount of a service fee determined under the fee struc-
ture described in subparagraph (A) to a level that 
will— 
‘‘(I) result in the collection of an aggregate 
amount for deposit in the Fund that is sufficient 
and not more than reasonably necessary to cover 
current 
and 
projected 
system-related 
costs 
(including any necessary system upgrades); and 
‘‘(II) minimize, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, the accumulation of unused amounts in 
the Fund. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION
FOR
INITIAL
PERIOD
OF
OPER-
ATION.—The requirement described in clause (i)(II) 
shall not apply to any additional fees that accumulate 
Determination. 
Deadline. 
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126 STAT. 1454 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
in the Fund, in an amount that does not exceed 
$2,000,000, during the 3-year period beginning on the 
date on which the system enters operation. 
‘‘(iii) TIMING
OF
ADJUSTMENTS.—Adjustments to 
service fees described in clause (i) shall be made— 
‘‘(I) initially, at the time at which initial 
development costs of the system have been recov-
ered by the Administrator such that the service 
fee may be reduced to reflect the elimination of 
the system development component of the fee; and 
‘‘(II) periodically thereafter, upon receipt and 
acceptance 
of 
the 
findings 
of 
any 
annual 
accounting or auditing report under subsection 
(d)(3), if the report discloses a significant disparity 
for a fiscal year between the funds collected from 
service fees under this subsection for the fiscal 
year and expenditures made for the fiscal year 
to provide system-related services. 
‘‘(4) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—Fees author-
ized under this section shall be collected and available for 
obligation only to the extent and in the amount provided in 
advance in appropriations Acts. 
‘‘(d) HAZARDOUS WASTE ELECTRONIC MANIFEST SYSTEM FUND.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States a revolving fund, to be known as the 
‘Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Fund’, consisting 
of such amounts as are deposited in the Fund under subsection 
(c)(2)(B). 
‘‘(2) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Only to the extent provided in 
advance in appropriations Acts, on request by the Adminis-
trator, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from 
the Fund to the Administrator amounts appropriated to 
pay costs incurred in developing, operating, maintaining, 
and upgrading the system under subsection (c). 
‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS BY ADMINISTRATOR.—Fees collected 
by the Administrator and deposited in the Fund under 
this section shall be available to the Administrator subject 
to appropriations Acts for use in accordance with this sec-
tion without fiscal year limitation. 
‘‘(C) OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS.—The Administrator shall 
carry out all necessary measures to ensure that amounts 
in the Fund are used only to carry out the goals of estab-
lishing, operating, maintaining, upgrading, managing, sup-
porting, and overseeing the system. 
‘‘(3) ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING.— 
‘‘(A) ACCOUNTING.—For each 2-fiscal-year period, the 
Administrator shall prepare and submit to the Committee 
on Environment and Public Works and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives a report that 
includes— 
‘‘(i) an accounting of the fees paid to the Adminis-
trator under subsection (c) and disbursed from the 
Fund for the period covered by the report, as reflected 
by financial statements provided in accordance with— 
Time period. 
Reports. 
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126 STAT. 1455 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
‘‘(I) the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 
(Public Law 101–576; 104 Stat. 2838) and amend-
ments made by that Act; and 
‘‘(II) the Government Management Reform Act 
of 1994 (Public Law 103–356; 108 Stat. 3410) and 
amendments made by that Act; and 
‘‘(ii) an accounting describing actual expenditures 
from the Fund for the period covered by the report 
for costs described in subsection (c)(1). 
‘‘(B) AUDITING.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For the purpose of section 
3515(c) of title 31, United States Code, the Fund shall 
be considered a component of an Executive agency. 
‘‘(ii) COMPONENTS
OF
AUDIT.—The annual audit 
required in accordance with sections 3515(b) and 3521 
of title 31, United States Code, of the financial state-
ments of activities carried out using amounts from 
the Fund shall include an analysis of— 
‘‘(I) the fees collected and disbursed under this 
section; 
‘‘(II) the reasonableness of the fee structure 
in place as of the date of the audit to meet current 
and projected costs of the system; 
‘‘(III) the level of use of the system by users; 
and 
‘‘(IV) the success to date of the system in oper-
ating on a self-sustaining basis and improving the 
efficiency 
of 
tracking 
waste 
shipments 
and 
transmitting waste shipment data. 
‘‘(iii) FEDERAL
RESPONSIBILITY.—The Inspector 
General of the Environmental Protection Agency 
shall— 
‘‘(I) conduct the annual audit described in 
clause (ii); and 
‘‘(II) submit to the Administrator a report that 
describes the findings and recommendations of the 
Inspector General resulting from the audit. 
‘‘(e) CONTRACTS.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY
TO
ENTER
INTO
CONTRACTS
FUNDED
BY 
SERVICE
FEES.—After consultation with the Secretary of 
Transportation, the Administrator may enter into 1 or more 
information technology contracts with entities determined to 
be appropriate by the Administrator (referred to in this sub-
section as ‘contractors’) for the provision of system-related serv-
ices. 
‘‘(2) TERM OF CONTRACT.—A contract awarded under this 
subsection shall have a term of not more than 10 years. 
‘‘(3) ACHIEVEMENT
OF
GOALS.—The Administrator shall 
ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that a contract 
awarded under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) is performance-based; 
‘‘(B) identifies objective outcomes; and 
‘‘(C) contains performance standards that may be used 
to measure achievement and goals to evaluate the success 
of a contractor in performing under the contract and the 
right of the contractor to payment for services under the 
contract, taking into consideration that a primary measure 
Deadline. 
Reports. 
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126 STAT. 1456 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
of successful performance shall be the development of a 
hazardous waste electronic manifest system that— 
‘‘(i) meets the needs of the user community 
(including States that rely on data contained in mani-
fests); 
‘‘(ii) attracts sufficient user participation and 
service fee revenues to ensure the viability of the 
system; 
‘‘(iii) decreases the administrative burden on the 
user community; and 
‘‘(iv) provides the waste receipt data applicable 
to the biennial reports required by section 3002(a)(6). 
‘‘(4) PAYMENT STRUCTURE.—Each contract awarded under 
this subsection shall include a provision that specifies— 
‘‘(A) the service fee structure of the contractor that 
will form the basis for payments to the contractor; and 
‘‘(B) the fixed-share ratio of monthly service fee reve-
nues from which the Administrator shall reimburse the 
contractor for system-related development, operation, and 
maintenance costs. 
‘‘(5) CANCELLATION AND TERMINATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—If the Administrator determines 
that sufficient funds are not made available for the continu-
ation in a subsequent fiscal year of a contract entered 
into under this subsection, the Administrator may cancel 
or terminate the contract. 
‘‘(B) NEGOTIATION OF AMOUNTS.—The amount payable 
in the event of cancellation or termination of a contract 
entered into under this subsection shall be negotiated with 
the contractor at the time at which the contract is awarded. 
‘‘(6) NO
EFFECT
ON
OWNERSHIP.—Regardless of whether 
the Administrator enters into a contract under this subsection, 
the system shall be owned by the Federal Government. 
‘‘(f) 
HAZARDOUS
WASTE
ELECTRONIC
MANIFEST
SYSTEM 
ADVISORY BOARD.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall estab-
lish a board to be known as the ‘Hazardous Waste Electronic 
Manifest System Advisory Board’. 
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be composed of 9 mem-
bers, of which— 
‘‘(A) 1 member shall be the Administrator (or a des-
ignee), who shall serve as Chairperson of the Board; and 
‘‘(B) 8 members shall be individuals appointed by the 
Administrator— 
‘‘(i) at least 2 of whom shall have expertise in 
information technology; 
‘‘(ii) at least 3 of whom shall have experience in 
using or represent users of the manifest system to 
track the transportation of hazardous waste under this 
subtitle (or an equivalent State program); and 
‘‘(iii) at least 3 of whom shall be a State representa-
tive responsible for processing those manifests. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Board shall meet annually to discuss, 
evaluate the effectiveness of, and provide recommendations to 
the Administrator relating to, the system. 
‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.— 
Deadline. 
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126 STAT. 1457 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
‘‘(1) PROMULGATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this section, after consultation with 
the Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator shall 
promulgate regulations to carry out this section. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The regulations promulgated pursu-
ant to subparagraph (A) may include such requirements 
as the Administrator determines to be necessary to facili-
tate the transition from the use of paper manifests to 
the use of electronic manifests, or to accommodate the 
processing of data from paper manifests in the electronic 
manifest system, including a requirement that users of 
paper manifests submit to the system copies of the paper 
manifests for data processing purposes. 
‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations promulgated 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall ensure that each elec-
tronic manifest provides, to the same extent as paper mani-
fests under applicable Federal and State law, for— 
‘‘(i) the ability to track and maintain legal account-
ability of— 
‘‘(I) the person that certifies that the informa-
tion provided in the manifest is accurately 
described; and 
‘‘(II) the person that acknowledges receipt of 
the manifest; 
‘‘(ii) if the manifest is electronically submitted, 
State authority to access paper printout copies of the 
manifest from the system; and 
‘‘(iii) access to all publicly available information 
contained in the manifest. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE
DATE
OF
REGULATIONS.—Any regulation 
promulgated by the Administrator under paragraph (1) and 
in accordance with section 3003 relating to electronic mani-
festing of hazardous waste shall take effect in each State as 
of the effective date specified in the regulation. 
‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall carry out 
regulations promulgated under this subsection in each State 
unless the State program is fully authorized to carry out such 
regulations in lieu of the Administrator. 
‘‘(h) REQUIREMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN 
STATES.—In any case in which the State in which waste is gen-
erated, or the State in which waste will be transported to a des-
ignated facility, requires that the waste be tracked through a haz-
ardous waste manifest, the designated facility that receives the 
waste shall, regardless of the State in which the facility is located— 
‘‘(1) complete the facility portion of the applicable manifest; 
‘‘(2) sign and date the facility certification; and 
‘‘(3) submit to the system a final copy of the manifest 
for data processing purposes. 
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION
FOR
START-UP
ACTIVITIES.—There are 
authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2013 through 2015 for start-up activities to carry out this section, 
to be offset by collection of user fees under subsection (c) such 
that all such appropriated funds are offset by fees as provided 
in subsection (c).’’. 
Appropriations 
authorization. 
Deadline. 
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126 STAT. 1458 
PUBLIC LAW 112–195—OCT. 5, 2012 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 710: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 112–654 (Comm. on Energy and Commerce). 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 112–20 (Comm. on Environment and Public Works). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 157 (2011): Aug. 2, considered and passed Senate. 
Vol. 158 (2012): Sept. 11, considered and passed House, amended. 
Sept. 21, Senate concurred in House amendment. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents of the 
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901) is amended by inserting 
at the end of the items relating to subtitle C the following: 
‘‘Sec. 3024. Hazardous waste electronic manifest system.’’. 
Approved October 5, 2012. 
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