[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2292 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2292

To express the sense of the Congress to encourage the President and the 
    Governor of each State to carry out on-site composting at their 
                              residences.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 1993

 Mr. Hochbrueckner (for himself, Mr. Torres, Mr. Fish, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
   Walsh, and Ms. McKinney) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To express the sense of the Congress to encourage the President and the 
    Governor of each State to carry out on-site composting at their 
                              residences.

    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 ``Executive Composting Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States faces a crisis in municipal solid 
        waste management, due in large part to rapidly declining 
        landfill capacity and growing public concern about the adverse 
        environmental consequences of waste disposal.
            (2) Composting, an ancient technique that promotes natural 
        decomposition of biodegradable materials, could be used to 
        manage as much as 60 percent of municipal discards, including 
        such items as fallen leaves, grass clippings, woody materials, 
        and post-consumer organic materials that are not suitable for 
        municipal recycling programs. Homeowners can naturally recycle 
        their yard trimmings and kitchen food scraps through backyard 
        composting, thus substantially reducing the amount of materials 
        they discard.
            (3) Finished compost material provides a valuable soil 
        amendment that can improve soil quality and stability, help 
        prevent soil erosion, and reduce the demand for chemical 
        fertilizers. Homeowners can use compost produced from backyard 
        composting in outdoor landscaping or as soil for houseplants.
            (4) The President of the United States and the Nation's 
        Governors, uniquely positioned to lead by example, can provide 
        a model for citizen involvement by composting their organic 
        yard trimmings and food scraps that are not suitable for 
        recycling programs. Such programs could include distribution of 
        the finished compost material to the public for use in gardens 
        and other appropriate purposes.
            (5) A backyard composting effort at the White House and at 
        Governors' residences would demonstrate to citizens that each 
        household has a role to play in the solid waste solution, a 
        component of which may be recovering organic materials through 
        backyard composting.
            (6) Backyard composting at the Federal and State executive 
        residences would also set a positive example for Federal and 
        State government agencies, and could encourage composting of 
        organic materials on government office grounds.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that, in order to encourage 
backyard composting across the Nation, the President and the Governor 
of each State should consider carrying out on-site composting of 
organic materials generated at their residences and grounds that is 
appropriate for composting, including yard trimmings, kitchen food 
scraps, and other organic materials that are not suitable for recycling 
programs. The President and each Governor also should consider 
distributing the resulting compost to visitors and local residents for 
use in gardens and other appropriate purposes.

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