[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 720 Referred in House (RFH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                  S. 720


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 1994

             Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
    To clean up open dumps on Indian lands, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Indian Lands Open Dump Cleanup Act 
of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) there are at least 600 open dumps on Indian lands;
            (2) these dumps threaten the health and safety of residents 
        of Indian lands and contiguous areas;
            (3) many of these dumps were established or are used by 
        Federal agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the 
        Indian Health Service;
            (4) these dumps threaten the environment;
            (5) the United States holds most Indian lands in trust for 
        the benefit of Indian tribes and individuals; and
            (6) most Indian tribal governments lack the financial and 
        technical resources necessary to close and maintain these dumps 
        in compliance with applicable Federal laws.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) identify the location of open dumps on Indian lands;
            (2) assess the relative health and environmental hazards of 
        such dumps; and
            (3) provide financial and technical assistance to Indian 
        tribal governments, either directly or by contract, to close 
        such dumps in compliance with applicable Federal standards and 
        regulations, or standards promulgated by an Indian tribal 
        government, if such standards are more stringent than the 
        Federal standards.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall 
apply:
            (1) Closure or close.--The term ``closure or close'' means 
        the termination of operations at open dumps on Indian land and 
        bringing such dumps into compliance with applicable Federal 
        standards and regulations, or standards promulgated by an 
        Indian tribal government, if such standards are more stringent 
        than the Federal standards and regulations.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Indian Health Service.
            (3) Indian land.--The term ``Indian land'' means--
                    (A) land within the limits of any Indian 
                reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States 
                Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, 
                and including rights-of-way running through the 
                reservation;
                    (B) dependent Indian communities within the borders 
                of the United States whether within the original or 
                subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether 
                within or without the limits of a State; and
                    (C) Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which 
                have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way 
                running through the same.
            (4) Indian tribal government.--The term ``Indian tribal 
        government'' means the governing body of any Indian tribe, 
        band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group or community 
        which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and 
        services provided by the United States to Indians because of 
        their status as Indians.
            (5) Inventory.--The term ``inventory'' means a listing of 
        the geographic location of all open dumps, an evaluation of the 
        contents of each dump, and an assessment of the relative impact 
        of each dump on the environment and public health.
            (6) Open dump.--The term ``open dump'' means any facility 
        or site where solid waste is being or has been routinely and 
        regularly disposed of that has not been closed or covered or 
        that does not meet the criteria for a new municipal solid waste 
        landfill unit promulgated pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).
            (7) Postclosure maintenance.--The term ``postclosure 
        maintenance'' means any activity undertaken at a closed solid 
        waste facility on Indian land to maintain the integrity of 
        containment features, monitor compliance with applicable 
        performance standards, or remedy any situation or occurrence 
        that violates regulations promulgated pursuant to the Solid 
        Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).
            (8) Solid waste.--The term ``solid waste'' means any 
        garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, 
        water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control 
        facility, and other discarded material, including solid, 
        liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from 
        industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, 
        and from community activities, but does not include solid or 
        dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved 
        materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges 
        that are point sources subject to permit under section 402 of 
        the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342), or 
        source material, special nuclear material, or by-product 
        material as defined in section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 
        1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014).

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE.

    (a) Inventory.--Upon request by an Indian tribal government, the 
Director shall--
            (1) conduct an inventory of open dumps on the Indian lands 
        which are subject to the authority of the Indian tribal 
        government;
            (2) determine the relative severity of the threat to public 
        health and the environment posed by each dump based on 
        information available to the Director and the Indian tribal 
        government, unless the Director, in consultation with the 
        Indian tribal government, determines that actions such as soil 
        testing or water monitoring would be appropriate in the 
        circumstances; and
            (3) develop cost estimates for the closure and postclosure 
        maintenance of such dumps.
    (b) Assistance.--Upon completion of the activities required to be 
performed pursuant to subsection (a), the Director shall, subject to 
subsection (c), provide financial and technical assistance to the 
Indian tribal government to carry out the activities necessary to--
            (1) close such dumps; and
            (2) provide for postclosure maintenance of such dumps.
    (c) Conditions.--All assistance provided pursuant to subsection (b) 
shall be made available on a site-specific basis in accordance with 
priorities developed by the Director. Priorities on a specific 
reservation shall be developed in consultation with the Indian tribal 
government. The priorities shall take into account the relative 
severity of the threat to public health and the environment posed by 
each open dump and the availability of funds necessary for closure and 
postclosure maintenance.

SEC. 5. CONTRACT AUTHORITY.

    (a) Authority of Director.--To the maximum extent feasible, the 
Director shall carry out duties under this Act through contracts, 
compacts, or memoranda of agreement with Indian tribal governments 
pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 
(25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), section 7 of the Act of August 5, 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2004a), or section 302 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act 
(25 U.S.C. 1632).
    (b) Demonstration Projects.--(1) The Director may establish and 
carry out a program providing for demonstration projects involving open 
dumps on Indian land. It shall be the purpose of such projects to 
determine if there are unique cost factors involved in the cleanup and 
maintenance of open dumps on such land, and the extent to which advance 
closure planning is necessary. Under the program, the Director is 
authorized to select three Indian tribal governments to participate in 
such demonstration projects.
    (2) Criteria established by the Director for the selection and 
participation of an Indian tribal government in the demonstration 
project shall provide that--
            (A) in order to be eligible to participate, an Indian 
        tribal government must have one or more existing open dumps on 
        the Indian lands that are under its authority, and have a plan 
        for the closure of each such dump;
            (B) at least one of the Indian tribal governments selected 
        by the Director shall proceed under a contract entered into 
        pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act; and
            (C) at least one of the Indian tribal governments selected 
        by the Director shall permit the Indian Health Service to 
        directly provide for the cleanup and maintenance.
    (3) No demonstration project shall be funded for more than 3 fiscal 
years.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) General Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
    (b) Funding Source.--The activities required to be performed by the 
Director under this Act shall only be funded from appropriations made 
pursuant to this Act and such activities shall be coordinated with 
activities related to solid waste and sanitation facilities funded 
pursuant to other authorizations.

SEC. 7. DISCLAIMERS.

    (a) Authority of Director.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to alter, diminish, repeal, or supersede any authority conferred on the 
Director pursuant to section 302 of the Indian Health Care Improvement 
Act (25 U.S.C. 1632), and section 7 of the Act of August 5, 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2004a).
    (b) Exempted Lands and Facilities.--This Act shall not apply to 
open dump sites on Indian lands--
            (1) that comprise an area of one-half acre or less, and 
        that are used by individual families on lands to which they 
        hold legal or beneficial title;
            (2) of any size, that have been or are being operated for a 
        profit; or
            (3) where solid waste from an industrial process is being 
        or has been routinely disposed of at a privately owned facility 
        in compliance with applicable Federal laws.

            Passed the Senate May 12 (legislative day, May 2), 1994.

            Attest:

                                                MARTHA S. POPE,

                                                             Secretary.