[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1696 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1696

 To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
  to exempt certain small landfills from the ground water monitoring 
   requirements contained in landfill regulations promulgated by the 
                                Agency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 24, 1995

  Mr. Cooley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
  to exempt certain small landfills from the ground water monitoring 
   requirements contained in landfill regulations promulgated by the 
                                Agency.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO EXEMPT CERTAIN SMALL LANDFILLS FROM GROUND 
              WATER MONITORING REQUIREMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 
              AGENCY LANDFILL REGULATIONS.

    (a) Amendment of Solid Waste Disposal Act.--Section 4010(c) of the 
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6949a(c)) is amended as follows:
            (1) By inserting ``(1)'' before ``Not later than March 31, 
        1988,''.
            (2) In the last sentence, by inserting ``, except as 
        provided in paragraph (2),'' before ``ground water 
        monitoring''.
            (3) By adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
    ``(2) Inapplicability to Certain Units.--The requirements of the 
criteria relating to ground water monitoring shall not apply to any new 
municipal solid waste landfill unit, any existing municipal solid waste 
landfill unit, and any lateral expansion of an existing municipal solid 
waste landfill unit--
            ``(A) at which less than 20 tons of municipal solid waste 
        is disposed of daily;
            ``(B) where there is no evidence of existing ground water 
        contamination from the unit; and
            ``(C) which serves a community--
                    ``(i) that experiences an annual interruption of at 
                least 3 consecutive months of surface transportation 
                that prevents access to a regional waste management 
                facility;
                    ``(ii) that has no practicable waste management 
                alternative; or
                    ``(iii) is in an area that receives 25 inches or 
                less of precipitation annually.
    ``(3) Protection of Ground Water Resources.--
            ``(A) Monitoring requirement.--A State may require ground 
        water monitoring of a solid waste landfill unit that would 
        otherwise be exempt under paragraph (2) if necessary to protect 
        ground water resources and ensure compliance with a State 
        ground water protection plan, where applicable, if the State 
        ascertains (using its own resources) that such monitoring will 
        produce evidence of contamination.
            ``(B) Methods.--If a State requires ground water monitoring 
        of a solid waste landfill unit under subparagraph (A), the 
        State may allow the use of a method other than the use of 
        ground water monitoring wells to detect a release of 
        contamination from the unit.
            ``(C) Corrective action.--If a State finds a release from a 
        solid waste landfill unit, the State shall require corrective 
        action as appropriate.
    ``(4) Remote Alaska Native Villages.--Upon certification by the 
Governor of the State of Alaska that application of the requirements of 
the criteria described in paragraph (1) to a solid waste landfill unit 
of a Native village (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act (16 U.S.C. 1602)) would be infeasible, would not 
be cost-effective, or is otherwise inappropriate because of the remote 
location of the unit, the unit shall be exempt from those 
requirements.''.
    (b) Reinstatement of Regulatory Exemption.--It is the intent of 
section 4010(e)(2) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as added by 
subsection (u), to immediately reinstate subpart E of part 258 of title 
40, Code of Federal Regulations, as added by the final rule published 
at 56 Federal Register 50798 on October 9, 1991.
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