[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2036 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 2036

 To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to make certain adjustments in 
the land disposal program to provide needed flexibility, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 1995

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to make certain adjustments in 
the land disposal program to provide needed flexibility, 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 ``Land Disposal Program Flexibility 
Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. LAND DISPOSAL BAN.

    Section 3004(g) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6924(g)) 
is amended by adding the following after paragraph (6):
    ``(7) Solid waste identified as hazardous based on characteristic 
alone--
            ``(A) as part of a treatment or disposal system prior to 
        its discharge through a point source regulated under the Clean 
        Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1151 and following),
            ``(B) prior to and including injection into any Class I 
        deep well regulated under section 1422 of title XIV of the 
        Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300h-1), or
            ``(C) as part of management in a zero discharge system that 
        the Administrator determines to be engaging in Clean Water Act-
        equivalent treatment
shall not be subject to the land disposal restrictions of this 
subsection or any requirement of subsections (d), (e), (f), or (m) if 
such solid waste no longer exhibits such characteristic prior to land 
disposal.''.

SEC. 3. GROUND WATER MONITORING.

    (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 striking ``Criteria.--Not later'' and inserting the 
        following: ``Criteria.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later''.
            (2) By adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(2) Additional revisions.--Subject to paragraph (3), the 
        requirements of the criteria described in paragraph (1) 
        relating to ground water monitoring shall not apply to an owner 
        or operator of a new municipal solid waste landfill unit, an 
        existing municipal solid waste landfill unit, or a lateral 
        expansion of a municipal solid waste landfill unit, that 
        disposes of less than 20 tons of municipal solid waste daily, 
        based on an annual average, if--
                    ``(A) there is no evidence of ground water 
                contamination from the municipal solid waste landfill 
                unit or expansion; and
                    ``(B) the municipal solid waste landfill unit or 
                expansion serves--
                            ``(i) a community that experiences an 
                        annual interruption of at least 3 consecutive 
                        months of surface transportation that prevents 
                        access to a regional waste management facility; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) a community that has no practicable 
                        waste management alternative and the landfill 
                        unit is located in an area that annually 
                        receives less than or equal to 25 inches of 
                        precipitation.
            ``(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.
                    ``(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) No-migration exemption.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Ground water monitoring 
                requirements may be suspended by the Director of an 
                approved State for a landfill operator if the operator 
                demonstrates that there is no potential for migration 
                of hazardous constituents from the unit to the 
                uppermost aquifer during the active life of the unit 
                and the post-closure care period.
                    ``(B) Certification.--A demonstration under 
                subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) be certified by a qualified ground-
                        water scientist and approved by the Director of 
                        an approved State.
                    ``(C) Guidance.--Not later than 6 months after the 
                date of enactment of this paragraph, the Administrator 
                shall issue a guidance document to facilitate small 
                community use of the no migration exemption under this 
                paragraph.
    (b) Reinstatement of Regulatory Exemption.--It is the intent of 
section 4010(c)(2) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as added by 
subsection (a), 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.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL FACILITIES.

    Section 9007 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended to read as 
follows:
``SEC. 9007. FEDERAL FACILITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--Each department, agency, and instrumentality of 
the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal 
Government having jurisdiction over any underground storage tank shall 
be subject to, and comply with, all Federal, State, interstate, and 
local requirements, both substantive and procedural (including any 
requirement for permits or reporting or any provisions for injunctive 
relief and such sanctions as may be imposed by a court to enforce such 
relief), respecting underground storage tanks in the same manner, and 
to the same extent, as any person is subject to such requirements, 
including the payment of reasonable service charges. The Federal, 
State, interstate, and local substantive and procedural requirements 
referred to in this subsection include, but are not limited to, all 
administrative orders and all civil and administrative penalties and 
fines, regardless of whether such penalties or fines are punitive or 
coercive in nature or are imposed for isolated, intermittent, or 
continuing violations. The United States hereby expressly waives any 
immunity otherwise applicable to the United States with respect to any 
such substantive or procedural requirement (including, but not limited 
to, any injunctive relief, administrative order or civil or 
administrative penalty or fine referred to in the preceding sentence, 
or reasonable service charge). The reasonable service charges referred 
to in this subsection include, but are not limited to, fees or charges 
assessed in connection with the processing and issuance of permits, 
renewal of permits, amendments to permits, review of plans, studies, 
and other documents, and inspection and monitoring of facilities, as 
well as any other nondiscriminatory charges that are assessed in 
connection with a Federal, State, interstate, or local regulatory 
program. Neither the United States, nor any agent, employee, or officer 
thereof, shall be immune or exempt from any process or sanction of any 
State or Federal court with respect to the enforcement of any such 
injunctive relief. No agent, employee, or officer of the United States 
shall be personally liable for any civil penalty under any Federal, 
State, interstate, or local law relating to underground storage tanks 
with respect to any act or omission within the scope of the official 
duties of the agent, employee, or officer. An agent, employee, or 
officer of the United States shall be subject to any criminal sanction 
(including, but not limited to, any fine or imprisonment) under any 
Federal or State law relating to underground storage tanks, but no 
department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive, legislative, 
or judicial branch of the Federal Government shall be subject to any 
such sanction. The President may exempt any underground storage tank of 
any department, agency, or instrumentality in the executive branch from 
compliance with such a requirement if he determines it to be in the 
paramount interest of the United States to do so. No such exemption 
shall be granted due to lack of appropriation unless the President 
shall have specifically requested such appropriation as a part of the 
budgetary process and the Congress shall have failed to make available 
such requested appropriation. Any exemption shall be for a period not 
in excess of one year, but additional exemptions may be granted for 
periods not to exceed one year upon the President's making a new 
determination. The President shall report each January to the Congress 
all exemptions from the requirements of this section granted during the 
preceding calendar year, together with his reason for granting each 
such exemption.
    ``(b) Administrative Enforcement Actions.--(1) The Administrator 
may commence an administrative enforcement action against any 
department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive, legislative, 
or judicial branch of the Federal Government pursuant to the 
enforcement authorities contained in this subtitle. The Administrator 
shall initiate an administrative enforcement action against such a 
department, agency, or instrumentality in the same manner and under the 
same circumstances as an action would be initiated against another 
person. Any voluntary resolution or settlement of such an action shall 
be set forth in a consent order.
    ``(c) Limitation on State Use of Funds Collected From Federal 
Government.--Unless a State law in effect on the date of the enactment 
of the [Corrections?] Act of 1995 or a State constitution requires the 
funds to be used in a different manner, all funds collected by a State 
from the Federal Government from penalties and fines imposed for 
violation of any substantive or procedural requirement referred to in 
subsection (a) shall be used by the State only for projects designed to 
improve or protect the environment or to defray the costs of 
environmental protection or enforcement.''.

SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT.

    The Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended as follows:
            (1) In section 3001(e)(5) by striking ``under section 
        3001'' and insert ``under this section''.
            (2) By inserting a semicolon at the end of section 
        3004(q)(1)(C).
            (3) In Section 3004(g)(5), by striking ``subparagraph (A) 
        through (C)'' in paragraph (5) and inserting ``subparagraphs 
        (A) through (C)''.
            (4) In section 3004(r)(2)(C), by striking ``pertroleum-
        derived'' and insert ``petroleum-derived''.
            (5) In section 3004(r)(3) by inserting after ``Standard'' 
        the word ``Industrial''.
            (6) In section 3005(a), by striking strike 
        ``polycholorinated'' and insert ``polychlorinated''.
            (7) In section 3005(e)(1), by inserting a comma at the end 
        of subparagraph (C).
            (8) In section 4007(a), by striking ``4003'' in both places 
        it appears and inserting ``4003(a)''.
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