[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2109 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2109

 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
carry out certain authorities under an agreement with Canada respecting 
  the importation of municipal solid waste, to amend the Solid Waste 
    Disposal Act to authorize States to restrict receipt of foreign 
             municipal solid waste, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2005

  Mr. Stupak (for himself, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Conyers, Mr. 
  Brown of Ohio, Mr. Levin, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, and Ms. Baldwin) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
carry out certain authorities under an agreement with Canada respecting 
  the importation of municipal solid waste, to amend the Solid Waste 
    Disposal Act to authorize States to restrict receipt of foreign 
             municipal solid waste, 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. CANADIAN TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

    (a) Amendment.--Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

       ``canadian transboundary movement of municipal solid waste

    ``Sec. 4011. (a) Prohibition.--No person shall import, transport, 
or export municipal solid waste for final disposal or for incineration 
in violation of the Agreement Between the Government of the United 
States of America and the Government of Canada Concerning the 
Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, or any regulations issued to 
implement and enforce such agreement.
    ``(b) Administrator's Authority.--The Administrator shall perform 
the functions of the Designated Authority of the United States with 
respect to the importation and exportation of municipal solid waste 
under the agreement described in subsection (a). Beginning immediately 
upon the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall implement 
and enforce the notice and consent provisions of such agreement, as 
well as the other provisions thereof. In considering whether to consent 
to the importation of municipal solid waste under article 3(c) of such 
agreement, the Administrator shall--
            ``(1) give substantial weight to the views of the State or 
        States into which the municipal solid waste is to be imported, 
        and consider the views of the local government with 
        jurisdiction over the location where the waste is to be 
        disposed; and
            ``(2) consider the impact of the importation on--
                    ``(A) continued public support for and adherence to 
                State and local recycling programs;
                    ``(B) landfill capacity as provided in 
                comprehensive waste management plans;
                    ``(C) air emissions from increased vehicular 
                traffic;
                    ``(D) road deterioration from increased vehicular 
                traffic; and
                    ``(E) public health and the environment.
    ``(c) Compliance Orders.--(1) Whenever on the basis of any 
information the Administrator determines that any person has violated 
or is in violation of this section, the Administrator may issue an 
order assessing a civil penalty for any past or current violation, 
requiring compliance immediately or within a specified time period, or 
both, or the Administrator may commence a civil action in the United 
States district court in the district in which the violation occurred 
for appropriate relief, including a temporary or permanent injunction.
    ``(2) Any order issued pursuant to this subsection shall state with 
reasonable specificity the nature of the violation. Any penalty 
assessed in the order shall not exceed $25,000 per day of noncompliance 
for each violation. In assessing such a penalty, the Administrator 
shall take into account the seriousness of the violation and any good 
faith efforts to comply with applicable requirements.
    ``(d) Public Hearing.--Any order issued under this section shall 
become final unless, not later than 30 days after the order is served, 
the person or persons named therein request a public hearing. Upon such 
request the Administrator shall promptly conduct a public hearing. In 
connection with any proceeding under this section the Administrator may 
issue subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the 
production of relevant papers, books, and documents, and may promulgate 
rules for discovery procedures.
    ``(e) Violation of Compliance Orders.--If a violator fails to take 
corrective action within the time specified in a compliance order, the 
Administrator may assess a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for 
each day of continued noncompliance with the order.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents of such 
subtitle D is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 4011. Canadian transboundary movement of municipal solid 
                            waste.''.

SEC. 2. INTERSTATE AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL OF 
              MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 4012. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL 
              SOLID WASTE.

    ``(a) Authority.--A State may enact a law or laws imposing 
limitations (including a prohibition) on the receipt and disposal of 
foreign municipal solid waste.
    ``(b) Effect on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.--No State action 
taken as authorized by this section shall be considered to impose an 
undue burden on interstate and foreign commerce or to otherwise impair, 
restrain, or discriminate against interstate and foreign commerce.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Foreign municipal solid waste.--The term `foreign 
        municipal solid waste' means municipal solid waste generated 
        outside of the United States.
            ``(2) Municipal solid waste.--
                    ``(A) Waste included.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), the term `municipal solid waste' 
                means--
                            ``(i) all waste materials discarded for 
                        disposal by households, including single and 
                        multifamily residences, and hotels and motels; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) all waste materials discarded for 
                        disposal that were generated by commercial, 
                        institutional, municipal, and industrial 
                        sources, to the extent such materials--
                                    ``(I) are essentially the same as 
                                materials described in clause (i); and
                                    ``(II) were collected and disposed 
                                of with other municipal solid waste 
                                described in clause (i) or subclause 
                                (I) of this clause as part of normal 
                                municipal solid waste collection 
                                services, except that this subclause 
                                does not apply to hazardous materials 
                                other than hazardous materials that, 
                                pursuant to regulations issued under 
                                section 3001(d), are not subject to 
                                regulation under subtitle C.
                Examples of municipal solid waste include food and yard 
                waste, paper, clothing, appliances, consumer product 
                packaging, disposable diapers, office supplies, 
                cosmetics, glass and metal food containers, and 
                household hazardous waste. Such term shall include 
                debris resulting from construction, remodeling, repair, 
                or demolition of structures.
                    ``(B) Waste not included.--The term `municipal 
                solid waste' does not include any of the following:
                            ``(i) Any solid waste identified or listed 
                        as a hazardous waste under section 3001, except 
                        for household hazardous waste.
                            ``(ii) Any solid waste, including 
                        contaminated soil and debris, resulting from--
                                    ``(I) a response action taken under 
                                section 104 or 106 of the Comprehensive 
                                Environmental Response, Compensation, 
                                and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9604 or 
                                9606);
                                    ``(II) a response action taken 
                                under a State law with authorities 
                                comparable to the authorities of such 
                                section 104 or 106; or
                                    ``(III) a corrective action taken 
                                under this Act.
                            ``(iii) Recyclable materials that have been 
                        separated, at the source of the waste, from 
                        waste otherwise destined for disposal or that 
                        have been managed separately from waste 
                        destined for disposal.
                            ``(iv) Scrap rubber to be used as a fuel 
                        source.
                            ``(v) Materials and products returned from 
                        a dispenser or distributor to the manufacturer 
                        or an agent of the manufacturer for credit, 
                        evaluation, and possible reuse.
                            ``(vi) Any solid waste that is--
                                    ``(I) generated by an industrial 
                                facility; and
                                    ``(II) transported for the purpose 
                                of treatment, storage, or disposal to a 
                                facility or unit thereof that is owned 
                                or operated by the generator of the 
                                waste, located on property owned by the 
                                generator or a company with which the 
                                generator is affiliated, or the 
                                capacity of which is contractually 
                                dedicated exclusively to a specific 
                                generator, so long as the disposal area 
                                complies with local and State land use 
                                and zoning regulations applicable to 
                                the disposal site.
                            ``(vii) Any medical waste that is 
                        segregated from or not mixed with solid waste.
                            ``(viii) Sewage sludge and residuals from 
                        any sewage treatment plant.
                            ``(ix) Combustion ash generated by resource 
                        recovery facilities or municipal incinerators, 
                        or waste from manufacturing or processing 
                        (including pollution control) operations not 
                        essentially the same as waste normally 
                        generated by households.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents of the 
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901) is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 4012. International transportation and disposal of municipal 
                            solid waste.''.
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