[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 22 (Thursday, March 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              WASTE EXPORT AND IMPORT CONTROL ACT OF 1994

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rangel). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Washington [Mr. Swift] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. SWIFT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my distinguished 
colleague from Oklahoma, Mr. Synar, in introducing today the Waste 
Export and Import Control Act of 1994. On March 22, 1989, the United 
States joined with 103 other concerned nations to sign the Basel 
Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes 
and Their Disposal. The signatory nations recognized the need for an 
international agreement addressing the risks to health and the 
environment posed by the improper management of exported wastes. Since 
that time, still more nations have added their names to the list of 
signatories, and over 60 nations have become full voting parties to the 
convention.
  In the 102d Congress, the Senate voted favorably to give its advice 
and consent to ratification. With a positive policy toward the 
environment from this administration, we are now ready to pass 
implementing legislation. Implementing legislation will allow us to 
become a full voting party. We remain one of the world's leading 
exporters of wastes; we should be a leader in ensuring that those 
wastes are managed properly.
  The Waste Export and Import Control Act of 1994 addresses both of 
these concerns. First, it provides the Environmental Protection Agency 
with the needed authority to implement the Basel Convention. Second, 
and more significantly, it demonstrates to the world that America takes 
responsibility for the proper management of the wastes we export.
  This legislation bans waste trade between the United States and other 
nations absent a bilateral or multilateral agreement governing this 
trade. Further, the bill establishes a set of criteria by which the 
Environmental Protection Agency will make a finding that the party to 
receive an exported waste can handle the waste in an environmentally 
sound manner.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation is the product of consultations over 
the last 3 years with stakeholders from industry, the environmental 
community, and representatives of other interested nations. It is my 
firm belief that the objectives of this legislation are shared by the 
administration, and I look forward to working with the administration 
to resolve differences of approach. Toward that end, I wish to thank my 
colleague, Mike Synar, for this tireless efforts on this issue and to 
ask him to continue the very productive relationship we have shared in 
the past.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to join Congressman Synar and 
Congressman Swift in introducing the Waste Export and Import Control 
Act of 1994. The United States joined with over 100 nations in signing 
the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of 
Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal nearly 4 years ago. U.S. 
implementation of this agreement is long overdue and will allow us to 
join with over 60 other nations in becoming full voting parties to the 
convention.
  Mr. Speaker, I joined with Congressmen Synar, Conyers, and Wolpe in 
introducing similar legislation over 3 years ago. This bill goes even 
further in ensuring that illegal and dangerous shipments of hazardous 
and non-hazardous waste across national borders will come to an end. 
Specifically, our bill calls for an immediate ban on the export of 
waste except where a bilateral or multilateral agreement governing 
waste trade between the countries exists. In order to enter into a such 
an agreement, the Environmental Protection Agency must find that the 
importing country or countries have the capacity and enforcement 
mechanisms to handle the waste in the most environmentally sound 
manner. Currently, the United States has bilateral agreements for waste 
exports for disposal with Canada, and on waste exports for recycling 
with Mexico and the OECD nations.
  The bill also calls for joint inspections of receiving facilities in 
cases where the EPA Administrator suspects that U.S. waste is being 
handled in a way that threatens public health or the environment. 
Furthermore, under this legislation, the EPA is authorized to halt or 
recall shipments from facilities that the EPA believes are unable to 
handle U.S. waste properly.
  Mr. Speaker, the administration has recently released its set of 
principles for implementing the Basel Convention. There are a few minor 
differences between our proposals, but I am hopeful that this bill will 
serve as a starting point on reaching consensus on this important 
issue. Our objectives are the same--to minimize the export of waste and 
to ensure that all waste is treated in a way that protects human health 
and the environment.
  Mr. SYNAR. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to join with my good 
friend and colleague, Representative Al Swift, to introduce the Waste 
Export and Import Control Act of 1994. Passage of this bill will enable 
the United States to eliminate exports of hazardous and nonhazardous 
waste to nations unable to manage the waste in an environmentally sound 
manner and will finally allow the United States to ratify the Basel 
Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their 
Disposal, which we signed in 1989.
  I first became involved with this issue in 1988, when the 
Subcommittee on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, which I 
chair, held oversight hearings on the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency's efforts to monitor and control hazardous waste exports.
  Although current U.S. law requires EPA to obtain the prior informed 
consent of the nation receiving the waste, we were appalled to find out 
that under the law EPA could not refuse to allow waste shipments in 
cases where the Agency knew or suspected that the waste would not be 
handled properly. The hearings also revealed an exponential increase 
since 1980 in the number of export proposals to EPA from companies 
wishing to export hazardous waste to developing nations with lax or 
nonexistent environmental regulations or to nations that clearly were 
unable to manage the waste in an environmentally sound manner. EPA 
attributed this increase to simple economics. As domestic waste 
disposal choices in the United States became more limited and costly, 
some companies found it cheaper and easier to export their waste to 
foreign countries, often countries with shoddy environmental practices.
  Finally, we discovered that U.S. law applies only to hazardous waste, 
and that other so-called nonhazardous waste was left entirely 
unregulated. Failure to regulate these non-hazardous wastes led to 
embarrassing international incidents where U.S. barges filled with 
municipal garbage and incinerator ash traveled from port to port in 
search of a dumping ground. While private companies were the ones to 
initiate these shipments, the United States received the black eye and 
suffered the international stigma of trying to pass off our waste 
problems onto poor underdeveloped nations.
  In 1989, the United States and 115 other nations participated in and 
signed the U.N.-sponsored Basel Convention on the Transboundary 
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The Basel Convention 
established an international framework for regulating waste trade. Its 
goals are threefold: First, to ensure that party nations work to 
prevent pollution before it is generated wherever possible; second, to 
encourage party nations to manage and dispose of their own wastes to 
the maximum extent possible; and third, to ensure that any waste that 
is exported to foreign nations is treated in an environmentally sound 
manner.
  The Convention entered into effect on May 5, 1992, following 
ratification by 20 nations. Currently, 54 nations have ratified the 
Convention. Regrettably, the United States has not yet ratified the 
Convention because implementing legislation has not been passed.
  In May 1989, I introduced, along with Congressmen Howard Wolpe, John 
Porter, and John Conyers, the Waste Export Control Act. That 
legislation allowed exports only to foreign facilities that would treat 
the waste in a manner no less strict than would be required in the 
United States. The legislation spelled out basic requirements that EPA 
should look for in determining whether a facility treated waste in a 
manner no less strict than is required by the United States
  I believed than, as I believe now, that there are probably situations 
where it is cheaper and where it makes more sense to export waste than 
to find a place to dispose of waste domestically. In addition, as a 
strong supporter of free trade, I did not believe that an outright ban 
on exports was appropriate for facilities in countries that could show 
that they could meet or beat U.S. standards. Others didn't exactly 
share my views. At one end of the spectrum our legislation was 
criticized by Greenpeace as being too conservative--they wanted a total 
ban. At the other end of the spectrum, the Bush administration's EPA 
and State Department criticized the bill as too liberal.
  Over the past 2 years, I have been working closely with 
Representative Swift, chairman of the Transportation and Hazardous 
Materials Subcommittee, to address this important issue. We have 
crafted what I believe is a strong piece of legislation. Our bill would 
ban all exports of hazardous waste except to those countries where a 
bilateral or multilateral agreement exists to ensure proper handling 
and environmentally sound disposal of such wastes. The United States 
currently has bilateral agreements on waste exports for disposal with 
Canada, and on waste exports for recycling purposes with Mexico and the 
OECD nations.
  The bill sets up high hurdles that nations must meet under the 
bilateral or multilateral agreements. For example, the bill requires 
that, prior to entering into a bilateral agreement with a receiving 
nation, EPA made a finding that the receiving country has enacted, and 
can reasonably be expected to maintain and enforce, a strong 
environmental regulatory program.
  The bill also provides for joint inspections of receiving facilities 
in cases where the Administrator suspects that U.S. waste is not being 
managed properly. The bill also authorizes EPA to halt shipments to or 
recall shipments from facilities that EPA believes would handle the 
U.S. waste improperly.
  I believe this implementing legislation will eliminate unsound waste 
export proposals and will enhance the protection of human health and 
the environment globally. All countries are treated equally under this 
legislation--we do not distinguish between developing countries and 
industrialized countries. However, as has been the case from the 
beginning, we support banning waste exports to nations which ban waste 
imports. Most importantly for swift U.S. ratification of the 
Convention, we believe this bill can achieve political consensus 
relatively quickly.
  The Clinton administration has just announced its own set of 
principles for Basel legislation, which takes a slightly different 
approach in restricting waste exports. President Clinton would like to 
see a ban on waste exports except to North America, and would phase out 
exports for recyclable wastes to OECD countries over the next 5 years. 
The administration's principles also provide for exceptions and re-
openers, which would allow exports despite the ban in instances where 
an economically and environmentally superior disposal or treatment 
technology is available in a foreign nation.
  I want to make one thing perfectly clear: We all share a common goal 
of minimizing waste exports, and of ensuring that any U.S. waste that 
is exported is managed properly in the receiving country. The bill 
Chairman Swift and I introduce today is a good starting point that 
will, hopefully, facilitate fruitful discussions on how best to address 
this issue. I look forward to working with the administration, other 
Members of Congress, environmental groups and industry to achieve 
speedy action on Basel implementing legislation.

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