[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 140 (Friday, September 30, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          RESTRICTING IMPORTATION OF OUT-OF-STATE SOLID WASTE

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the Senate today is passing Senate bill 
2345, which is a bill to authorize local governments and Governors to 
restrict the importation of out-of-State solid waste. I am pleased to 
be a cosponsor of this bill.
  The Senate has passed a similar measure twice in the past. Now, 
because the House has passed H.R. 4779, a bill on the same subject, we 
finally have a real opportunity to resolve this matter. I am hopeful 
that the differences between the two Houses can be worked out and that 
we can send a bill to the President before we adjourn.
  A flow of municipal solid waste across State lines to the lowest 
bidder, without consideration of other factors, is not in the public's 
interest. Such a system creates public health and environmental 
concerns, jeopardizes resource recovery efforts, and challenges 
unnecessarily a reliable and traditional local governmental 
responsibility.
  As I have indicated during consideration of the previously passed 
Senate bills, the State of Michigan has had an excellent planning 
process for many years which recognizes these difficulties and empowers 
local governments to responsibly manage their waste. Local governments 
should be free to develop enforceable long-term plans to provide 
sufficient disposal capacity for local waste. It should be their 
option, after considering cost, environmental protection, land-use 
concerns and other factors, to limit the impact of out-of-State waste 
on their jurisdiction.
  Local governments need Congress to act decisively to reduce the 
uncertainty which has been injected into their planning and budgeting 
processes by recent Supreme Court decisions. If a good compromise can 
be reached on the issue of flow control, and I understand that the 
Senate environment committee is seeking to develop such a compromise, 
this matter should also be included. I have been contacted by many 
local governments in Michigan that strongly support enacting flow 
control legislation in this Congress.
  So, Mr. President, I encourage my colleagues to support the swift 
passage of legislation that will put municipal solid waste disposal 
decisions back into the hands of the people most directly affected by 
them and best suited to make them: The taxpayers of the municipalities 
that generated the waste and to their States.

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