[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 49 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            PROMOTING NEW AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES

                                 ______


                          HON. NORMAN D. DICKS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 16, 1995
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Landfill Technical 
Improvement Act of 1995. This is the same legislation that my former 
colleague Al Swift and I introduced late in the last session of 
Congress.
  I am introducing the legislation again this year because the ill-
advised and outmoded regulation which prompted this bill still exists 
at the expense of small domestic companies who seek to compete in the 
growing national and international environmental technology markets.
  Of course, Congress did not intend this result when we passed the 
Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments in 1984--over one decade ago. This 
act required the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] to issue 
regulations restricting the disposal of organic sorbents in hazardous 
waste landfills.
  Since that time, natural absorbents made from reclaimed/recycled 
materials have been developed which actually outperform traditional 
sorbents produced from fossil fuels and chemicals. As well, normal 
landfill conditions are anaerobic, and studies show that no 
biodegradation occurs in this anaerobic environment of RCRA landfills.
  A small company in my State is among those companies who produce this 
type of material. They take a local paper mill's sludge, garbage, and 
produce useful, organic sorbents. This disposition issue, however, 
continues to threaten the existence of these American companies and the 
new technologies they have developed. As it now stands, this regulation 
effectively shuts out these new technologies from landfill disposition.
  The administration has repeatedly stated its support for American 
manufacturers of new environmental technologies as they attempt to 
compete in the world marketplace. This regulation, however, is highly 
detrimental to these stated goals. This bill would reverse this 
injustice by allowing this new technology to be utilized to its fullest 
extent, thus providing American jobs while advancing our national 
environmental goals.


                          ____________________