[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 2, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E909-E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE IMPORTATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 24, 2007

  Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I ask that my letter be inserted in the 
Record as part of the consideration of H.R. 518, the International 
Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007, which passed under 
suspension of the rules on April 24, 2007. This letter responds to the 
letter received by the Speaker from Mr. Justin McCarthy, Assistant U.S. 
Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs, and the Hon. Jeffrey T. 
Bergner, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, 
regarding H.R. 518.

                                         House of Representatives,


                              Committee on Energy and Commerce

                                   Washington, DC, April 30, 2007.
     Mr. Justin J. McCarthy
     Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, for Congressional 
         Affairs Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Jeffrey T. Bergner
     Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs U.S. 
         Department of State, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. McCarthy and Assistant Secretary Bergner: I have 
     obtained a copy of your April 23, 2007, letter to Speaker 
     Nancy Pelosi expressing the Administration's concern with 
     H.R. 518, the International Solid Waste Importation and 
     Management Act of 2007. I sponsored this bipartisan bill with 
     the entire Michigan delegation and a number of other Members 
     of the House of Representatives. It was favorably reported by 
     the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials and 
     the full Committee on Energy and Commerce in late March and 
     passed the House of Representatives on April 23, 2007, by a 
     voice vote without opposition.
       Your letter implies and attempts to raise concerns that 
     H.R. 518 would somehow apply to hazardous waste shipments or 
     in some way would be incompatible with U.S. obligations under 
     the North American Free Trade Agreement and WTO agreements. 
     Neither of these observations is correct.
       First, the bill expressly applies only to ``foreign 
     municipal solid waste,'' not hazardous waste (new section 
     4011) (f)(2)). Further, hazardous waste is explicitly 
     excluded from the term ``municipal solid waste'' (new section 
     4011 (f)(3)(B)(i)).
       With regard to the issue of whether H.R. 518 is compatible 
     with our international trade obligations, the bill explicitly 
     preserves prior law relating to international trade 
     obligations. New section 4011(a)(3) provides as follows:
       ``(3) Trade and Treaty Obligations.--Nothing in this 
     section affects, replaces, or amends prior law relating to 
     the need for consistency with international trade 
     obligations.
       Thus, Canada retains all of its rights under the North 
     American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade 
     Organization (WTO) agreements to challenge a State action 
     alleged to be inconsistent. Domestic waste trade measures 
     that allegedly violate NAFTA might be challenged under the 
     NAFTA general dispute settlement chapter.
       Even where a measure is alleged to be inconsistent with 
     NAFTA, the Congressional Research Service has noted that 
     there may be general exceptions incorporated from Article XX 
     of the GATT 1994 that allow parties to adopt or enforce 
     measures necessary to protect human, animal, or plant life or 
     health and measures relating to the conservation of 
     exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made 
     effective in conjunction with restriction on domestic 
     production or consumption.
       Finally, your letter states that there are other ways to 
     address concerns about imports of foreign waste, noting as an 
     example the U.S.-Canada Agreement Concerning the 
     Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste. I would hope you 
     are aware that H.R. 518 is providing the Environmental 
     Protection Agency (EPA) with the requisite statutory 
     authority necessary to enforce that very agreement as it 
     applies to municipal solid waste. EPA has maintained that it 
     cannot fully implement and enforce the U.S.-Canada bilateral 
     agreement without the authority provided by H.R. 518 in new 
     section 4011(c).
       I also note that almost four years ago EPA officials 
     testified that the current Administration would submit the 
     necessary implementing legislation for the U.S.-Canadian 
     bilateral agreement ``soon.'' No such legislative proposal 
     has ever been submitted by President Bush.
       You should be aware that H.R. 518 directs the EPA 
     Administrator to implement the U.S.Canadian bilateral 
     agreement within 24 months and, as noted above, provides the 
     necessary authority to enforce its provisions with respect to 
     municipal solid waste. Thus, our bill would give effect to 
     the U.S.-Canada bilateral agreement and ensure that it is 
     implemented. The passage of H.R. 518 is important to the 
     people of Michigan and similarly affected States.

[[Page E910]]

  I hope this correspondence serves to correct any misunderstandings 
concerning H.R. 518.
           Sincerely,
                                                  John D. Dingell,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

     Hon. Nancy Pelosi
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Madam Speaker: This letter is to express the 
     Administration's concern with H.R. 518, the International 
     Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007. H.R. 518 
     would authorize states to restrict the receipt and disposal 
     of municipal solid waste generated outside the United States.
       The Administration is concerned that enactment of H.R. 518 
     would have the unintended result of increasing the disposal 
     of hazardous waste in the United States and lead to an 
     unnecessary trade dispute. According to the Environmental 
     Protection Agency, approximately 230 U.S. companies. in over 
     32 states shipped hazardous waste to Canada in 2004 alone. If 
     states use the authority in H.R. 518 to restrict foreign 
     waste imports, this could provoke reciprocal actions by 
     Canada or other trading partners against u.s. waste exports.
       In addition, because H.R. 518 would authorize states to 
     enact laws or regulations that exclusively restrict the 
     disposal of foreign-generated waste or limit the amount of 
     foreign waste shipped to the United States, it could raise 
     concerns by our trading partners regarding U.S. compliance 
     with international rules prohibiting trade discrimination. In 
     fact, the Government of Canada has already questioned whether 
     H.R. 518, as well as the state laws and regulations it could 
     lead to, would be compatible with U.S. obligations under the 
     North American Free Trade Agreement and WTO agreements.
       Moreover, H.R. 518 could result in a patchwork of 
     individual and possibly conflicting state and federal laws 
     and regulations on the receipt and disposal of foreign 
     municipal waste that could make it more difficult to manage 
     cross-border waste flows in an environmentally sound and 
     economically efficient manner.
       Finally, there are other ways to address concerns about 
     imports of foreign waste. For example, the U.S.-Canada 
     Agreement Concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous 
     Waste has been a successful mechanism for managing the flow 
     of hazardous waste between our countries and illustrates how 
     issues relating to this type of trade can be handled in a 
     manner that does not raise concerns for our trading partners.
       We appreciate your attention to these concems. The Office 
     of Management and Budget advises that there is no objection 
     to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the 
     President's program.
           Sincerely,
     Justin McCarthy,
       Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional 
     Affairs.
     Jeffrey T. Bergner,
       Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.

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