E-M:/ Dingell Hails House Passage of Canadian Trash Legislation

["Alex J. Sagady & Associates" <ajs@sagady.com>]

NEWS RELEASE
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Congressman John D. Dingell,
Chairman

For Immediate Release: 
April 24, 2007

Contact:  Jodi Seth or Alec Gerlach
 202-225-5735

 
                                                                       

Dingell Hails House Passage of Canadian Trash Legislation

Washington, D.C. ? Today, for the second time, the US House of
Representatives passed bipartisan legislation allowing states to curb the
importation of foreign municipal waste.  H.R. 518, the International
Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007, sponsored by
Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman John D. Dingell (D-MI), would
implement the bilateral U.S.-Canadian Agreement concerning the
transboundary movement of hazardous waste.  H.R. 518, the
International Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007 passed
the House by voice vote.  

 

The bill was co-sponsored
by
the entire Michigan
delegation and several members from the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
which has jurisdiction over the issue.  

 

?I am again pleased to tell the people of Michigan that we have passed a
bill that will lessen both risks to public health and the environment and
make our borders safer,? said Dingell.  ?While the Michigan
delegation of the House has worked together to move this legislation
forward, we have obstacles yet to surpass.  I urge the Senate to
take up H.R. 518 this spring.?

 

In 1992, the U.S. and Canada agreed that the bilateral agreement would
apply also to municipal solid waste.  H.R. 518 requires the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations
to implement the agreement within two years.  The bill also
authorizes states to enact laws or issue regulations to control foreign
municipal solid waste until the Administrator issues final regulations to
implement the bilateral agreement.  Any regulations or laws the
State enacts can stay in effect after federal regulations are
finalized.

 

Rep. Dingell has argued the Bush Administration should be complying with
the ?notice and consent? provisions of the bilateral agreement, which
requires that both countries use "best efforts" in the absence
of regulations.  Canada is a party to the Basel Convention, which
specifically prohibits signatories from exporting waste to a non-party
like the U.S.  The U.S.-Canadian bilateral agreement is the only
convention allowing waste to travel between the two countries. 

 

The Committee on Energy and Commerce passed H.R. 518 by voice vote on
March 22, 2007.

 

In the 109th
Congress, the International Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of
2006, passed the House by a voice vote, but was not considered by the
Senate before the Congress adjourned.

 
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Chairman Dingell?s Remarks on the Floor attached:
 
Statement of Rep. John D.
Dingell
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives

 
FLOOR STATEMENT
OF
THE HONORABLE JOHN D. DINGELL
H.R. 518
THE ?INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE
IMPORTATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2007?
 
April 24, 2007

?Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 518, the ?International
Solid Waste Management Act of 2007?.  This legislation is very
important to the people in Michigan, and it has been sponsored with great
enthusiasm by all members of the Michigan delegation in a thoroughly
bipartisan fashion.  Reps. Rogers, Stupak, Upton, Ehlers, McCotter,
Levin, Conyers, Kildee, Miller, Kilpatrick, Camp, Knollenberg, Hoekstra,
and Walberg have worked very hard together to bring this legislation to
the House floor. 
 
            ?I
want to commend our Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Wynn, for his able and
effective leadership in moving this bill through the Committee and
similarly recognize the efforts of the Gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Gillmor,
in the last Congress.
 
            ?This
legislation is identical to the bill that the House of Representatives
passed without opposition last September.  In this Congress, it was
reported out of both the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous
Materials and the full Committee on Energy and Commerce by voice
vote.
 
            ?H.R.
518 requires the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the notice
and consent provisions of the bilateral U.S.-Canadian Agreement, an
Agreement signed by the United States in 1986, to govern the
transboundary movement of hazardous waste, and amended in 1992 to include
municipal solid waste.
 
            ?Now,
I note that the Administration should comply with the notice and consent
provisions of the bilateral agreement, which requires that both countries
use ?best efforts,? absent regulation.
 
           
?Unfortunately, the Administration has made no effort to implement the
bilateral agreement.  Legislation was promised ?soon? by the
Administration almost four years ago.  It has yet to arrive. 
 
           
?Michigan?s ability to manage the importation of solid waste is crucial
to comprehensive and environmentally-sound solid waste management. 
Since 1996, when Michigan first began collecting the data, we have seen a
350 percent rise in the amount of Canadian waste disposed of in Michigan,
going from 2.7 million cubic yards to 12.1 million cubic yards.
 
            ?The
300 to 400 trucks of waste that cross the bridges every day from Canada
into Michigan are more than just a nuisance.  The trucks and the
cargo pose an environmental risk, a security risk, a potential hazard to
health, and are a detriment to our roads.
 
            ?H.R.
518 would ensure that the U.S. Canadian Agreement is both properly
implemented and properly enforced.  The bill provides criteria to
ensure that the views of State and local Governments are properly taken
into account in implementing the bilateral agreement and adds the
necessary enforcement authority.  This legislation would also give
Michigan and other States more authority to regulate foreign waste until
the Environmental Protection Agency?s final regulations go into
effect.  Laws or regulations enacted or issued during the interim
time period may stay in effect beyond the date that Federal regulations
become effective.
 
            ?The
bill also clearly states that this legislation does not affect, replace,
or amend prior law relating to the need for consistency with
international trade obligations.
 
            ?I am
pleased that the House is moving forward this excellent bipartisan bill
that offers significant relief to Michigan and other States that may
experience similar problems.
 
            ?I
urge my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 518.?

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