[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2488 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2488
To establish certain requirements with respect to solid waste and
hazardous waste incinerators, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 22, 1993
Mr. Richardson (for himself, Mr. Towns, Mr. Beilenson, Mr. Berman, Mr.
Blackwell, Mrs. Collins of Illinois, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Dellums, Mr. de
Lugo, Mr. Edwards of California, Mr. English of Oklahoma, Mr. Evans,
Mr. Filner, Mr. Ford of Michigan, Ms. Furse, Mr. Foglietta, Mr. Frost,
Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Hamburg, Mr.
Hinchey, Mr. Holden, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas,
Mr. Kildee, Mr. Klink, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. McCloskey, Mr.
McDermott, Mr. McKinney, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. Margolies-Mezvinsky, Mr.
Martinez, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Mr. Olver,
Mr. Owens, Mr. Payne of New Jersey, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Peterson of
Minnesota, Mr. Ravenel, Mr. Reed, Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Ms. Schenk, Mrs.
Schroeder, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Shepherd, Mr. Stokes, Mr. Torres, Ms.
Velazquez, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Wynn, and Mr. Yates) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish certain requirements with respect to solid waste and
hazardous waste incinerators, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Pollution Prevention and
Incineration Alternatives Act of 1993''.
SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE INCINERATORS.
(a) Amendment to Subtitle D.--Subtitle D of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``SEC. 4011. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE INCINERATORS.
``(a) Moratorium.--No municipal solid waste incinerator may be
issued a permit for construction or expansion until the year 1997.
``(b) Requirements.--After December 31, 1996, no Federal agency,
State or local government, or other waste management jurisdiction may
issue a permit (including a permit under section 129(e) of the Clean
Air Act) or other prior approval for the construction or expansion of a
municipal solid waste incinerator, unless the applicant for the permit
or other approval demonstrates, and the State finds, that the following
requirements are met:
``(1) The applicant shall conduct a waste composition
analysis of the solid waste generated in a year within the area
to be served by the facility and shall demonstrate that it will
continue to conduct such a waste composition analysis annually.
Each entity from which the facility plans to accept waste also
shall conduct a waste composition analysis of the solid waste
generated in a year by the persons from whom the entity
collects waste and shall demonstrate that it will continue to
conduct such a waste composition analysis annually. Any such
waste composition analysis shall be conducted in compliance
with the regulations promulgated under subsection (c).
``(2) Each entity from which the facility plans to accept
waste shall demonstrate that it has diverted during calendar
year 2000, and will continue to divert for each subsequent
year, to waste management methods other than incineration and
landfilling the following percentages of the total amount of
each of the following materials generated annually by the
persons from whom the entity collects waste:
``(A) Glass, 65 percent.
``(B) Newspapers, 65 percent.
``(C) Other paper, 65 percent.
``(D) Metals, 80 percent.
``(E) Plastic containers, 50 percent.
``(F) Yard waste, 90 percent.
``(G) Food waste, 10 percent.
Each such entity shall also demonstrate that, during calendar
years 1997, 1998, and 1999, it has diverted to such waste
management methods an interim diversion percentage established
by the Administrator (at least \1/2\) of the percentages of the
materials specified in subparagraphs (A) through (G).
``(3) The applicant shall demonstrate that--
``(A) the facility will not interfere with
maintaining the diversion rates set forth in paragraph
(2) for each entity from which the facility plans to
accept waste; and
``(B) in any case in which a diversion rate by an
entity from which the facility plans to accept waste is
higher than the rate set forth in paragraph (2), the
facility will not interfere with maintaining the higher
diversion rate.
``(4) The applicant shall demonstrate that it is not
feasible to manage the remaining solid waste through source
reduction, reuse, or recycling.
``(5) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility
will not adversely affect the environment or human health as a
consequence of--
``(A) exposure to air emissions or incinerator ash
through inhalation;
``(B) ingestion of food contaminated by air
emissions or incinerator ash as a consequence of
incorporation of such ash or emissions into the food
chain;
``(C) ingestion of potable water or aquatic
organisms contaminated by surface water discharges,
surface runoff, leaching, or percolation of air
emissions or incinerator ash into ground water or
surface water;
``(D) ingestion or inhalation of soil particles
contaminated with air emissions or incinerator ash; or
``(E) dermal contact with air emissions or
incinerator ash.
``(6) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility is
not situated in a nonattainment area (as that term is used in
part D of title I of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501 et
seq.)).
``(7) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility
will not harm the local economy, including a demonstration that
it will not negatively affect property values.
``(8) The applicant shall demonstrate that the full cost of
the facility over its entire life, including capital costs,
debt service, liability insurance, remediation, and long-term
operation and maintenance expenses, will be less costly than
reducing, recycling, or composting waste.
``(9) The Federal agency, State or local government, or
other waste management jurisdiction shall conduct a full public
participation process, including public hearings, to address
the proposed facility. As part of the process, the applicant
shall provide to local community groups concerned about the
project a technical assistance grant of at least $50,000. The
applicant shall renew the grant every six months after the
initial grant is made until the date on which final action is
completed by each Federal agency, State or local government, or
other waste management jurisdiction on each permit for
construction or expansion of the facility.
``(10) The proposed construction or expansion must be
approved by the unit of local government in whose boundaries
the facility would be sited.
``(11) The applicant shall demonstrate the following with
respect to the applicant, any firm engaged to operate the
facility, the parent firm of the applicant and any firm engaged
to operate the facility, and any firms controlled by the parent
firm or the operating firm or the applicant:
``(A) Each such entity is in compliance with
Federal and State environmental and public health
statutes and regulations.
``(B) Each such entity has paid all outstanding
fines or penalties for violations of such statutes or
regulations.
``(C) Each such entity has made available to the
public at the site, and at local public libraries in
the jurisdiction where the facility would be sited, a
disclosure statement. The disclosure statement shall
include the following information with respect to the
entity:
``(i) A list of each conviction of fraud or
any criminal offense during the previous 10
years in connection with obtaining or
attempting to obtain a contract.
``(ii) A list of each conviction of a
violation of a State or Federal antitrust law
during the previous 10 years, including
convictions relating to unlawful price-fixing,
allocation of customers among competitors, and
bid-rigging.
``(iii) A list of each citation for a
permit violation under a Federal, State, or
local environmental statute during the previous
5 years.
``(iv) A list of each citation for failure
to conduct proper cleanup, reclamation, or
closure of a site or forfeiture of a bond for
such a failure during the previous 5 years.
``(12) The applicant shall complete, after public notice
and comment, an environmental impact statement. Such statement
shall be conducted in the same manner and in conformance with
the same standards required for environmental impact statements
under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) and must be approved by the State.
``(13) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility is
not located within 1\1/2\ miles of any school, hospital,
church, synagogue, mosque, prison, body of surface water used
as a drinking water source, or site designated by any Federal
or State agency as a recharge zone for an aquifer that serves
as a drinking water source.
``(14) The State in which the incinerator is located shall
complete, prior to 1995, an incinerator capacity study which
makes a determination of each of the following:
``(A) The baseline capacity within the State and
after all recyclables, compostables and noncombustibles
are diverted from the waste stream.
``(B) The baseline capacity within the
Environmental Protection Agency Region and after
diversion of list in I,2),a).
``(C) The baseline capacity for landfills after
diversion of list in I,2),a).
``(D) Potential health impacts of additional
incinerators.
``(E) Any disproportionate impact on minority and
low income communities of additional incinerators.
States shall have the authority to levy a fee from existing
incinerator and landfills to fund studies.
``(15) The Administrator has conducted, during 1995 and
1996, a national capacity study based on the information
contained in State studies conducted under paragraph (14).
``(16) The applicant shall demonstrate that the location of
the facility will not have a disproportionate impact on
minority or low-income communities.
``(c) Waste Composition Analysis Regulations.--(1) Not later than
January 1, 1995, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations
containing standards for the conduct of waste composition analyses
under subsection (b)(1). In the regulations, the Administrator shall
define the term `waste composition analysis' to mean--
``(A) an identification of all materials that fall within
standard categories and subcategories of materials set forth by
the Administrator, including, at a minimum, glass, newspapers,
other paper, metals, plastics, yard waste, and food waste; and
``(B) a measurement of the quantities of those materials,
using a method established by the Administrator.
``(2) The regulations also shall include procedures for--
``(A) certification of the accuracy of a waste composition
analysis by the entity carrying out the analysis; and
``(B) verification by the Administrator of the accuracy of
a waste composition analysis.
``(d) Authority To Impose Higher Diversion Rates.--The
Administrator shall assess periodically, but not less often than at
least once every 3 years, whether the achievement of higher diversion
rates under subsection (b)(2) is feasible. If the Administrator
concludes that a higher rate is feasible for one or more materials
listed in subsection (b)(2), the Administrator may by rule require such
higher rate for the material under such subsection.
``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) The term `municipal solid waste incinerator' means a
distinct operating unit of any facility which combusts any
solid waste material from commercial or industrial
establishments or the general public (including single and
multiple residences, hotels, and motels). Such term does not
include (i) incinerators or other units required to have a
permit under section 3005; (ii) materials recovery facilities
(including primary or secondary smelters) which combust waste
for the primary purpose of recovering metals; (iii) qualifying
small power production facilities, as defined in section
3(17)(C) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 769(17)(C)), which
burn homogeneous waste (other than refuse-derived fuel) for the
production of electric energy; (iv) air curtain incinerators
provided that such incinerators only burn wood wastes, yard
wastes, and clean lumber and that such air curtain incinerators
comply with opacity limitations to be established by the
Administrator by rule; or (v) incinerators or other units that
burn only infectious medical waste.
``(2) The term `waste management jurisdiction' means a
governmental entity which issues permits for construction or
expansion of municipal solid waste incinerators within its
boundaries.
``(f) Regulations.--The Administrator shall promulgate regulations
to carry out this section.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--The table of contents for subtitle D of
such Act (contained in section 1001 of such Act) is amended by adding
at the end the following new item:
``Sec. 4011. Municipal solid waste incinerators.''.
SEC. 3. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE INCINERATOR ASH MANAGEMENT.
Section 4003(a) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Ash From Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators.--(A) The plan
shall insure that ash from municipal solid waste incinerators is
managed in a monofill that contains only ash from such incinerators and
that includes, at a minimum, the following design components:
``(i) A double liner system designed, operated, and
constructed of materials to prevent the migration of any
constituent into the liners during the period such facility
remains in operation (including any postclosure monitoring
period). The double liner system shall consist of one flexible
membrane liner and one composite liner, with a leachate
collection system above and between such liners. For purposes
of this subsection, the term `flexible membrane liner' means a
liner that consists of high density polyethylene or equivalent
material that is at least 60 mils thick and a layer of
recompacted clay or other natural materials at least 3 feet
thick with hydraulic conductivity of no more than 1 x 10<SUP>-7
centimeter per second.
``(ii) Upon closure, a final composite cover system
designed, operated, and constructed of materials to prevent the
infiltration of precipitation into such cover during any
closure or post-closure monitoring period. For purposes of this
section, the term `composite cover' means a cover which
consists of high density polyethylene or equivalent material
that is at least 40 mils thick and a layer of recompacted clay
or other natural materials at least 2 feet thick with hydraulic
conductivity of no more than 1 x 10<SUP>-7 centimeter per
second.
``(B) Municipal solid waste incinerators in existence on the date
of the enactment of the Pollution Prevention and Incineration
Alternatives Act of 1993 shall meet the requirements of clause (i) not
later than 3 years after such date of enactment.
``(C) As of the date of the enactment of the Pollution Prevention
and Incineration Alternatives Act of 1993, the utilization of municipal
solid waste incinerator ash for any purpose is prohibited.
``(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions
apply:
``(i) The term `ash from municipal solid waste
incinerators' means the residues resulting from the combustion
of municipal solid waste in a municipal solid waste
incinerator.
``(ii) The term `municipal solid waste incinerator' means a
distinct operating unit of any facility which combusts any
solid waste material from commercial or industrial
establishments or the general public (including single and
multiple residences, hotels, and motels). Such term does not
include (I) incinerators or other units required to have a
permit under section 3005; (II) materials recovery facilities
(including primary or secondary smelters) which combust waste
for the primary purpose of recovering metals; (III) qualifying
small power production facilities, as defined in section
3(17)(C) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 769(17)(C)), which
burn homogeneous waste (other than refuse-derived fuel) for the
production of electric energy; (IV) air curtain incinerators
provided that such incinerators only burn wood wastes, yard
wastes and clean lumber and that such air curtain incinerators
comply with opacity limitations to be established by the
Administrator by rule; or (V) incinerators or other units that
burn only infectious medical waste.''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON INCINERATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS.
(a) Prohibition.--Section 3001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42
U.S.C. 6921) is further amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(k) Prohibition on Incineration of Certain Materials.--The
following materials and products may not be incinerated in a municipal
solid waste incinerator:
``(1) Household hazardous waste.
``(2) Batteries.
``(3) Chlorinated plastics.
``(4) Consumer electronics.
``(5) Yard waste.''.
(b) Effective Date.--Subsection (k) of section 3001 of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act (as added by subsection (a)) shall take effect 18
months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS.
(a) Amendment to Subtitle C.--Subtitle C of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``SEC. 3021. HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS.
``(a) General Requirements.--Effective on the date of the enactment
of the Pollution Prevention and Incineration Alternatives Act of 1993,
no Federal agency, State or local government, or any other waste
management jurisdiction may issue a permit or other prior approval for
the construction or expansion of a hazardous waste incinerator unless
the following requirements are met:
``(1) The applicant for the permit or other prior approval,
and all generators of waste expected to be incinerated at the
facility, shall conduct waste composition analyses that
identify and quantify all the waste expected to be incinerated
at the facility, including all toxic or hazardous substances in
the waste.
``(2) The applicant shall demonstrate that the toxics use
reduction requirements of subsection (b) have been met.
``(3) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility
will not interfere with, divert resources from, or otherwise
serve as a disincentive to, aggressive implementation of the
toxics use reduction requirements of subsection (b).
``(4) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility
will not adversely affect the environment or human health as a
consequence of--
``(A) exposure to air emissions or incinerator ash
through inhalation;
``(B) ingestion of food contaminated by air
emissions or incinerator ash as a consequence of
incorporation of such ash or emissions into the food
chain;
``(C) ingestion of potable water or aquatic
organisms contaminated by surface water discharges,
surface runoff, leaching, or percolation of air
emissions or incinerator ash into ground water or
surface water;
``(D) ingestion or inhalation of soil particles
contaminated with air emissions or incinerator ash; or
``(E) dermal contact with air emissions or
incinerator ash.
``(5) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility
will not harm the local economy, including a demonstration that
it will not negatively affect property values.
``(6) The applicant shall demonstrate that there is no
safer disposal or treatment technology available for any of the
wastes.
``(7) The Federal agency, State or local government, or
other waste management jurisdiction shall conduct a full public
participation process, including public hearings, to address
the proposed facility. As part of the process, the applicant
shall provide to local community groups concerned about the
project a technical assistance grant of at least $50,000. The
applicant shall renew the grant every six months after the
initial grant is made until the date final action is completed
by each Federal agency, State or local government, or other
waste management jurisdiction on each permit for construction
or expansion of the facility.
``(8) The proposed construction or expansion must be
approved by the unit of local government in whose boundaries
the facility would be sited.
``(9) The applicant shall demonstrate the following with
respect to the applicant, any firm engaged to operate the
facility, the parent firm of the applicant and any firm engaged
to operate the facility, and any firms controlled by the parent
firm or the operating firm or the applicant:
``(A) Each such entity is in compliance with
Federal and State environmental and public health
statutes and regulations.
``(B) Each such entity has paid all outstanding
fines or penalties for violations of such statutes or
regulations.
``(C) Each such entity has made available to the
public at the site, and at local public libraries in
the jurisdiction where the facility would be sited, a
disclosure statement. The disclosure statement shall
include the following information with respect to the
entity:
``(i) A list of each conviction of fraud or
any criminal offense during the previous 10
years in connection with obtaining or
attempting to obtain a contract.
``(ii) A list of each conviction of a
violation of a State or Federal anti-trust law
during the previous 10 years, including
convictions relating to unlawful price-fixing,
allocation of customers among competitors, and
bid-rigging.
``(iii) A list of each citation for a
permit violation under a Federal, State, or
local environmental statute during the previous
5 years.
``(iv) A list of each citation for failure
to conduct proper cleanup, reclamation, or
closure of a site or forfeiture of a bond for
such a failure during the previous 5 years.
``(10) The applicant shall complete, after public notice
and comment, an environmental impact statement. Such statement
shall be conducted in the same manner and in conformance with
the same standards required for environmental impact statements
under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) and must be approved by the State.
``(11) The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility is
not located within 1\1/2\ miles of any school, hospital,
church, synagogue, mosque, prison, body of surface water used
as a drinking water source, or site designated by any Federal
or State agency as a recharge zone for an aquifer that serves
as a drinking water source.
``(12) The applicant shall demonstrate that the location of
the facility will not have a disproportionate impact on
minority or low-income communities.
``(b) Toxics Use Reduction Requirements.--(1) For purposes of
subsection (a)(2), an applicant for a permit, and each generator of
waste expected to be incinerated at the facility, shall demonstrate
that each such generator has completed and made available to the
public, and intends to complete and make available each subsequent
year, a report on the use of toxic or hazardous substances at the
generator's facility and the reduction of the use of such substances
during the preceding year at the generator's facility. The report shall
include, at a minimum, the following:
``(A) A materials accounting for each toxic or hazardous
substance used in each production unit of the generator's
facility and for the facility as a whole.
``(B) An evaluation of options for reducing the use of
toxic and hazardous substances in each production unit of the
generator's facility.
``(C) Two- and five-year goals, by toxic and hazardous
substance, for reducing the use of each substance in each
production unit of the generator's facility and in the facility
as a whole.
``(D) A schedule for implementing the goals referred to in
subparagraph (C).
``(E) A statement signed by an independent expert
certifying that, to the expert's best knowledge and belief, the
report prepared by the generator is true, complete, accurate,
and prepared under a proper data accounting and planning
system.
``(2) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), an applicant for a permit
shall demonstrate that the State in which the facility is located, and
each State in which generators of waste expected to be incinerated at
the facility are located, has established and is implementing a toxics
use reduction program that includes, at a minimum, the following
requirements:
``(A) The program must be designed to achieve, within 5
years after the date the program is established, at least a 50
percent reduction, from the base year, in the amount of toxic
or hazardous substances entering the hazardous waste stream
prior to treatment, recycling, handling, disposal, or release.
``(B) The program must require generators of hazardous
waste to develop a plan for reducing their toxic or hazardous
substance use.
``(C) The program must require each generator of hazardous
waste to publicly report on materials accounting for each
production unit of the generator's facility and the facility as
a whole.
``(c) Applicability.--This section applies to any facility that
burns hazardous waste, including cement kilns and other industrial
furnaces and boilers.
``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) The term `base year' means any calendar year, not
earlier than 1991, for which a State has complete and adequate
information on the generation of toxic or hazardous substances
entering the hazardous waste stream, prior to treatment,
recycling, handling, disposal, or release.
``(2) The term `toxic or hazardous substance' means--
``(A) a substance on the list described in section
313(c) of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-
To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11023(c));
``(B) any chemical for which a Federal or State law
requires reporting similar to section 313 of such Act
but which is not otherwise covered under subparagraph
(A);
``(C) any hazardous constituent of hazardous wastes
identified under regulations promulgated under this
subtitle and listed in sections 261.33(e), 261.33(f),
and Appendix VIII of part 261 of title 40 of the Code
of Federal Regulations; and
``(D) any priority pollutant listed under
regulations relating to steam electric power point
source pollutants under the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.) (as listed in
Appendix A of section 423 of title 40 of the Code of
Federal Regulations).
``(3)(A) The term `toxics use reduction' means any change
in a production process or activity, raw material, or product,
that reduces or eliminates the use of any toxic or hazardous
substance, or the amount of any toxic or hazardous substance
entering any waste stream or otherwise released to the
environment (including fugitive emissions and hazardous
secondary materials), prior to recycling, treatment, disposal,
handling, or release, without creating or increasing risks to
the public health, workers, consumers, or the environment. The
term includes production equipment or technology modifications,
reformulation or redesign of products, substitution of raw
materials, changes in production processes or procedures, and
improvements in housekeeping, maintenance, training, or
inventory control.
``(B) The term does not include (i) any waste management or
pollution control activity, or any other practice which alters
the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics, or the
volume, of a toxic or hazardous substance through a process or
activity which itself is not integral to and necessary for the
production of a product or the providing of a service; (ii)
recycling without the use of in-process, in-line, or closed-
loop recycling methods according to standard engineering
practices and that is not integral to and necessary for the
production of the product within the original production unit;
or (iii) the use of a byproduct as hazardous secondary
material, as a product, or as a constituent of a product.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--The table of contents for subtitle C of
such Act (contained in section 1001 of such Act) is amended by adding
at the end the following new item:
``Sec. 3021. Hazardous waste incinerators.''.
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HR 2488 IH----2
HR 2488 IH----3