NEWS RELEASE
Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

Dingell Introduces Legislation to Halt the Flow of Unwanted Garbage into Michigan’s Landfills

Washington, D.C. – In an attempt to prevent unwanted garbage imports from making Michigan landfills their final resting place, Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and a group of bipartisan Representatives tomorrow will introduce legislation to provide states and local communities with the ability to exercise controls over out-of-state and Canadian waste. Dingell hails the strong support of Governor Granholm as well as the Governors of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana and Kentucky who today wrote to Chairman Paul Gillmor of the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Waste, Committee on Energy and Commerce, asking that the legislation be marked up before the Memorial Day District Work Period. (See letter (pdf))

"Mothers frequently tell their children to take care of and clean up their own messes," Dingell said. "To the greatest extent possible, Canada and other states should follow that wise advice when disposing of their trash."

In just five years, from 1993 to 1998, interstate waste shipments across the nation nearly doubled from 14.5 million tons to 28.4 million tons. Imports of garbage into Michigan have increased by approximately 1.7 million tons in the past four years, from 2.1 million in 1999 to 3.8 million in 2002. A significant percentage of this increase comes from the importation of Canadian waste. Canadian imports have increased by 12 percent in the last year from 1.96 million tons to 2.2 million tons. In the last four years, Canadian imports have increased by 182 percent. Imports now represent almost 20 percent of the waste disposal in Michigan, up from 12 percent in 1999.

However, as Dingell aptly points out, imported waste itself is not the only or most significant problem. "The thousands upon thousands of truckloads of out-of-state and Canadian waste we receive each year are delivering more to the dump than garbage. Each and every truck adds to our already congested highways, spurs new concerns over traffic safety, pollutes our air and eats up our energy, not to mention our roads," said Dingell.

Only through an act of Congress can states and localities gain the authority to control interstate waste shipments. The Solid Waste Interstate Transportation Act of 2003 does not give states outright authority to prohibit all out-of-state trash, but rather provides reasonable tools enabling state and local governments to responsibly maintain disposal capacity for their own waste. Among other tools, local governments will be authorized to apply a presumptive ban to out-of-state municipal solid waste unless the landfill or incinerator obtains the agreement of the affected local government. State governments, when issuing permits for waste facilities, will have the authority to place a cap on out-of-state waste received annually. Additionally, states and affected local governments may limit the amount of out-of-state waste received at each landfill or incinerator to levels not to exceed calendar year 1993, or any subsequent year where records documenting out-of-state waste were kept.

This bipartisan legislation is expected to receive the support of the majority of the House of Representatives, if the Republican Leadership of the Committee and the House will diligently schedule it for action.

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