H.R. 411, and H.R. 382, share the same goal -- providing states with the tools they need to manage imports of municipal solid waste.

I thank the witnesses who are here to testify on this very important issue. In particular, I want to welcome several Michiganders who are our guests today, including my distinguished colleagues Senator Stabenow, who has been unrelenting in the fight against Canadian waste, and Rep. Miller who has taken up the fight since day one of her arrival in Washington. I also want to welcome the distinguished Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Steve Chester, and Michael Garfield, Director of the Ecology Center, both of whom will provide testimony as to the troubles caused by this influx of out-of-state and international waste. Finally, I welcome our other Michigan witnesses, including our Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, former State Trooper Linda Jordan, and Prof. Robert Howse of the University of Michigan.

I regret that I will have to leave this hearing for a meeting with the President and conferees to discuss the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. I do not mean to be discourteous and you may rest assured that I will be back as soon as possible, as I have many questions for our witnesses today, particularly my friends from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who have been neglecting to enforce a very important treaty with Canada.

This is not a new issue. Legislation on the interstate shipment of waste has been introduced in every Congress since the 1980's. This subcommittee last held a hearing on this subject in August of 2001. With the passage of time, this issue has only grown more urgent. In fact, a 2001 Congressional Research Service report indicates that waste imports into Michigan alone have doubled since 1999. Without action, this problem will only continue to grow worse.

States have been searching for legal means to control shipments of municipal solid waste from other states and other countries. Unfortunately, the result has been costly and unproductive litigation. State laws have been struck down by the courts because under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, only Congress can grant states and localities the right to fully regulate waste imports in their jurisdiction.

In 1994, this Committee passed a bill I developed with Reps. Boucher and Upton and cosponsored by you, Mr. Chairman, and Rep. Greenwood, that was very similar to H.R. 1730, one of the bills on the table for discussion today. We acted in the aftermath of the 1992 Supreme Court decision in the case of Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill vs. Michigan Department of Natural Resources. I would note that the support for that legislation was so broad and bipartisan that it passed the House by a vote of 368-55.

The Committee has a long history with H.R. 1730, introduced by my friend and colleague, Rep. Greenwood. Since then, a bipartisan group of members have introduced the legislation each and every Congress. Unfortunately, it has never made it to a markup.

Those of us from Michigan, and other affected states, hope this will change. On April 10 of this year, the Chairman received a bipartisan letter from the Governors of six waste importing states -- Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Kentucky

-- requesting an expeditious markup of H.R. 1730. I ask unanimous consent that the letter be placed in the record of this hearing.

We are also here to discuss my bill, H.R. 411, which would require the EPA to implement and enforce the Bilateral Agreement Between Canada and the United States Concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, amended in 1992 to also cover Municipal Solid Waste.

In my home state of Michigan, not only have interstate waste imports grown, the amount of waste from Canada being disposed of in Michigan has increased by 149 percent since 1996. In the course of one day, nearly 200 trash trucks cross the bridges from Canada headed for our landfills. I am disheartened that EPA has neglected its duty and determined that this agreement is not worth implementing. I look forward to questioning our EPA witness on this matter.

Both Senator Stabenow and Rep. Rogers also each have legislation addressing the issue of Canadian waste. While Senator Stabenow’s bill is not the subject of our hearing today, we will be discussing Mr. Rogers’ legislation, H.R. 382, and I believe the discussion of all of these bills is important because we must find the best way to achieve our common goal -- the control of waste imports and their effects on the communities that receive these wastes.

We have already seen what happens when states have crafted laws that run afoul of constitutional restrictions. We get litigation, without a solution to the problem. That is why I believe that international agreements and constitutional issues must be considered so that at the end of the day we succeed and solve this problem.

The bottom line, Mr. Chairman, is that our states and local governments have waited too long for the authority to regulate incoming waste. The price for delay is being paid by our citizens and the environment. But there is hope. I believe that the majority of this subcommittee would support an effort to give states the tools necessary to manage municipal solid waste imports. I look forward to working with you as the Committee moves to mark up these bills.