National Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Management Act

Summary

National Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Management Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize appropriations to carry out such Act for FY 1993 through 1998. Title I: State Solid Waste Management - Revises requirements for State solid waste management plans and establishes requirements for plan guidelines. Requires such plans to include: (1) an estimate of the capacity of the State to manage such waste; (2) an overall waste management strategy that covers the ten-year period beginning on the date of approval of a plan; (3) source reduction and recycling goals; (4) requirements for annual diversion away from disposal by combustion or landfilling of materials otherwise destined for disposal by such methods, with specified diversion rates for metals, glass, paper, plastics, and yard waste; (5) scrap tire requirements; (6) personnel training and public education; (7) requirements for the management of household hazardous waste, yard waste, and large household appliances; (8) actions to be taken to promote markets for recovered materials; (9) requirements for procurement of products made of recovered materials; (10) requirements for disclosure of costs of municipal solid waste management services to consumers; and (11) biennial reporting requirements. Repeals provisions concerning plan provisions for recycled oil. Sets forth submission, approval, and implementation procedures for State plans. Directs each State to identify the amounts and types of solid waste expected to be generated or transported in such State during the planning period. Provides for biennial updates of such inventory. Sets forth minimum requirements for scrap tire management under State solid waste management plans. Declares that plans must: (1) address the reduction and elimination of existing scrap tire piles that contain more than 3,000 tires; (2) address current and future disposal, recycling, recovery, and reuse of scrap tires; and (3) encourage the environmentally sound recycling of such tires through all available means. Prohibits: (1) the disposal of scrap tires in a landfill, monocell, or monofill, unless there is no reasonably available recycling alternative for such tires and such tires are shredded; (2) the operation of collection sites, except in compliance with specified regulations; (3) the storage of more than 3,000 scrap tires for more than 60 days at collection sites, unless necessary for further reuse, recovery, or recycling; and (4) the commingling of tires generated 18 months after this Act's enactment date with existing scrap tire piles. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), together with the heads of appropriate Federal agencies, to: (1) determine the extent of scrap tire piles on Federal property; and (2) implement a plan for, and report to the Congress on, the abatement of such piles. Repeals a provision concerning grants for discarded tire disposal. Authorizes a State to collect fees on the combustion or disposal in a landfill of municipal solid waste generated in another State. Establishes maximum limits for such fees. Prohibits fees from being changed more often than once every two years. Terminates such authority if a State is not in compliance with an approved solid waste management plan. Requires States to distribute out-of-state waste differential funds in equal amounts to: (1) political subdivisions in whose jurisdictions the facilities which accept the waste are located; and (2) political subdivisions for carrying out municipal solid waste management programs. Defines "out-of-State waste differential funds" as funds collected that exceed the amount that would have been collected if the waste had originated in the State. Prohibits States or political subdivisions from restricting or imposing fees on the transportation, storage, recycling, treatment, or disposal of solid waste on the basis that the waste originates in or is transported from another State. Permits States or political subdivisions to petition a State to reduce or eliminate a fee. Grants congressional approval to interstate compacts for the management of municipal solid waste. Authorizes States to establish programs for inspecting shipments of municipal solid waste that originate in other States for ensuring that such shipments contain only municipal solid waste. Requires a State that exports at least 30 percent of the solid waste generated annually to implement the following: (1) permit requirements for facilities (transfer stations) that remove solid waste from collection vehicles and place the waste in other transportation units for delivery to other waste management facilities; (2) a requirement that waste exported from the State through transfer stations be accompanied by a manifest listing entities that generated the waste and a statement that the waste was inspected; and (3) inspection programs for such waste. Authorizes a State to deny entry of waste shipped from another State if the shipment is not accompanied by a manifest. Authorizes States that are not imposing fees on waste generated in other States to impose limitations on waste imported for combustion or disposal purposes. Declares that such a limitation shall be no less than the amount of: (1) imported waste being transported annually into the State, as of the date of decision to impose the limitation; or (2) such amount expressed as a percentage of the total amount of waste being combusted or disposed of in landfills annually, as of the date of such decision. Provides for resolution by the Administrator of disputes concerning such amounts. Authorizes States that impose the percentage limitation to require, as a condition of any facility operating permit, that the amount of waste generated outside the State and managed at the facility may not exceed the amount equal to multiplying the percentage of the limitation by the total amount of waste managed at the facility. Permits political subdivisions to elect not to participate in import limitations for facilities in their jurisdictions upon notification of the State Governor. Title II: Federal Solid Waste Management Requirements - Requires the Administrator to specify a schedule for the promulgation of regulations for solid waste categories other than those under this title for which regulations are necessary. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the management of ash from municipal waste combustion units. Requires landfills into which such ash is disposed to provide for groundwater monitoring and to have double liners with leachate collection systems above and between such liners and leak detection systems. Permits the placement of such ash into a monofill with groundwater monitoring, a leachate collection system, and a single composite liner designed to prevent the migration of any constituent. Authorizes alternative landfill design requirements if demonstrated that such design prevents the migration of hazardous constituents. Permits disposal of ash in sanitary landfills if the ash is tested and meets specified criteria. Directs the Administrator, in developing regulations for the management of such ash, to promulgate criteria and testing procedures for identifying characteristics of ash that may pose a hazard to human health or the environment. Provides for the testing of ash by ash management facilities when disposal of ash occurs in facilities with alternative designs or the ash is to be recycled or reused. Requires ash failing in any characteristic under criteria and testing procedures to be disposed of in a landfill or monofill meeting this title's requirements or to be treated. Directs the Administrator to validate criteria and testing procedures by conducting an analysis of leachate at facilities disposing of or reusing ash from municipal waste combustion units. Authorizes the Administrator to issue a corrective action order or commence a civil action when there has been a release of a hazardous constituent from a facility regulated under this title. Provides for civil penalties for noncompliance with orders. Permits States to submit programs for implementation and concurrent enforcement of this title's requirements to the Administrator. Authorizes the Administrator or States, under certain conditions, to grant variances from ash disposal requirements to owners or operators of municipal waste combustion units. Limits such variances to a specified time period. Repeals a provision of the Solid Waste Disposal Act which exempts facilities burning household and specified nonhazardous waste from regulation requirements under such Act. Sets forth prohibitions on scrap tire disposal in conformance with prohibitions set forth under title I for State solid waste management plans. Prohibits the operation of scrap tire monofills, except in compliance with this Act. Exempts specified persons from such prohibitions (except for disposal prohibitions) if no threat of an adverse health or environmental effect will result from the exemption. Authorizes the Administrator to impose alternative requirements as a condition for an exemption. Directs the Administrator to provide financial assistance to States for implementing scrap tire management requirements. Grants a preference for assistance to applicants who have shown progress in eliminating scrap tire piles. Permits States to apply for assistance in conjunction with neighboring States. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations to provide specifications for the quality and end uses of products made from: (1) mixed solid waste; and (2) compost made of yard trimmings, food scraps or food processing byproducts, specified nontoxic paper products soiled with food, or agricultural byproducts that have been separated from municipal solid waste at the source of generation. Requires the Administrator to promulgate standards for mixed municipal solid waste composting facilities. Directs States to issue permits to facilities in compliance with municipal solid waste management requirements. Prohibits the following activities, except in compliance with a permit: (1) the combustion of municipal solid waste; (2) the disposal of such waste in a landfill or the disposal of municipal solid waste combustor ash in a landfill or monofill; (3) the operation of a mixed municipal solid waste composting facility or of an intermediate processing or materials recovery facility; and (4) the operation of a scrap tire collection site or monofill. Directs States, as a condition of a permit, to require municipal waste combustion units and mixed municipal solid waste composting facilities to separate and prevent glass, metals, household hazardous waste, and other appropriate wastes from being accepted at such facilities. Requires States to provide regulatory authority to implement permit requirements. Provides that permits shall be for terms up to ten years. Authorizes the issuance of a single permit for a facility with multiple units. Requires facilities subject to permit requirements to pay annual fees to cover all State costs in administering the permit program. Sets forth requirements for the total amount of fees collected and calculations of fees. Authorizes States to promulgate regulations that provide that a class of facilities shall be deemed to be operating in compliance with a permit if the facilities will have minimal adverse health and environmental effects. Title III: Recycling - Permits packagers, effective December 31, 1995, to use only packages that: (1) are made of a material meeting a specified recovery rate by certain deadlines; (2) are made of materials that contain at least 25 percent, 35 percent, and 50 percent post-consumer material, effective December 31, 1995, December 31, 1998, and December 31, 2001, respectively; (3) are designed to be refilled or reused for their original purposes at least five times (requires 50 percent of packages produced to be returned for refilling or reuse); and (4) are reduced in volume or weight by specified percentages when compared to similar packages produced five years earlier. Provides that achievement of such a reduction shall qualify as compliance with packaging requirements for a period of five years. Requires the list of materials covered by such requirements to include, at a minimum, glass, metals, and plastic resins. Exempts from packaging requirements: (1) any part of a package used to provide tamper-resistant or -evident seals; (2) packages required by any Federal law or regulation related to health or safety; (3) any part of a package consisting of a flexible film which is in direct contact with food and is necessary to prevent spoilage; (4) packaging for drugs, drug products, or medical devices; and (5) packages determined by the Administrator to be de minimis. Directs packagers to submit annual certifications of compliance with packaging requirements to the Administrator with respect to each type of package used. Requires certificates to be submitted each time a package is reformulated or replaced. Requires paper manufacturers, no later than December 31, 1995, to ensure that specified types of paper are recovered, in the aggregate, at a rate of at least 40 percent. Directs the Administrator to establish a higher recovery rate for paper to be met no later than December 31, 2000. Authorizes the Administrator to establish recovery rates for additional materials. Sets forth reporting requirements for manufacturers of materials subject to recovery requirements. Directs the Administrator to complete a study to: (1) determine minimum content standards for paper products, products made from materials for which recovery rates are established, and products made from glass, metals, plastics, and rubber; and (2) analyze the manner in which compliance with such standards and with packaging requirements could be enforced for imports. Sets alternative minimum content standards for paper and other materials if recovery rates are not met. Prescribes monetary penalties for noncompliance with recovery rates or minimum content standards. Authorizes the Administrator, for any violation after a third violation of such standards or rates, to ban the sale in commerce of the concerned package or product. Provides for the use of penalties for technical assistance for solid waste management and resource recovery and conservation. Prohibits the intentional introduction of lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium into a package or packaging component during manufacturing or distribution. Sets forth the maximum allowable concentration level of the sum of such elements in packaging. Makes such regulations inapplicable (for a specified period) for packaging: (1) that was manufactured prior to the effective deadlines for maximum concentration levels; (2) to which lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium have been added to comply with Federal health or safety requirements or, because it is essential for the protection, safe handling, or function of the contents of the package, provided that the manufacturer, supplier, or distributor petitions EPA for the exemption; or (3) that would not exceed the maximum concentration levels but for the addition of post-consumer materials. Provides for the renewal of exemptions if the Administrator determines that a renewal is warranted. Requires packaging manufacturers or suppliers to furnish certificates of compliance with such requirements to the public, upon request. Prohibits: (1) the combustion of batteries or providing batteries as part of material to be composted at mixed municipal solid waste composting facilities; and (2) the disposal of lead-acid batteries, other than provided under the recycling requirements of this Act. Exempts from such prohibition the combustion, composting, or disposal of lead-acid batteries by owners or operators of municipal solid waste landfills, combustion units, composting facilities, or collection programs if such individuals: (1) inadvertently receive lead-acid batteries commingled with municipal solid waste that are not readily removable from the waste stream; (2) have established contractual requirements or other procedures to assure that such batteries are not received or accepted; and (3) are in compliance with applicable rules. Exempts small sealed consumer lead-acid batteries from such prohibition. Permits the disposal of lead-acid batteries only by delivery to retailers, wholesalers, or manufacturers of batteries of the same general type, regulated lead smelters or collection or recycling facilities, automotive dismantlers, or governmental curbside collection programs. Sets forth disposal requirements for such individuals. Prohibits battery retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers from refusing to accept batteries of the same type as the batteries sold. Directs wholesalers to remove used batteries from the place of business of the retailer. Requires notices to be posted in battery retail establishments that: (1) state that it is illegal to throw away such batteries and that Federal law requires acceptance of batteries for recycling and the return of batteries to authorized collectors, recyclers, processors, or automotive dismantlers; and (2) encourage the recycling of used batteries. Prohibits the sale of lead-acid batteries unless such batteries bear a label that identifies that they contain lead and sets forth requirements for recycling and acceptance. Prohibits State or local governments from enforcing labeling requirements unless identical with this Act's requirements. Requires the Administrator to: (1) study and report to the Congress on the collection, storage, recycling, and disposal of small sealed consumer batteries (including lead-acid batteries); and (2) publish a rule to regulate the management of such batteries or a determination that regulations are not needed. Authorizes the export of lead-acid batteries for recycling. Revises provisions concerning Federal procurement of recycled goods. Repeals a provision which limits the applicability of Federal procurement regulations to procurement occurring after the effective date of enactment of such regulations. Sets forth requirements for agency procurement programs. Requires procuring agencies to eliminate from specifications for procurement items: (1) practices that discriminate against the use of recovered materials in procurement items; and (2) any disincentives to source reduction. Revises procurement guidelines to include within such guidelines a designation of items which have been reduced in weight or volume or which will result in a decrease in the generation of waste by the procuring agency. Directs the Administrator to revise procurement guidelines for paper and requires Federal compliance with such guidelines by January 1, 1997. Requires the Administrator, by specified deadlines, to prepare final guidelines for: (1) compost made from yard and other organic waste; (2) asphalt made with crushed glass; (3) lead-acid batteries; (4) rubberized asphalt; (5) items produced with recovered rubber, plastic, or metals; (6) additional paper products; and (7) products produced with fibers recovered from pulp and paper mill sludge. Sets forth reporting requirements for procuring agencies. Directs the Administrator to establish a clearinghouse within EPA to provide information about procurement of items produced with recovered materials. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to provide technical assistance to States and local governments for development of expertise in the marketing of recovered materials. Title IV: Underground Storage Tanks - Authorizes appropriations for the regulation of underground storage tanks for FY 1993 through 1998. Makes amounts in the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund (established pursuant to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986) available for regulating such tanks under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Prohibits more than 15 percent of the grants made after FY 1992 to States for underground storage tank release detection, prevention, and correction programs from being used by States to provide financial assistance to certain financially distressed petroleum tank owners. Title V: Other Provisions - Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations containing standards and criteria for environmental marketing claims. Grants the Federal Trade Commission enforcement authority with respect to violations concerning such claims. Requires the Administrator to establish an Independent Advisory Board on Environmental Marketing Claims. Sets forth requirements with respect to claims of recycled content, recyclability, reusability, compostability, or degradability of a product. Provides for the triennial review, and revision, as necessary, of regulations. Permits interested persons to petition the Administrator to promulgate additional regulations. Prohibits the issuance of general environmental seals of approval unless such seals are awarded according to criteria and standards as stringent as those contained in the regulations. Directs the Administrator to conduct a public information and education campaign to enable consumers to: (1) distinguish regulated environmental marketing claims from other claims; (2) have information about the criteria and standards used by the Administrator; and (3) have a better understanding about the environmental effects of products and packages. Prohibits States or political subdivisions from enforcing standards or criteria with respect to such claims unless identical to those promulgated by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to require plastic containers manufactured or offered for sale in the United States to be coded to identify the principal plastic resin used in such containers. Establishes a symbol and numbers identifying specific types of resins for such codes. Prohibits States or political subdivisions from enforcing requirements applicable to coding of plastic containers unless identical to those promulgated by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to provide technical assistance to State and local governments for solid waste management and resource recovery and conservation. Retains the authority of States and political subdivisions to impose more stringent requirements pursuant to this Act. Requires solid waste facilities to grant access to EPA or State representatives for inspection purposes. Makes records obtained from such individuals available to the public, except those deemed as confidential. Prescribes penalties for willful disclosure of confidential records. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for specified violations of this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to require owners or operators of facilities where the presence of waste presents a health or environmental hazard to conduct monitoring, testing, and analysis. Prescribes civil penalties for failures to comply with such requirements. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) treat Indian tribes as States under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; (2) delegate primary enforcement authority for programs under such Act to Indian tribes; and (3) provide grant and contract assistance to tribes to carry out such Act. Sets forth conditions under which Indian tribes may be treated as States. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on: (1) recommendations for addressing hazardous and solid wastes and underground storage tanks within Indian country; (2) methods to maximize Indian participation in, and administration of, programs under such Act; and (3) the amount of assistance required and how the Administrator intends to provide such assistance to Indian tribes for the administration of such programs. Requires the Administrator to establish an inventory of: (1) sites within Indian country at which hazardous waste has been stored or disposed; and (2) open dumps within Indian country at which solid waste has been disposed. Directs the Administrator to assist Indian tribes in upgrading open dumps to comply with applicable requirements.

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• Reported in House (text)

  Reported in House · EN

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• Introduced in House (text)

  Introduced in House · EN

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• Reported to House with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 11 August 1992

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• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 22 November 1991

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