STATEMENT OF SENATOR EVAN BAYH
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION AND LOCAL AUTHORITY ACT OF 1999
JUNE 17, 1999

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I first want to thank you for holding this hearing on the national problem of municipal solid waste management. I particularly want to thank Senator Voinovich for his work on our bill, and our cosponsors, who include both Senators from Ohio and, Michigan, my colleague from Indiana, Senator Lugar, and Senator Feingold from Wisconsin. This is a critical issue for my state, as well as many others, and I look forward to working with you to move forward with solutions.

Let me try to put this issue in perspective. How would you react if your neighbor began dumping tons of trash in your backyard? What if he said there was nothing you could do to stop it and that he planned to increase the amount he dumped in your yard every day -- and expected you to pay for it? Sound Outrageous? Absurd? Well, that's the position that Indiana and many other states are in trying to fight the rising tide of waste from other states. As you well know, some States have been struggling for years to ensure safe, responsible management Of out-of-state municipal solid waste.

As Governor of Indiana, I tried to ensure that Indiana's disposal capacity would meet Indiana's municipal solid waste needs. However, our efforts to institute effective long-range waste management policies were -- and continue to be --- thwarted by obstacles at the federal level, which allow massive and unpredictable amounts of out-of-state waste to flow into state disposal facilities.

Unregulated flows of out of state waste have significant negative environmental and economic impacts. Depriving importing states of the ability to impose reasonable regulations on this waste creates unacceptable burdens.

First, unregulated out-of-state waste interferes with states' duty to protect the health and safety of its citizens. There are significant difficulties in ensuring that out-of-state waste flows comply with state disposal standards. Last year, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management was forced to suspended operation of two transfer stations, fine 9 others for failure to provide proper documentation of the waste they handled. The state sent inspectors to 21 other landfills to investigate other violations. We are vigilant in monitoring our facilities, but the sheer volume of waste makes it impossible to catch every violation.

Second, it undermines state environmental objectives. The expansion of landfilling discourages waste minimization and recycling programs. How do we convince Indiana citizens to reduce their waste and increase their recycling if they see our landfills being filled with out-of-state trash. Where's the incentive for responsible waste management when our accomplishments will be overwhelmed by waste from states that don't manage their wastes?

Third, there are economic burdens that come with out-of-state waste. States that make the economic decision not to dispose of their own waste transfer the hard choices and costs of landfilling to states where disposal is cheaper. As landfill space inevitably diminishes, the costs of disposal in low-cost states, like Indiana, will rise. Ultimately, Indiana citizens will be paying a penalty imposed on them by states who choose not to provide for their own waste. I believe that's what's called taxation without representation. It is not right that states whose sole waste policy is to "ship it out" can undermine carefully developed long-term waste management policies in states like mine.

It this unfairness that brings us here today. Because the Supreme Court has ruled that municipal solid waste is a commodity in interstate commerce, only Congress has the authority to regulate it. Before states can plan for, and manage, the waste that comes into their states, Congress must statutorily delegate that authority to them.

The need for that authority has never been more acute. Nationwide, interstate waste shipments increased by 32% last year. Shipments to Indiana have been steadily rising over the last few years to the current level of 2.8 million tons. The same is happening other states, such as Ohio. And these increases will be dwarfed by the impact of the planned closing of 2001 of the Fresh Kills Landfill in New York, which will send another 13,000 tons of municipal waste into "interstate commerce" every day. That's almost 5 million (4.75) tons a year.

In Indiana, after decreasing from 1992 to 1994- waste imports increased significantly in 1995 and doubled in 1996. Between 1996 and 1998, out-of state waste received by Indiana facilities increased by 32 percent to their highest level in the last seven years. In fact, in 1998, 2.8 million tons of out-of-state waste were disposed of in Indiana - that's 19 percent of all the waste disposed of Indiana's landfills.

Our Department of Environmental Management has predicted that the state will run out of landfill space in 2011 - or earlier, depending on the volume of waste. We have laws in place, such as a needs determination law, that allows the state to deny an operating permit to a new disposal facility if no local or regional need for the facility is established. However, without Congressional action, Indiana's authority to make this decision is subject to challenge. The uncertainty created by this cuts against responsible environmental and economic planning. This is a concern for every state that tries to manage its land resources and waste disposal. For instance, a federal court recently ruled that the State of South Dakota owes a landfill developer $10 million dollars for blocking the operation of the landfill through a statewide referendum. And lawsuits have recently been filed challenging Virginia's new laws to limit anticipated shipments New York trash.

The Voinovich/Bayh bill would end this uncertainty in Indiana and other states that are trying to implement effective, long-range waste management strategies. Senator Voinovich and I believe we have crafted a comprehensive, equitable approach to interstate waste disposal. Our bill, S. 872, is a bi-partisan, national approach to interstate waste management. It is based on principles developed, and supported by a coalition of 24 Governors from around the country and it has been endorsed by the Governors of Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as the Western Governors Association and the National association of Counties .

Before I discuss what our bill will do, let me tell you what it will NOT do. It will not ban interstate waste disposal.

S. 872 simply would gives states the authority to make waste management decisions that reflect the needs and desires of their communities. The key to this authority is giving states the power to place reasonable limits on the waste that can comes in to the state. Our bill will give states the power to set a percentage cap on the amount of out-of-state waste that new or expanding facilities could receive. Alternatively, states would have the option to deny a permit to a new or expanding facility if there is no regional or in-state need for the facility. These provisions will ensure that states can make long-range waste management decisions that will not be undermined by an unchecked flow of out-of-state waste. They also give states the right to decide whether they want to dedicate their finite land resources to landfills built primarily to accommodate waste from other states.

In addition to state authority, our bill will also enhance local authority to make waste disposal decisions by creating a presumptive ban on receipt of out of state trash. What that means is, that unless there is an existing host community agreement or permit, disposal facilities that didn't receive out-of-state waste in 1993 (the year that Supreme Court action limited state authority and made Congressional action necessary) would be prohibited from starting to take the trash until the local government approved.

Other provisions of the bill will give states the power to ensure manageable and predictable waste flows by freezing waste imports at 1993 levels. States bearing the greatest burden of interstate waste -- those that disposed of more than 650,000 tons in 1993 -- could reduce imported waste to 65 percent of the 1993 level by 2006. Acceptance of construction and demolition debris, a rapidly growing component of interstate waste shipments, could also be reduced. Under what's referred to as a ratchet, construction and demolition waste could be reduced by 50% over the next 7 years.

In addition to state authority, our bill will also enhance local authority to make waste disposal decisions by creating a presumptive ban on receipt of out of state trash. What that means is, that unless there is an existing host community agreement or permit, disposal facilities that didn't receive out-of-state waste in 1993 would be prohibited from starting to take the trash until the local government approved. States would be permitted to charge a $3-a-ton cost-recovery surcharge to defray the costs of their solid waste management plans.

Further, our bill would allow states to track municipal solid waste shipped though transfer stations by requiring annual reports on the origin and amount of out-of-state waste received for transfer. Currently, the origin of large amounts of interstate waste traveling through transfer stations is obscured because the transfer station is treated as the originator of the waste in landfill records.

Mr. Chairman, we see this as an issue of basic fairness. Every state can be - must be responsible for taking care of its own waste. We should not reward states for foisting the hard choices of landfill citing and waste management on neighboring states. The Voinovich/Bayh bill will ensure that the hard work and hard decisions our states have made to manage our municipal waste will not be overruled by an ever-growing stream of waste from other states. We are trying to give the people who have to live with waste planning decisions the power to make them. I look forward to working with you to move this important legislation forward.

Before I depart, I would also like to welcome Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, Joe Kernan, who will be testifying later at this hearing.

Lt. Governor Kernan has a long and distinguished career in public service. He is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam conflict, as well as the former mayor of South Bend, his home town. Elected in 1987, he served in that position longer than any other mayor in the city's history, 9 years. In 1996, he became Governor O'Bannon's Lieutenant Governor. As Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan serves as the President of the Indiana Senate, the Director of the Indiana Department of Commerce, and as the Commissioner of Agriculture. He is uniquely qualified to discuss the Indiana perspective on interstate waste, and I am very glad the Committee has invited him here to today and that he was able to join us.