Pennsylvania has made every effort to protect our communities from the burdens associated with the large volumes of waste that we receive, but we must have federal legislation in order to implement an effective solution.
Over the last five years Governor Ridge and I have visited many members of Congress, including some of you, to talk about the waste issue. In fact, I appeared before this very committee two years ago asking for your action.
The previous governor of Pennsylvania, Robert P. Casey, also worked on this issue, as did members of our General Assembly from both sides of the aisle.
For the last ten years, dozens of states and hundreds of communities have come to Congress asking for the same thing-the right to choose their own destiny on waste issues.
So why are we here again today?
The answer is simple-the threat we face from unwanted trash coming to our communities is larger than it has ever been--
In the last five years, trash imports to Pennsylvania have increased from 6.6 million tons to 9.8 million in 1998.
In 2001, Fresh Kills Landfill serving New York City will close -- forcing the city to find new disposal sites for an additional 4.7 million tons of trash a year. They have already announced they will rely on exporting waste to solve their disposal problem.
Trucks hauling trash make over 600,000 trips a year in Pennsylvania alone, our inspections show a persistent 25 percent or more of these trucks have safety and environmental violations.
These facts have increased our resolve and the interest of our neighboring states in finding a regional solution to our waste issues, but federal legislation remains the only key to finding a solution to the issue of unwanted trash imports.
In numerous decisions dating back to 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the transport and disposal of municipal waste is interstate commerce protected by the Constitution and that states do not have the authority to limit the flow of waste across state lines, until Congress grants them that authority.
Our democracy is built on the foundation of empowering people to make choices. It is also built on fairness.
Our communities now have no voice in deciding whether millions of tons of trash come to them for disposal from other states.
It is unfair that states like Pennsylvania, who have made the hard choices to build recycling programs and promote waste management programs to take care of the waste we generate, have no choice when it comes to trash imports.
Pennsylvania has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our recycling and waste management programs over the last eleven years . We have adopted the nation's toughest environmental standards for landfills, built the nation's largest system of curbside recycling programs, and helped put 10-year waste plans in place in each of our counties. We now have over 130 companies that use recycled content in their products, and our state government has supported such companies by purchasing over 89 million dollars worth of these products last year.
We have also taken a number of additional steps in recent months to further improve our waste management programs.
Governor Ridge has proposed legislation for consideration by our general assembly that would permanently reduce and cap municipal and residual waste disposal capacity. He has issued an executive order to impose daily volume limits at waste facilities, and to study the impact of increased waste flows on public health, safety and natural resources in the commonwealth.
However, all of the political and financial capital that we have invested in this problem could be lost without federal legislation. Clearly, no state can resolve this issue on its own.
Many of the efforts Pennsylvania has made over the years to solve our waste problem have only served to make it cheaper and easier for other states to avoid meeting their responsibilities.
While we thought we were saving over 2 millions tons of landfill space through increased recycling, that amount and more has been easily eaten up by imported waste.
The people of Pennsylvania are asking Congress to give them a voice in deciding whether trash from other states should come to their communities for disposal. We are not seeking to build a fence at our borders to turn back every waste truck or to turn our backs on the legitimate needs of our neighbors. We are not asking for federal money. We are simply asking the Congress to give states the authority to place reasonable limits on unwanted municipal waste imports in a planned, balanced and predictable manner.
Specifically, Pennsylvania is seeking federal legislation on interstate waste that includes these provisions-
Give communities the ability to allow the disposal of imported waste through host community agreements;
Impose a freeze on waste imports immediately with a predictable schedule for reducing imports over time;
Allow states to impose a percentage cap on the amount of out-of-state waste that a new facility could receive;
Allow states to consider regional need as part of the permitting process;
Allow communities to adopt waste flow control ordinances to protect existing bond debt.
In addition to the Governor's leadership in seeking federal legislation, I also want to mention that the Pennsylvania Senate and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently passed resolutions memorializing Congress to act on interstate waste legislation.
We are pleased to support the legislation sponsored by Senators Voinovich and Bayh, long-time allies in the interstate waste battle, as well as that of Senator Specter. Both of these bills would go a long way to provide the waste controls that Pennsylvania needs.
We would also be pleased to work with Senators Robb and Warner to make improvements to their bill, should the Committee see S. 533 as an appropriate vehicle. However, in its current form, S. 533 would not provide sufficient controls for Pennsylvania as it would lock-in the unacceptable levels of waste imports we received in 1998, and not provide us with the ability to reduce those levels.
We look forward to working with Congress to address this important issue and to developing a consensus that will benefit all states and communities.