PRINTER'S NO. 2091
No. 212 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY BODACK, STAPLETON, SLOCUM, AFFLERBACH, EARLL,
COSTA, PICCOLA, MUSTO, BELL, PUNT, O'PAKE, TARTAGLIONE,
MELLOW AND RHOADES, JUNE 11, 1998
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, JUNE 11, 1998
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to enact
2 legislation to permit states to limit solid waste imports to
3 the level of solid waste exports.
4 WHEREAS, The Constitution of Pennsylvania declares that the
5 people of the Commonwealth have a right to clean air, pure water
6 and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and
7 esthetic values of the environment, that the Commonwealth's
8 public natural resources are the common property of all the
9 people, including generations yet to come, and that as trustee
10 of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain
11 them for the benefit of all the people; and
12 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has the responsibility for the
13 protection of the health, safety and welfare of its citizens
14 through effective and efficient control of solid waste
15 management practices; and
16 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has enacted a recycling program to
17 reduce the volume of municipal solid waste that is disposed in
18 landfills and to reduce the need for additional landfills in the
1 future; and
2 WHEREAS, Since 1988, Pennsylvania through its recycling
3 program has invested $196 million in grants to support county
4 and local recycling efforts; and
5 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania exceeded the established goal of
6 achieving a recycling rate of 25% of municipal waste by the year
7 1997; and
8 WHEREAS, Recently the Commonwealth has undertaken the
9 additional step of establishing the goal of a higher rate for
10 recycling municipal waste, 35% by January 1, 2003; and
11 WHEREAS, This Pennsylvania program is the largest community-
12 based recycling program in the United States, with more than 9
13 million citizens participating in the various programs in 1,445
14 communities; and
15 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth's program has succeeded in reducing
16 the amount of recyclable solid waste that is disposed of in
17 Pennsylvania's landfills due to an increase in the recycling
18 rate under the program from 1.8% (167,000 tons recycled) in 1988
19 to 25.9% (2,442,372 tons recycled) in 1996; and
20 WHEREAS, The amount of out-of-State municipal waste imported
21 into this Commonwealth per year has nearly doubled during the
22 period 1990 to 1997, increasing from 3,281,271 tons in 1990 to
23 6,340,890 tons in 1997, while current exports of municipal waste
24 remain comparably low at approximately 300,000 tons; and
25 WHEREAS, When all types of out-of-State waste, including ash,
26 sewage sludge and residual, construction and demolition debris
27 are taken into account, the total amount of out-of-State waste
28 imported into Pennsylvania annually has reached nearly 9 million
29 tons; and
30 WHEREAS, This increase in importation of solid waste into
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1 this Commonwealth from other states undermines the
2 Commonwealth's efforts to reduce the need for additional
3 landfills through the increases in recycling under the
4 aforementioned program; and
5 WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled
6 that a state may not constitutionally restrict the interstate
7 shipment of solid waste into that state due to the Federal
8 concern for unrestricted interstate commerce; and
9 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States has considered in
10 the past and is presently considering legislation to authorize
11 states to restrict the shipment of solid waste across state
12 boundaries; therefore be it
13 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 memorialize Congress to enact legislation which would empower
15 each state to limit the amount of out-of-State solid waste that
16 a state receives to the amount of solid waste that the state
17 exports; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
19 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
20 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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