Tina Smith: “I thank Chairman Chafee. Mr. President, this bill is a compromise bill. It is not going to please everyone, and maybe…”

“I thank Chairman Chafee. Mr. President, this bill is a compromise bill. It is not going to please everyone, and maybe that is the reason why it is a good piece of legislation, I do not know. But a little more than 2 months ago, the Superfund Waste Control and Risk Assessment Subcommittee, which I chair, held a hearing to consider proposals to regulate the interstate transportation of solid waste and whether to provide local control authority to State and local governments. The controversy here surrounding the interstate transportation of municipal solid waste is one that the Senate has been considering since 1990. Today, 47 States export approximately 14 to 15 million tons of municipal solid waste per year for disposal in other States--14 to 15 million tons. While short-distance waste exports have been occurring for some time, the development of a long-haul waste transport market has been a more recent development. With tipping fees as high as $140 per ton in some large cities, compared with the national average of between $30 and $50 a ton, there is an incentive, obviously, from municipalities to transport these wastes by truck and rail to distant States for some permanent disposal. That is a pretty big incentive. Anywhere from $30 to $50 to $140 a ton is a huge disparity.”