Chris Smith: “In 1995 the Congress passed and President Clinton signed the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, Public Law…”

“In 1995 the Congress passed and President Clinton signed the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, Public Law 104-88. As a direct consequence, the Surface Transportation Board created by the law is now in the business of facilitating solid waste transfer stations that are not subject to local or State environmental laws or regulations. This Federal preemption of local environmental laws is fraught with danger to the public and must be reversed, which would be accomplished if my amendment or a similar amendment that has been proffered by Senator Lautenberg and already adopted in committee were to become law. During the past several years, small rail companies, many apparently formed for the expressed purpose of securing Federal exemption from local and State regulations, have filed numerous verified notices of exemption with the STB for the purpose of establishing solid waste transfer stations along rail lines and spurs. In one case in North Bergen, New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection fined the New York Susquehanna & Western Railway Corporation $2.5 million for violation only to have this year a Federal judge nullify that important State enforcement. Thus far the STB has not acted on New Jersey's complaints of health, environmental, and fire risk and concerns the State raised concerning high levels of lead, arsenic, mercury, and copper.”