Frank Lautenberg: “I take to the floor to discuss the provisions of S. 534, the legislation to address the issue of interstate…”

“I take to the floor to discuss the provisions of S. 534, the legislation to address the issue of interstate transportation waste and flow control authority. Very often when one mentions flow control authority, I sense that heads begin to drop because of the rather arcane subject but a very important one. If I can just take a moment to say that flow control--and perhaps it has been discussed on the floor and I missed it but I think the importance of the issue will bear some repetition--gives the States the ability to control the flow of household trash, particularly trash within State borders. And while that does not sound like very much to ask, the fact is that demands are being placed on external facilities' availability so that it can simply be trucked, often out-of-State to other States, where in many cases there is an objection to receiving volumes of trash. Though there was a Supreme Court case decision not too long ago that dealt with this and said you cannot stop this, it directs the Congress to resolve the problem and allowed the parameters under which they were to operate to do just that.”