One State's Trash = Another's Treasure? Or Torment?

• Position: Brief Article

Right now, states have absolutely no control over the amount of trash they must take from outside their borders nor where it comes from.

The Supreme Court has ruled that states refusing garbage coming in from other states are infringing on interstate commerce. As a result, the only recourse for states is Congress.

Consequently, states like Pennsylvania are in a bind over the available space for waste and costs of garbage disposal. The Keystone State accepted 9.8 million tons of out-of-state garbage from New York, New Jersey and 26 other states and countries in 1998 - and that was almost half of the state's total trash.

But Congressmen Jim Greenwood and Ron Klink, both from Pennsylvania, hope to change that. They have proposed legislation that would restore states' power to control the flow of trash over their borders.

Under the bill, states couldn't totally ban out-of-state garbage, but they could reduce the amount to as little as 20 percent of all trash sent to their landfills and incinerators.

Opponents of controlling the flow of trash across state lines say it limits competition, creates inefficient local monopolies, increases costs and interferes with interstate commerce. For states like New York, it is far more expedient and less expensive to ship waste across state lines to Pennsylvania than to try to site a new, in-state landfill.

But most state and local government officials argue that some kind of control on the influx of trash is needed so that financing can be found to expand or upgrade existing facilities, make sure that sites are environmentally sound and maintain revenues for solid waste management. They also point out that state recycling efforts are often undermined when waste from other areas is shipped in.

Yet even as they wait for congressional action, some states are attempting to deal with out-of-state trash. The Virginia legislature passed a law limiting dumping at state landfills and prohibiting trash shipped in barges on state rivers.

However, in June the district court for the eastern area of Virginia preliminarily enjoined the commonwealth from enforcing the statute. The court found that the law is likely to "discriminate" against out-of-state garbage.

Representative Samuel Smith of Pennsylvania has proposed legislation that puts a three-year moratorium on permits to increase waste disposal capacity. The bill also would cap capacity, require approval for municipal trash companies to operate in the state and require...