Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to introduce legislation with Senator Alexander of Tennessee that I believe will have a dramatic impact on the safety of our Nation's highways and interstates, called the Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act. This bill will require the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA, to implement regulations requiring the use of electronic on-board recording devices, EOBRs, for motor carriers in order to improve compliance with Hours-of-Service, HOS, regulations. Requiring the use of these technologies in motor carriers will not only improve compliance with HOS regulations, but it will also reduce the number of fatigued commercial motor vehicle drivers on the road. This will have a profound impact on highway safety and reduce accidents and fatalities on our highways and interstates.

Hours-of-Service regulations place limits on when and how long commercial motor vehicle drivers may drive. These regulations are based on an exhaustive scientific review and are designed to ensure truck drivers get the necessary rest to drive safely. In developing HOS rules, the FMCSA reviewed existing fatigue research and worked with nongovernmental organizations like the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies and the National Institute for Occupational Safety. HOS regulations are designed to continue the downward trend in truck driving fatalities and maintain motor carrier operational efficiencies.

Unfortunately, compliance with HOS regulations is often spotty due to inaccurate reporting by drivers as they are only required to fill out a paper log, a tracking method that dates back to the 1930s. Inaccurate reporting may result from an honest mistake or an intentional error by a driver seeking to extend his work day. These inaccuracies can lead to too much time on the road, leaving the driver fatigued and placing other drivers at risk. After listening to the many interest groups and experts on this issue in meetings and Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearings, I have come to learn that there is an available and affordable twenty-first-century technology that can ensure accurate logs, enhance compliance, and reduce the number of fatigued drivers on the road. They are being used today, and they are producing results. I believe that widespread utilization of these devices as soon as possible will significantly reduce further loss of life resulting from driver fatigue.

Our legislation will require motor carriers to install in their trucks an electronic device that performs multiple tasks to ensure compliance with HOS regulations. These devices must be engaged to the truck engine control module and capable of identifying the driver operating the truck, recording a driver's duty status, and monitoring the location and movement of the vehicle. Requiring electronic log books that are integrally connected to the vehicle engine as this bill requires will dramatically increase the accuracy of information submitted for hours of service compliance. Our bill will also require these recording devices to be tamper resistant and fully accessible by law enforcement personnel and Federal safety regulators only for purposes of enforcement and compliance reviews.

While I understand that some drivers may be reluctant to transition to electronic logging devices, I strongly believe that the safety benefits of the use of these devices far outweigh the costs. I don't want to see more lives lost due to driver fatigue resulting from log book manipulation. I also believe that with the rapid development of electronic technology, especially in the wireless telecommunications area, we will see strong competition among EOBR manufacturers and reduced costs for these technologies. In addition, the price of these products should go down as the demand increases through regulatory requirement to utilize this equipment.

Senator Alexander and I are not alone in calling for this technology to be more widely used by commercial vehicles. There are a number of Senators, including Senator Lautenberg, who have long been strong proponents of implementing the use of this technology. In addition, multiple Federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations have recognized the benefits of this technology and called for its widespread use.

For example, Mr. Francis France of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance stated at the April 28, 2010, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Oversight of Motor Carrier Safety Efforts that,

All motor vehicles should be equipped with EOBRs to better

comply with Hours of Service laws . . . CVSA has been working

with a broad partnership to help provide guidance to achieve

uniform performance standards for EOBRs.

Similarly, the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Honorable Deborah Hersman, stated at the same hearing that,

For the past 30 years, the NTSB has advocated the use of

onboard data recorders to increase Hours of Service

compliance . . . the NTSB recommended that they be required

on all commercial vehicles.

During the same hearing, Ms. Jacqueline S. Gillan, with the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, stated that,

We regard the mandatory, universal installation and use of

EOBRs as crucial to stopping the epidemic of hours of service

violations that produce fatigued, sleep-deprived commercial

drivers . . . at very high risk of serious injury and fatal

crashes.

I have also heard from Administrator Ferro of the FMCSA on her thoughts of how EOBRs would enhance compliance and improve highway safety. The FMCSA recently implemented a rule to require that these devices be mandated for truck drivers and trucking companies that have been found to be noncompliant with FMCSA rules. These rules will be effective in June 2012. It is my understanding that the FMCSA is looking to expand these requirements to include more motor carriers, and I support those efforts as they reflect the qualities and intent of this legislation.

Finally, in addition to the support from safety advocates and federal transportation safety officials, I have also heard from a number of Arkansas trucking companies currently utilizing this technology. These companies have

experienced reductions in driver fatigue, increases in compliance, and reductions in insurance premiums. The executives of these companies, which include J.B. Hunt and Maverick U.S.A. among others, support the expanded use of these devices to increase compliance, improve highway safety, and level the playing field among the industry. I agree with their views on the importance of widespread utilization of this safety and compliance device.

The Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act, if enacted, will require the Department of Transportation to issue regulations within eighteen months from enactment to require commercial motor vehicles used in interstate commerce to be equipped with electronic onboard recorders for purposes of improving compliance with hours of service regulations. The regulation will apply to commercial motor carriers, commercial motor vehicles, and vehicle operators subject to both hours of service and record of duty status requirements three years after the date of enactment of this Act. This population represents a vast majority of drivers and carriers who operate trucks weighing 10,001 pounds or more involved in interstate commerce. It will cover one hundred percent of over-the-road, long-haul truck drivers.

I urge my colleagues in the Senate to recognize the importance of this technology in saving lives on our nation's highways and interstates. I also ask for their support for this legislation and help in moving it to the President as quickly as possible. It is my hope that we move this legislation through the Senate no later than the Surface Transportation Reauthorization legislation that the Senate will take up in the near future.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, as amended by the Energy and Commerce Committee. This legislation will establish a centralized, Federal electronic manifest system for tracking hazardous waste for both the Federal Government and the States, and will pay for it through the collection of user fees.

Protecting the public from hazardous waste is certainly a critical mission of the Department of Transportation and the EPA. Both departments, in coordination with industry and State agencies, have been vigilant in the treatment and transport of hazardous waste because of the safeguards established by the hazardous waste manifest system. Paper manifests provide shipping information to help with the tracking of potentially dangerous materials and information about the contents of each shipment for emergency responders.

The requirements of the current system were established over 30 years ago. Since 2001, the EPA has proposed a nearly paperless manifest system, which would reduce the financial burden of paperwork on States and the industry. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson described the adoption of an electronic system for manifests as ``an investment in modernizing the system that will pay off in efficiency later.'' That is why this legislation has wide support from hazardous waste generators, shippers, and processors, in that it reduces administrative and paperwork burdens.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this program will yield net annual savings for industry and the States of over $100 million per year. The CBO also estimates that about 114,000 shippers would use this new system in the year 2016, with shipping users almost doubling in later years to 227,000.

Environmental groups also support this legislation because it will lead to ``reductions in regulatory burden while simultaneously increasing the timeliness and availability of hazardous waste data'' and ``better protecting our environment.'' Those are their quotes.

I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania made reference to this a moment ago. In 2006, a fire erupted at a hazardous waste disposal facility in my home State of North Carolina. When first responders arrived on the scene, they could not access information about the hazardous chemicals inside of the facility because the paper manifests were inside the building that was burning.

We should bring this system, Mr. Speaker, into the 21st century. Technology has advanced. We all know that. There has been such advancement in technology over the last 32 years, and we should no longer be relying on carbon copies to track potentially dangerous shipments. Today's proposed legislation also maintains flexibility for small businesses by making participation in the electronic reporting program voluntary. It's not compulsory. It is a voluntary proposal. So, if any firm chooses, it can still use paper-based reporting methods.

As it passed the Senate, S. 710 embodied concepts that are widely supported, but it carried significant costs and direct spending, and deviated from the common practice of making the collection and utilization of user fees subject to appropriation.

But Chairman Shimkus worked closely with the Democratic members of the Environment and Economy Subcommittee to craft a substitute bill that addresses concerns while preserving the benefits of the legislation. The bill passed out of our subcommittee and the full Energy and Commerce Committee on voice votes with strong bipartisan support. I believe, Mr. Speaker, it has a high likelihood of being accepted by the Senate and the President. We will certainly give them that opportunity. I urge my colleagues to support this bill so we can finally see this significant improvement signed into law.

I want to thank Mr. Murphy and all of the other Members who worked to expedite this legislation and get it to the floor today. I'm going to ask my colleagues to join with us in passing this bill.

With that said, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

I don't have any more speakers, and I too am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, as the final speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me again thank Mr. Murphy, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and Mr. Shimkus, and the chair and the ranking member of all the committees of jurisdiction for their extraordinary work on this bill.

This is a critical piece of legislation. All of the stakeholders who are involved in disposing of chemicals and shipping chemicals are all in agreement that this is necessary. In fact, the time has passed that we pass this type of legislation. We live in a new age of technology now, so there's no excuse for us not automating these procedures. This bill today enables that to happen.

I want to thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their spirit of bipartisanship in getting this to the floor. I ask my colleagues to please vote ``yes'' on this important legislation.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 710) to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest system, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on S. 710.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The enactment of S. 710 will enable the EPA to employ current technology to sharply reduce paperwork regulatory requirements at the same time it makes crucial information more accessible for States, first responders, and the public.

When people create hazardous waste, we require them to carefully track the movement and disposition. That way we know that, when a drum full of some hazardous waste is removed from a factory, the same amount winds up where it belongs--in a proper disposal facility--and that none of it is tossed into a sewer or a vacant lot. But for years, guaranteeing this actually happened meant keeping up with the reporting requirement--filling out multiple copies of paper forms and mailing them to the EPA and State officials, as

well as keeping paper copies at each place of business.

The inefficiency of this system in today's electronic business-to- business world certainly stands out to anyone. In fact, we learned of a case when first responders arrived at the scene of a chemical plant fire and they needed to know what substances were inside the plant before they started fighting the fire. In the whole city, the only copies of the forms identifying the hazardous waste were inside the building and were consumed in the fire. Now, there has got to be a better way.

With an electronic system, instead of filling out long forms and mailing them, the critically needed data, with a few computer key strokes, can be sent wherever it is needed. State regulators, first responders, and others will be able to pull it up on their computers and track the materials in real time. The changeover will not only save millions of dollars for regulated businesses, but quite frankly, it will save lives. So, even though the e-manifest system in S. 710 is funded by user fees, I want to note it will not be a burden on small businesses. Users pay only when and to the extent they file manifests. Otherwise, the new system will work like the old paper system, where the process to identify discrepancies in shipments is preserved.

Mr. Speaker, S. 710 was a good bill when it arrived here from the other body, but we made it better. First, we converted it from so- called ``mandatory'' spending to ``discretionary.'' That will allow our colleagues on the Appropriations Committees an annual chance to review the program and make sure that money collected from users and money spent on the system is only enough to get the job done. Next, in working with our friends from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, we added language to help the EPA harmonize its changeover to electronic filing with the Department of Transportation. The DOT also has its own requirements for handling and reporting hazardous materials, and we want the agencies to talk to each other and their computers to speak the same language.

So, Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to send S. 710, as amended, back to the other body, where we expect it to be approved without further amendment so that the President can sign it into law.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers on this bill, and I'm prepared to close if the gentleman from North Carolina is prepared to close, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Members support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the U.S. Outdoor Act. In the Pacific Northwest, spending time in the great outdoors is a part of life. Our magnificent mountains, our clear rivers and streams, and our majestic forests provide for a quality of life that is, in my view, unparalleled. Unfortunately, the outerwear that enables us to enjoy these wonderful treasures is more expensive than it needs to be. This is because under current law, the United States imposes steep tariffs on outdoor performance outerwear like jackets and pants used for skiing and snowboarding, mountaineering, hunting, fishing and dozens of other outdoor activities.

These high tariffs--and let us call them what they are, taxes--were originally implemented to promote an import substitution policy. They were imposed to discourage American consumers from buying outerwear that was manufactured overseas, even if those were superior products. Today, there is no domestic outerwear industry to really protect with these tariffs, yet consumers are still paying through the teeth for products like snow pants and rain jackets. These tariffs are hammering the pocketbooks of millions of American consumers, and they harm the businesses that are engaged in promoting enjoyment of the great outdoors.

But we can fix this in a way that helps American producers better compete globally in an environmentally sustainable manner, and relieves consumers of artificially high costs. But it is more than just reducing costs and promoting innovation.

To me, the Outdoor Act is also about encouraging our kids and members of our community to get outside, to be active, and to appreciate and protect our natural treasures. I want to associate myself with the efforts of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, who is leading an important initiative to get people--especially kids--moving and eating healthier. I see the Outdoor Act, which makes getting outside to hike, bike, or fish more affordable as complementary of the First Lady's efforts.

I am proud that this legislation enjoys support from both sides of the political aisle and especially pleased that my friend, Senator Crapo from Idaho, is helping to lead the charge with this initiative. Furthermore, I am happy that this legislation is supported by domestic textile and apparel companies as well as the performance outerwear designers and retailers. This all makes sense given that it will spur outdoor recreation and consumption of goods to support these activities. The outdoor recreation industry accounts for $730 billion dollars and 65 million jobs across the United States, with 73,000 jobs in Oregon. With this bill, we can potentially create even more jobs by increasing the purchasing power of consumers of outdoor goods, by saving them money on unnecessary tariffs.

The U.S. OUTDOOR Act eliminates the import duty for qualifying recreational performance outerwear, bringing duties that can be as high as 28 percent down to zero. It also establishes the Sustainable Textile and Apparel Research, STAR, fund, which invests in U.S. technologies and jobs that focus on sustainable, environmentally conscious manufacturing, helping textile and apparel companies work towards minimizing their energy and

water use, reducing waste and their carbon footprint, and incorporating efficiencies that help them better compete globally. I urge my colleagues to take a look at this legislation and to work with me to move it toward becoming law.

Mr. President, I join the Senator from South Dakota, Mr. Thune, in cosponsoring a bill to modernize the tracking of hazardous waste. The federal waste law requires the tracking of hazardous waste from ``cradle to grave.'' This tracking system is designed to provide an enforceable chain of custody for hazardous wastes. The law provides a strong incentive for transporters to manage the waste in a responsible fashion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's economic analysis estimates that over 139,000 regulated entities track between 2.4 and 5.1 million shipments a year.

This system provides for appropriate stewardship of the hazardous waste products of our modern world. Unfortunately, the tracking system itself is in serious need of modernization.

Currently, the tracking is handled entirely through a paper manifest system. The paperwork burden is enormous. Each manifest form has seven or eight copies, which currently must be manually filled out and signed with pen and ink signatures, physically carried with waste shipments, mailed to generators and state agencies, and finally stored among facility records.

The paperwork burden is so great that 22 States and the EPA do not even collect copies of the forms. Those that do so get their copies months after the waste has been shipped. In the vast majority of cases, the only time regulators look at the manifests is during inspections or after a disaster to identify the responsible parties.

Under the Thune-Cardin bill, the paper manifest will be replaced by an electronic manifest. The bill sets up a funding system for the manifest paid for by the users of the system, the generators, and waste companies that handle hazardous waste.

An e-manifest system would remove a tremendous paperwork burden, assist the States in receiving data more readily in a format they can use, improve the public's access to waste shipment information and save over $100 million every year. First responders could get data in real- time. That is why groups as varied as Dow Chemical, Sierra Club and the Association of State, Territorial, Solid Waste Management Officials support this bill.

EPA does not have the funding to set up this system, so the bill uses a unique way to contract for the work. Companies will ``bid'' to set up the system at their cost and risk. They will be paid back on a per manifest basis by the users, waste generators, and handlers. This puts the burden on the private company or companies to meet the needs of the users of the system. The legislation is needed so that the funds collected go to the operation of the program rather than go to the general treasury.

A hearing was held on this issue in 2006 on a similar bill, S. 3871 introduced by Senators Thune, Jeffords, and Inhofe. No serious objections were made at that time and strong support was expressed by all the witnesses including EPA.

In September of 2008, an equally similar bill introduced by Senator Thune was reported favorably out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and passed the Senate. Unfortunately, the House did not take up the measure.

This is legislation that is overdue. I ask members to join us in supporting this legislation which has garnered the backing of industry, states, and environmental groups. It is time for the waste manifest system to move into the 21st century.