Re: [GRRN] Waste Import

John Kerekes (kerekes@erols.com)
Thu, 11 Mar 1999 13:02:54 -0500

Waste import/export restrictions fall under the "interstate commerce
clause" of the Constitution. This is an area where unless the feds
preempt the states, states have the authority to legislate. Feds have,
by the NY v. PA superme court decision, preempted state restrictions.
Congress may, however, give that power back to the states legislatively.

Bills giving various levels of control to the states have been
repeatedly introduced in the Congress at least as far back as 1987, when
I served as counsel at the US House of Representitives Energy and
Commerce subcommittee on Transportation and Hazardous Materials, the
committee of jurisdiction on this issue.

JOHN KEREKES
Kerekes Consulting

William P. McGowan wrote:
>
> I don't mean to be a downer, but how can states try to limit
> export/import of wastes without violating the Constitution?
>
> This reminds me of a line in the song "Joe's Garage" by Frank Zappa--"at
> this very moment, tiny sentences are being written on the margins of the
> Constitution to keep little creeps like you from...."
>
> Bill McGowan
> Rincon Recycling
> History, UCSB
>
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