PRINTER'S NO. 44
No. 22 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY LLOYD, FARGO, E. Z. TAYLOR, ARGALL, B. SMITH,
WAUGH, FEESE, LEH, SHANER, PETRARCA, TIGUE, TRAVAGLIO,
TRELLO, McCALL, BATTISTO, THOMAS, COY, LEVDANSKY, PESCI,
RAMOS, HERMAN, MIHALICH, RAYMOND, EGOLF, STABACK, CAWLEY,
WALKO, ALLEN, DRUCE, SAINATO, JOSEPHS, RUBLEY, HUTCHINSON,
ITKIN, BAKER, MELIO, SATHER, LYNCH, SCRIMENTI, STERN AND
SURRA, JANUARY 28, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
JANUARY 28, 1997
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing Congress to enact legislation to prohibit the
2 shipment of solid waste into a state from another state or
3 another country.
4 WHEREAS, The Constitution of Pennsylvania declares that the
5 people of this Commonwealth have a right to clean air, pure
6 water and the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and
7 aesthetic values of the environment; that Pennsylvania's public
8 natural resources are the common property of all the people,
9 including generations yet to come; and that this Commonwealth,
10 as trustee of these resources, shall conserve and maintain them
11 for the benefit of all the people; and
12 WHEREAS, This Commonwealth is responsible for the protection
13 of the health, safety and welfare of its citizens through
14 effective control of solid waste management practices; and
15 WHEREAS, The disposal of solid waste in landfills and by
1 incineration poses a critical threat to the health, safety and
2 welfare of the citizens of this Commonwealth; and
3 WHEREAS, This Commonwealth has undertaken a recycling program
4 in an attempt to reduce the volume of solid waste which is
5 placed into landfills or incinerated and to reduce the need for
6 additional landfills and incinerators; and
7 WHEREAS, The shipment of solid waste into this Commonwealth
8 from other states and from Canada undermines this Commonwealth's
9 efforts to reduce the need for additional landfills and
10 incinerators; and
11 WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled
12 that it is an unconstitutional interference with interstate
13 commerce for a state to restrict the shipment of solid waste
14 into that state; and
15 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States is considering
16 legislation to authorize states to restrict the shipment of
17 solid waste across state boundaries; therefore be it
18 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
19 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of the
20 United States to enact legislation which would empower each
21 state to restrict or prohibit the shipment of solid waste into
22 the state from another state or another country; and be it
23 further
24 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
25 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
26 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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