
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 9, 1990                   TAG: 9004090271
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JIM OLIN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MODEL PROGRAMS REQUIRED

THE WASTE Materials Management Act, which I've co-sponsored in the House of Representatives, has received a good deal of attention because of the provisions addressing the Kim-Stan landfill situation in Selma. As you may know, the bill would require each state to draw up a 20-year plan for taking care of its own trash before it could export trash to another state. The bill would accomplish many other worthy goals as well. One of the most significant is its recycling provisions.

Each state plan will have to mandate that, within four years after the plan is approved, at least 25 percent of the solid waste generated in each state will be recycled; 50 percent will have to be recycled within eight years.

The bill would require the Environmental Protection Agency to develop model recycling programs for adoption by the states, including provisions for recycling in rural areas, recycling techniques and technologies, markets for recycled materials, methods for stimulating markets, methods of financing necessary investments, and education and training programs appropriate for recycling in rural areas.

The bill would require that federal procurement give preference to items with the highest percentage of recovered materials practicable, and establishes an acceptable price differential of 10 percent for items with high recycled content over other items.

The legislation would assign renewed responsibility to the Commerce Department for developing new markets for recycled materials and high recycled-content products, and would require the department to identify foreign markets for recycled materials. EPA would be required to establish a national clearinghouse to collect and disseminate information on waste reduction and recycling.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Transporation and Hazardous Materials held hearings on this bill in late January, and is expected to take action on it sometime this month. I believe this bill addresses the whole problem of solid waste, and I am confident it will receive broad support in the Congress.

by CNB