Dear Mayor:

Thank you for all you have done, to date, to convince Congress to close the loophole that prevents local and state regulation of solid waste facilities located on railroad property.

On September 27, US Senator Lautenberg’s legislation (S. 1889) to close the loophole was passed out of committee in the US Senate. His measure now awaits full action by the US Senate. Last week, Congressman Pallone’s House companion legislation to close this loophole (H.R. 2095) passed the full House and was sent over to the Senate. However the two measures are not identical and must be reconciled before being included in the final Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 that will be sent to the President. 

Senator Lautenberg’s efforts and leadership on this issue has been exceptional. However, the language in the Pallone’s measure is a better fix to end railroad waste operation abuse. Shortly after Senator Lautenberg moved his loophole abuse fix legislation, he issued a statement suggesting he would be open for further input, and that his legislation could be perfected before going to the full Senate for a vote. At this critical time, Sen. Lautenberg must hear from as many municipalities as possible about how best to reconcile the two measures.

We believe the House loophole fix language is simpler and cleaner. It amends the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCTA) directly and surgically excises only waste operations from the exclusive jurisdiction of the US Surface Transportation Board (STB). It does nothing else. Once removed from ICCTA, state and local laws, regulations and rules for solid waste management activities will apply. The Senate language amends the Resource Recovery Conservation Action (RCRA) and essentially will prohibit waste from being taken to railroad waste facilities that do not operate in accordance with yet to be defined special state rules for railroad waste operations. The Senate version is complex; has language that will create legal controversy – not end it; and provides overly generous grandfathering of existing unregulated railroad waste operations.

Please contact Senator Lautenberg. The message is simple: Eliminate the grandfather language and adopt the House text. It is also important that you provide copies of your letters to Senator Menendez and ask him to weigh in on this issue as soon as possible. The process for the Senate to reconcile its language to fix this loophole with the House language is by a “manager’s floor amendment” on consent. Your letters should be faxed immediately once they are written. The contact information for these Senators is provided below.

                                                                        Very truly yours,

                                                                        William G. Dressel, Jr.
                                                                        Executive Director