Testimony of Mr. Dan Batts, President
Michigan Waste Industries Association
Michigan Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs; Michigan House Committee on Land Use and Environment
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Northville, Michigan
Good evening. Rep. Johnson, Sen. Birkholz and members of both the House and Senate committees on the environment: thank you for your leadership on this issue, and for holding this series of public hearings to allow for public input into the lawmaking process. I appreciate the opportunity to be before you.
My name is Dan Batts. I am the president of the Michigan Waste Industries Association — MWIA, and I am here tonight representing this statewide association of the majority of landfill and waste hauling companies operating in Michigan. Together, we represent thousands of employees who rely on our companies to earn a living; and we provide critical financial support to the communities in which our facilities are located.
Additionally, we do business with thousands of Michigan enterprises — from truckers, to local gas stations, to equipment manufacturers. More importantly, we do business with nearly every manufacturer, business, church, household and government entity in this state. For that reason, regulations and fees that increase our costs hit Michigan residents right in the pocketbook.
The members of the MWIA take seriously our responsibility to dispose of solid waste in a manner that is proper, protective of public health and safety, respectful of the environment and in strict adherence with all local, state and federal laws. In fact, the waste disposal industry is among the most highly regulated industry in the U.S.
We are forward-thinking and creative entrepreneurs, continuously preparing to meet society’s waste disposal needs in innovative, better and more affordable ways. This spirit of innovation is the American way — the direct result of the free trade system established by the Founding Fathers. The Founding Fathers knew, as we all know now, that the free flow of goods and services provides a fertile culture for innovation, competitiveness and responsibility. And, when this system is allowed to work, people — residents, businesses, schools, churches, and government — benefit.
Attempts by other states to abandon the notion of free trade when it comes to restricting out of state waste have been vigorously rejected by the courts, including the highest court in the land — the U.S. Supreme Court. The attempted restrictions violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and more recently, provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement, which governs the flow of goods and services among North American countries. These ensuing legal battles were costly to both the states involved and the waste industry.
I say this not to diminish the goals you have in attempting to address questions about out-of-state waste raised by some of your constituents, but to underscore the need for a broader understanding of modern waste management, its benefits and realities. More importantly, the MWIA encourages all of us who are engaged in this issue to approach it with a spirit of cooperation — with the goal of addressing some bigger concerns, such as improving Michigan’s recycling rate, nurturing markets for recycled material and doing some long-term planning for our state’s waste disposal needs.
Let me put some industry perspective on some of what has been said over this issue in recent months.
Michigan’s landfill capacity is not threatened, even were the current level of imported waste continue. Our state is not being flooded, as some have suggested, with out of state waste. The MDEQ estimates the state’s permitted landfill capacity at approximately 25 years. The MWIA estimates our potential landfill capacity at more than 50 years, if we were to take none of the innovative approaches for waste disposal that we as an industry are preparing to do. And, in many cases, already doing.
Of the state’s 53 Type II landfills, a small number receive out of state waste, an even fewer receive waste from Ontario. While Ontario generated waste currently comprises slightly more than 11 percent of the out of state waste we receive, the MWIA projects a peak in that waste stream in 2004, and a decline in the years that follow, as the City of Toronto’s 2010 plan comes into full realization.
The regional management of waste materials provides great benefits — to our operating companies, the public, our customers and the environment. Today’s waste management system is the result of the passage of strict regulations on the waste industry by Congress and by individual states in the early 1980s. These laws effectively did away with local dumps and spurred the development of larger regional landfills built to meet rigorous environmental and public health regulations. It was envisioned these facilities would serve waste disposal needs far into the future, if not forever, and they would draw waste from much larger geographies. In essence, the goal was to concentrate waste disposal into fewer landfills, reducing the risk of environmental concerns and ensuring landfill operators would have sufficient business to cover the immense costs of developing today’s state of the art landfills.
Disposal costs in Michigan, and throughout the U.S. are very affordable for families and businesses. Our facilities provide the communities we operate in with substantial revenues for furthering their public works. For example, the Carleton Farms landfill here in western Wayne County provides Sumpter Township with revenues on the order of $3 million per year. Pine Tree Acres landfill in Macomb County will pay nearly $1.8 million dollars in host fees to Lenox Township in 2003. These host community agreements are important sources of revenues for those communities that have either stepped forward or been forced to host a landfill.
Increased waste or tipping fees will not diminish the flow of out of state waste to Michigan, but are punitive and unfair to Michigan residents. Michigan businesses, non-profit organizations and government pay the vast majority of fees, so increasing these fees only means they will pay more, but receive little to no benefit as moneys generated by the fees are used to partially fund residential recycling programs. Under landfill surcharge proposals like HB 4152, communities that already tax their residents to fund local recycling programs would be unfairly taxed twice. This bill requires communities that fund their own recycling program to pay money into a fund that will issue grants to communities that to date have refused to use their own tax dollars for recycling. And, a punitive fee approach ignores the opportunity for possible long-term reforms.
Recently, Wisconsin hiked its tipping fee in an attempt to deter out of state waste from Michigan and other neighbor states, much the same as is being proposed here. The approach failed. In 2002 Michigan sent for disposal in Wisconsin 51,831 tons of trash compared to just 956 tons in 2001. The fee hike did not deter Michigan from exporting — not to mention substantially increasing the amount exported — to Wisconsin.
The movement of waste, like every other product, is a two way street. Michigan exports a variety of waste streams across county, state and country borders. We ship hazardous waste to Ontario and Illinois because few sites exist in Michigan to handle this type of waste. Newspaper recycling is done primarily in Ontario, with an increasing amount going to China. The growing electronic scrap waste stream goes to a smelter in Quebec — the only such facility in northern North America.
We cannot shut our borders, or take an approach that attempts to punish others for utilizing our waste facilities. Doing so will only be reciprocated, meaning access to fewer resources and higher costs. This hurts every Michigan family, community, business and government agency.
Members of the MWIA operate in a free market, which allows us to work hard to respond to the needs of our customers, control costs and provide the high level of service society expects of us. Restraining the free market in a misguided attempt to deter out of state waste, will undermine our businesses, the effective and successful regional waste disposal system created with the enactment of a visionary law and will mean higher costs for Michigan.
What avenue can be taken that will produce results? How about opening lines of communication between Michigan, Ontario and other states. After all, the Governor’s increased landfill inspection program has demonstrated out of state waste poses no health risk. The DEQ and the waste industry can demonstrate landfill capacity is not impaired. Under these circumstances, we should utilize the padding of time we have to explore long-term regional options for handling waste and strengthen the entire region’s recycling efforts.
Senate Resolution15, and House Concurrent Resolution 7 offer a productive roadmap the MWIA urges us all to travel. The resolutions recommend an open dialogue on this issue, and importantly, with Ontario provincial and City of Toronto lawmakers. Long-term waste management in Michigan should be planned in cooperation with our neighboring states in a Great Lakes regional approach.
The MWIA stands ready to assist in this process with our resources, expertise and experience.
We applaud your efforts to take the lead in addressing these challenges. We urge you to take thoughtful steps aimed at long-term planning and solutions, not short-term placations.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak. I am pleased to answer any questions committee members may have. I am pleased to have with me tonight several MWIA members, who also are prepared to address specific questions.
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