In a move to stop the influx of foreign garbage into the state, Gov. Granholm signed legislation that would ban the importation of foreign refuse on Friday, March 10. Whether or not the bill will hold any weight has yet to be seen as the federal government has the final say on the issue. Congress has to approve the measure, which only bans Canadian and out-of-country garbage from entering the borders, not garbage from other states.
Members across both party lines are critical of the bill. Democrats do not expect the measure to pass as it has never made the hurdle through Congress in the past. Congressional approval is needed because of the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it illegal for states to prohibit trash from entering their borders without the authorization from Congress. Republicans have cited the cost of banning garbage will fall onto Michigan families. Either way, the status of the bill remains up in the air until Congress addresses it. If it passes, the measure will go into effect 90 days after Congress passes its own legislation authorizing the regulation of out-of-state trash.
State Representative Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, renewed his call in January to raise the dumping fees to $7.50 per ton in an effort to deter the amount of garbage coming into the state. Currently Michigan is one of the cheapest dumping grounds in the country at only 21 cents per ton. Last year alone more than 6 million tons of Canadian and out-of-state trash came into Michigan. The state has an estimated 17 years of landfill space left for garbage from its own citizens.
McDowell wants to take the issue before citizens on the November ballot.
'We cannot wait for congress to stem the flow of out-of-state and Canadian trash," he said in a statement. "This new law only solves half the problem. The Upper Penisula is being buried in trash from Canada and Wisconsin. Attacking the economics of the trash trade and raising the state's dumping charge to $7.50 a ton is the only way to prevent Michigan from becoming the nation's dumping ground."
The measure is expected to come before Congress in early spring.
