View all text of Subchapter III [§ 6921 - § 6939g]
§ 6939g. Hazardous waste electronic manifest system
(a) DefinitionsIn this section:
(1) Board
(2) Fund
(3) Person
(4) System
(5) UserThe term “user” means a hazardous waste generator, a hazardous waste transporter, an owner or operator of a hazardous waste treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility, or any other person that—
(A) is required to use a manifest to comply with any Federal or State requirement to track the shipment, transportation, and receipt of hazardous waste or other material that is shipped from the site of generation to an off-site facility for treatment, storage, disposal, or recycling; and
(B)
(i) elects to use the system to complete and transmit an electronic manifest format; or
(ii) submits to the system for data processing purposes a paper copy of the manifest (or data from such a paper copy), in accordance with such regulations as the Administrator may promulgate to require such a submission.
(b) Establishment
(c) User fees
(1) In general
(2) Collection of feesThe Administrator shall—
(A) collect the fees described in paragraph (1) from the users in advance of, or as reimbursement for, the provision by the Administrator of system-related services; and
(B) deposit the fees in the Fund.
(3) Fee structure
(A) In generalThe Administrator, in consultation with information technology vendors, shall determine through the contract award process described in subsection (e) the fee structure that is necessary to recover the full cost to the Administrator of providing system-related services, including—
(i) contractor costs relating to—(I) materials and supplies;(II) contracting and consulting;(III) overhead;(IV) information technology (including costs of hardware, software, and related services);(V) information management;(VI) collection of service fees;(VII) reporting and accounting; and(VIII) project management; and
(ii) costs of employment of direct and indirect Government personnel dedicated to establishing, managing, and maintaining the system.
(B) Adjustments in fee amount
(i) In generalThe Administrator, in consultation with the Board, shall increase or decrease the amount of a service fee determined under the fee structure described in subparagraph (A) to a level that will—(I) result in the collection of an aggregate amount for deposit in the Fund that is sufficient and not more than reasonably necessary to cover current and projected system-related costs (including any necessary system upgrades); and(II) minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, the accumulation of unused amounts in the Fund.
(ii) Exception for initial period of operation
(iii) Timing of adjustmentsAdjustments to service fees described in clause (i) shall be made—(I) initially, at the time at which initial development costs of the system have been recovered by the Administrator such that the service fee may be reduced to reflect the elimination of the system development component of the fee; and(II) periodically thereafter, upon receipt and acceptance of the findings of any annual accounting or auditing report under subsection (d)(3), if the report discloses a significant disparity for a fiscal year between the funds collected from service fees under this subsection for the fiscal year and expenditures made for the fiscal year to provide system-related services.
(4) Crediting and availability of fees
(d) Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Fund
(1) Establishment
(2) Expenditures from Fund
(A) In general
(B) Use of funds by Administrator
(C) Oversight of funds
(3) Accounting and auditing
(A) AccountingFor each 2-fiscal-year period, the Administrator shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report that includes—
(i) an accounting of the fees paid to the Administrator under subsection (c) and disbursed from the Fund for the period covered by the report, as reflected by financial statements provided in accordance with—(I) the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576; 104 Stat. 2838) and amendments made by that Act; and(II) the Government Management Reform Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–356; 108 Stat. 3410) and amendments made by that Act; and
(ii) an accounting describing actual expenditures from the Fund for the period covered by the report for costs described in subsection (c)(1).
(B) Auditing
(i) In general
(ii) Components of auditThe annual audit required in accordance with sections 3515(b) and 3521 of title 31 of the financial statements of activities carried out using amounts from the Fund shall include an analysis of—(I) the fees collected and disbursed under this section;(II) the reasonableness of the fee structure in place as of the date of the audit to meet current and projected costs of the system;(III) the level of use of the system by users; and(IV) the success to date of the system in operating on a self-sustaining basis and improving the efficiency of tracking waste shipments and transmitting waste shipment data.
(iii) Federal responsibilityThe Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency shall—(I) conduct the annual audit described in clause (ii); and(II) submit to the Administrator a report that describes the findings and recommendations of the Inspector General resulting from the audit.
(e) Contracts
(1) Authority to enter into contracts funded by service fees
(2) Term of contract
(3) Achievement of goalsThe Administrator shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that a contract awarded under this subsection—
(A) is performance-based;
(B) identifies objective outcomes; and
(C) contains performance standards that may be used to measure achievement and goals to evaluate the success of a contractor in performing under the contract and the right of the contractor to payment for services under the contract, taking into consideration that a primary measure of successful performance shall be the development of a hazardous waste electronic manifest system that—
(i) meets the needs of the user community (including States that rely on data contained in manifests);
(ii) attracts sufficient user participation and service fee revenues to ensure the viability of the system;
(iii) decreases the administrative burden on the user community; and
(iv) provides the waste receipt data applicable to the biennial reports required by section 6922(a)(6) of this title.
(4) Payment structureEach contract awarded under this subsection shall include a provision that specifies—
(A) the service fee structure of the contractor that will form the basis for payments to the contractor; and
(B) the fixed-share ratio of monthly service fee revenues from which the Administrator shall reimburse the contractor for system-related development, operation, and maintenance costs.
(5) Cancellation and termination
(A) In general
(B) Negotiation of amounts
(6) No effect on ownership
(f) Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board
(1) Establishment
(2) CompositionThe Board shall be composed of 9 members, of which—
(A) 1 member shall be the Administrator (or a designee), who shall serve as Chairperson of the Board; and
(B) 8 members shall be individuals appointed by the Administrator—
(i) at least 2 of whom shall have expertise in information technology;
(ii) at least 3 of whom shall have experience in using or represent users of the manifest system to track the transportation of hazardous waste under this subchapter (or an equivalent State program); and
(iii) at least 3 of whom shall be a State representative responsible for processing those manifests.
(3) Duties
(g) Regulations
(1) Promulgation
(A) In general
(B) Inclusions
(C) RequirementsThe regulations promulgated pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall ensure that each electronic manifest provides, to the same extent as paper manifests under applicable Federal and State law, for—
(i) the ability to track and maintain legal accountability of—(I) the person that certifies that the information provided in the manifest is accurately described; and(II) the person that acknowledges receipt of the manifest;
(ii) if the manifest is electronically submitted, State authority to access paper printout copies of the manifest from the system; and
(iii) access to all publicly available information contained in the manifest.
(2) Effective date of regulations
(3) Administration
(h) Requirement of compliance with respect to certain StatesIn any case in which the State in which waste is generated, or the State in which waste will be transported to a designated facility, requires that the waste be tracked through a hazardous waste manifest, the designated facility that receives the waste shall, regardless of the State in which the facility is located—
(1) complete the facility portion of the applicable manifest;
(2) sign and date the facility certification; and
(3) submit to the system a final copy of the manifest for data processing purposes.
(i) Authorization for start-up activities
(Pub. L. 89–272, title II, § 3024, as added Pub. L. 112–195, § 2(a), Oct. 5, 2012, 126 Stat. 1452.)