On Wednesday, July 18th, the House Ways and Means Committee consolidated energy measures from three other committees into an omnibus bill, H.R. 2511, that encourages energy production through tax benefits, among other things ( http://waysandmeans.house.gov ). Included in Section 102 of the bill are two damaging provisions that will boost wasting in landfills and incinerators and thereby further undermine recycling and composting. The bill could go to the House floor as soon as this Tuesday (July 24) or in the next week or so. The waste industry is organized and out in force - but Congress members have heard NOTHING from recyclers and others working for a waste-free future.
CALLS are Urgently Needed to Congress House members.
MESSAGE: Tell them not to further undermine recycling and composting by perpetuating obsolete and toxic wasting technologies. Delete tax credits for energy from landfills in Section 102, and explicitly exclude tax credits for incinerators in the same section.
Call the full Ways and Means Committee at 202-225- 3625, and the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures at 202-225-3625.
Call House Ways and Means Committee members from your state (go to http://waysandmeans.house.gov/memsub.htm to find out who is on from your state). Ask for the tax legislative assistant. Leave a voice mail if necessary.
BACKGROUND
H.R. 2511 is written to create the impression that electricity generated by mass burn incinerators is excluded. However, the specific language used to do this creates a definite loophole that could be exploited to include incineration. The exclusion is ostensibly accomplished by stating that "unsegregated municipal solid waste" does not qualify for the credit. However, this creates the potential for opportunistic incinerator, and certainly RDF, operators to claim that an inexpensive and limited magnetic steel separator or other minor separation screen at the incoming head of the facility provides sufficient segregation to qualify. Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD) made one attempt to introduce an amendment in committee to explicitly qualify waste-to-energy incinerators for the credit that was unsuccessful at the time. He is expected to reintroduce the same amendment next week.
Furthermore, H.R. 2511 explicitly expands section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code in order to qualify electricity generated with landfill methane gas (produced when garbage decomposes without oxygen). Collection of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, should be required, like liners and leachate collection systems. Generating electricity from landfill methane is a public relations gimmick to perpetuate through subsidies the market dominance of the obsolete practice of landfilling. (Europeans are moving to banning all land waste disposal). Only a small fraction of methane is actually recovered, while the remainder, along with numerous toxic gases like methyl-mercury, escapes into the atmosphere. More significantly, the toxic brew inside the landfill remains a threat to groundwater forever, while containment systems will fail within decades.
POSITION STATEMENT GrassRoots Recycling Network
DON'T SUBSIDIZE ENERGY FROM GARBAGE!
Tax subsidies for making energy from mixed garbage will increase the release of toxics into the environment, undermine successful recycling and composting programs, and stifle innovation that could lead us to sustainable "zero waste" programs.
From an environmental perspective, promoting incineration and landfilling is wrong. These obsolete technologies waste resources, release pollutants that threaten the environment and public health, and contribute to global warming.
It is not efficient to make energy from garbage. Sustainable resource conserving technologies like recycling and composting are more energy-efficient than burning used resources.
Landfill gases, as one of the largest contributors to global warming, should be REQUIRED to be controlled, not subsidized. Only a small part of the methane generated in landfills can be recovered for energy - the rest, along with other toxic gases, continues to go into the atmosphere.
Organics like paper, wood, food scraps and yard trimmings don't belong in landfills or incinerators. Organic biomass makes up 70% of the materials currently sent to waste facilities. If these materials are separated from the toxics and non-organic materials in trash, they can be converted to useful products. Because organics mixed with garbage cannot safely be managed in the ground, Europe has already begun phasing out their land disposal.
Composting is a proven technology that can restore the fertility of America's farms and parks. Other in-vessel bioconversion technologies show promise of creating products in urban areas from separated organic materials.
Bill Sheehan Executive Director
GrassRoots Recycling Network
P.O. Box 49283
Athens, GA 30604-9283
Tel: 706-613-7121
Fax: -7123
Email: zerowaste@grrn.org
Web: http://www.grrn.org
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