(2) Not later than one year after the enactment of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, the Commission shall complete a preliminary study concerning ground water contamination from hazardous and other solid waste and submit to the President and to the Congress a report containing the findings and conclusions of such preliminary study. The study shall be continued thereafter, and final findings and conclusions shall be incorporated as a separate chapter in the report required under paragraph (1). The preliminary study shall include an analysis of the extent of ground water contamination caused by hazardous and other solid waste, the regions and major water supplies most significantly affected by such contamination, and any recommendations of the Commission for preventive or remedial measures to protect human health and the environment from the effects of such contamination. (g) The Commission shall cease to exist on January 1, 1987. The shall cease to exist in Jadation of the Commission shall affect any rights to quantities of water established under State law, interstate compact, or Supreme Court decree. (i) There is authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal years 1985 through 1987 not to exceed $7,000,000 to carry out this section. NOTE Title I of Public Law 100-556 (42 U.S.C. 6914b) provides: TITLE I-DEGRADABLE PLASTIC RING CARRIERS SEC. 101. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that (1) plastic ring carrier devices have been found in large quantities in the marine environment; (2) fish and wildlife have been known to have become entangled in plastic ring carriers; (3) nondegradable plastic ring carrier devices can remain intact in the marine environment for decades, posing a threat to fish and wildlife; and (4) 16 States have enacted laws requiring that plastic ring carrier devices be made from degradable material in order to reduce litter and to protect fish and wildlife. SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. As used in this title (1) the term "regulated item" means any plastic ring carrier device that contains at least one hole greater than 14 inches in diameter which is made, used, or designed for the purpose of packaging, transporting, or carrying multipackaged cans or bottles, and which is of a size, shape, design, or type capable, when discarded, of becoming entangled with fish or wildlife; and (2) the term "naturally degradable material" means a material which, when discarded, will be reduced to environmentally benign subunits under the action of normal environmental forces, such as, among others, biological decomposition, photo-degradation, or hydrolysis. SEC. 103. REGULATION. Not later than 24 months after the date of the enactment of this title (unless the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines that it is not feasible or that the byproducts of degradable regulated items present a greater threat to the environment than nondegradable regulated items), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall require, by regulation, that any regulated item intended for use in the United States shall be made of naturally degradable material which, when discarded, decomposes within a period established by such regulation. The period within which decomposition must occur after being discarded shall be the shortest period of time consistent with the intended use of the item and the physical integrity required for such use. Such regulation shall allow a reasonable time for affected parties to come into compliance, including the use of existing inventories. NOTE Section 109 of Public Law 102-386 (42 U.S.C. 6908) provides: SEC. 109. SMALL TOWN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (hereafter referred to as the "Administrator") shall establish a program to assist small communities in planning and financing environmental facilities. The program shall be known as the "Small Town Environmental Planning Program". (b) SMALL TOWN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING TASK FORCE. (1) The Administrator shall establish a Small Town Environmental Planning Task Force which shall be composed of representatives of small towns from different areas of the United States, Federal and State governmental agencies, and public interest groups. The Administrator shall terminate the Task Force not later than 2 years after the establishment of the Task Force. (2) The Task Force shall (A) identify regulations developed pursuant to Federal environmental laws which pose significant compliance problems for small towns; (B) identify means to improve the working relationship between the Environmental Protection Agency (hereafter referred to as the Agency) and small towns; (C) review proposed regulations for the protection of the environmental and public health and suggest revisions that could improve the ability of small towns to comply with such regulations; (D) identify means to promote regionalization of environmental treatment systems and infrastructure serving small towns to improve the economic condition of such systems and infrastructure; and (E) provide such other assistance to the Administrator as the Administrator deems appropriate. (c) IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.-(1) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish a list of requirements under Federal environmental and public health statutes (and the regulations developed pursuant to such statutes) applicable to small towns. Not less than annually, the Administrator shall make such additions and deletions to and from the list as the Administrator deems appropriate. (2) The Administrator shall, as part of the Small Town Environmental Planning Program under this section, implement a program to notify small communities of the regulations identified under paragraph (1) and of future regulations and requirements through methods that the Administrator determines to be effective to provide information to the greatest number of small communities, including any of the following: (A) Newspapers and other periodicals. (B) Other news media. (C) Trade, municipal, and other associations that the Administrator determines to be appropriate. (D) Direct mail. (d) SMALL TOWN OMBUDSMAN.-The Administrator shall establish and staff an Office of the Small Town Ombudsman. The Office shall provide assistance to small towns in connection with the Small Town Environmental Planning Program and other business with the Agency. Each regional office shall identify a small town contact. The Small Town Ombudsman and the regional contacts also may assist larger communities, but only if first priority is given to providing assistance to small towns. (e) MULTI-MEDIA PERMITS.-(1) The Administrator shall conduct a study of establishing a multi-media permitting program for small towns. Such evaluation shall include an analysis of— (A) environmental benefits and liabilities of a multi-media permitting program; (B) the potential of using such a program to coordinate a small town's environmental and public health activities; and (C) the legal barriers, if any, to the establishment of such a program. (2) Within 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall report to Congress on the results of the evaluation performed in accordance with paragraph (1). Included in this report shall be a description of the activities conducted pursuant to subsections (a) through (d). (D) DEFINITION.-For purposes of this section, the term "small town" means an incorporated or unincorporated community (as defined by the Administrator) with a population of less than 2,500 individuals. (g) AUTHORIZATION-There is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $500,000 to implement this section. POLLUTION PREVENTION ACT OF 1990 (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Public Law 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388321 et seq.) SEC. 6601. SHORT TITLE. This subtitle may be cited as the "Pollution Prevention Act of 1990". [42 U.S.C. 12101 note] SEC. 6602. FINDINGS AND POLICY. (a) FINDINGS.-The Congress finds that: (1) The United States of America annually produces millions of tons of pollution and spends tens of billions of dollars per year controlling this pollution. (2) There are significant opportunities for industry to reduce or prevent pollution at the source through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Such changes offer industry substantial savings in reduced raw material, pollution control, and liability costs as well as help protect the environment and reduce risks to worker health and safety. (3) The opportunities for source reduction are often not realized because existing regulations, and the industrial resources they require for compliance, focus upon treatment and disposal, rather than source reduction; existing regulations do not emphasize multi-media management of pollution; and businesses need information and technical assistance to overcome institutional barriers to the adoption of source reduction practices. (4) Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management and pollution control. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to address the historical lack of attention to source reduction. (5) As a first step in preventing pollution through source reduction, the Environmental Protection Agency must establish a source reduction program which collects and disseminates information, provides financial assistance to States, and implements the other activities provided for in this subtitle. (b) POLICY.-The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the United States that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible; pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner, whenever feasible; pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally safe manner whenever feasible; and disposal or other release into the environment should |