Washington, D.C. — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has vowed to immediately block Canadian trash exports to Michigan if he wins the election, according to several press reports. According to The Associated Press (AP), Kerry on Tuesday issued a statement saying, "It’s time to end Canadian trash dumping in Michigan. George W. bush has let Michigan become Canada’s landfill."

According to the AP, Kerry said he wouldn’t permit Canadian trash into Michigan until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces a 12-year-old treaty that requires Canada to notify the United States of each waste shipment it send to the United States. The treaty gives the EPA the authority to reject the shipments "for health or environmental reasons," the AP says.

However, EPA officials have said recently that the treaty only applies to hazardous waste, a view that many legislators disagree with. According to the AP, "EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt says … Congress needs to expand the agency’s authority if it wants to regulate other kinds of trash." Leavitt has said that the Bush Administration is working on legislation to do that, but the bill has yet to be introduced, the AP says.