Proposed Bills to Ban Canadian Trash

Leslie Harrison

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Congress will hear testimony regarding three proposed bills to limit Canadian trash trucks into Michigan. This comes after a former Michigan state police trooper discovered blood dripping from a Canadian trash truck at the state’s border. The truck contained prohibited medical waste and eventually was turned back.

One bill would allow states to ban shipments from Canada but not from other states. The second would allow state and local governments to limit trash shipments. And the third would make the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforce a 1992 agreement that requires the EPA to consider a state’s needs and ban trash if there are impacts on public health, the environment or roads.

Even if the bills were passed, there is still a heated debate over whether the bills violate the North American Free Trade Agreement.