§10908 — Title 49 Transportation | U.S. Code

Summary

Requires solid waste rail transfer facilities to follow the same federal and state pollution, environment, and public health rules as any similar waste facility not run by a railroad, unless another part of the law (section 10909) says otherwise. If a facility was operating when the Clean Railroads Act of 2008 was enacted, it had to follow those rules (except permit rules) within 90 days of that enactment. A facility that did not have required permits then does not have to stop operating so long as it files a complete permit application in good faith within 180 days after that enactment and can keep operating until each permit is approved or denied. If it lacked a State siting permit, it can keep operating without one, but the State’s Governor (or designee) can ask the Board to require a land‑use exemption under section 10909; if the Board accepts, the facility must get that Board exemption to continue. No current or future rail customer can force a railroad to give service at a location that does not already have the needed federal land‑use exemption and State permits. The law does not limit a railroad’s ability to transport things other than solid waste. Defines terms in simple ways: commercial and retail waste (from stores and offices); construction and demolition debris (building and demolition rubble); household waste (from homes and hotels); industrial waste (from factories and R&D, excluding hazardous waste under subtitle C and mining/oil and gas waste); institutional waste (from schools, nonmedical hospital waste, prisons, government facilities); municipal solid waste (combines household, commercial/retail, and institutional waste); solid waste (includes construction debris, municipal solid waste, sludge, industrial waste, and other wastes the Board allows, but not railroad track or accident waste); solid waste rail transfer facility (the part of a railroad-owned or -operated site where solid waste is handled outside its original container to be moved for pay, but not normal rail transport after loading or direct tank‑truck to rail tank‑car transfers); sludge (waste from water or air pollution treatment plants). Household, commercial, and institutional waste do not include yard waste, used oil, wood pallets, clean wood, medical/infectious waste, or motor vehicles. “State requirements” do not include local laws unless the State gives local governments that power.

Title 49, §10908

Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Each solid waste rail transfer facility shall be subject to and shall comply with all applicable Federal and State requirements, both substantive and procedural, including judicial and administrative orders and fines, respecting the prevention and abatement of pollution, the protection and restoration of the environment, and the protection of public health and safety, including laws governing solid waste, to the same extent as required for any similar solid waste management facility, as defined in section 1004(29) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903(29)) 11 So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma. that is not owned or operated by or on behalf of a rail carrier, except as provided for in section 10909 of this chapter.

(b)(1)Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Clean Railroads Act of 2008, a solid waste rail transfer facility operating as of such date of enactment shall comply with all Federal and State requirements pursuant to subsection (a) other than those provisions requiring permits.

(2)(A)Any solid waste rail transfer facility operating as of the date of enactment of the Clean Railroads Act of 2008 that does not possess a permit required pursuant to subsection (a), other than a siting permit for the facility, as of the date of enactment of the Clean Railroads Act of 2008 shall not be required to possess any such permits in order to operate the facility—

(i)if, within 180 days after such date of enactment, the solid waste rail transfer facility has submitted, in good faith, a complete application for all permits, except siting permits, required pursuant to subsection (a) to the appropriate permitting agency authorized to grant such permits; and

(ii)until the permitting agency has either approved or denied the solid waste rail transfer facility’s application for each permit.

(B)A solid waste rail transfer facility operating as of the date of enactment of the Clean Railroads Act of 2008 that does not possess a State siting permit required pursuant to subsection (a) as of such date of enactment shall not be required to possess any siting permit to continue to operate or comply with any State land use requirements. The Governor of a State in which the facility is located, or his or her designee, may petition the Board to require the facility to apply for a land-use exemption pursuant to section 10909 of this chapter. The Board shall accept the petition, and the facility shall be required to have a Board-issued land-use exemption in order to continue to operate, pursuant to section 10909 of this chapter.

(c)No prospective or current rail carrier customer may demand solid waste rail transfer service from a rail carrier at a solid waste rail transfer facility that does not already possess the necessary Federal land-use exemption and State permits at the location where service is requested.

(d)Nothing in this section or section 10909 of this chapter shall affect a rail carrier’s ability to conduct transportation-related activities with respect to commodities other than solid waste.

(e)(1)In this section:

(A)The term “commercial and retail waste” means material discarded by stores, offices, restaurants, warehouses, nonmanufacturing activities at industrial facilities, and other similar establishments or facilities.

(B)The term “construction and demolition debris” means waste building materials, packaging, and rubble resulting from construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition operations on pavements, houses, commercial buildings, and other structures.

(C)The term “household waste” means material discarded by residential dwellings, hotels, motels, and other similar permanent or temporary housing establishments or facilities.

(D)The term “industrial waste” means the solid waste generated by manufacturing and industrial and research and development processes and operations, including contaminated soil, nonhazardous oil spill cleanup waste and dry nonhazardous pesticides and chemical waste, but does not include hazardous waste regulated under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.), mining or oil and gas waste.

(E)The term “institutional waste” means material discarded by schools, nonmedical waste discarded by hospitals, material discarded by nonmanufacturing activities at prisons and government facilities, and material discarded by other similar establishments or facilities.

(F)The term “municipal solid waste” means—

(i)household waste;

(ii)commercial and retail waste; and

(iii)institutional waste.

(G)With the exception of waste generated by a rail carrier during track, track structure, or right-of-way construction, maintenance, or repair (including railroad ties and line-side poles) or waste generated as a result of a railroad accident, incident, or derailment, the term “solid waste” means—

(i)construction and demolition debris;

(ii)municipal solid waste;

(iii)household waste;

(iv)commercial and retail waste;

(v)institutional waste;

(vi)sludge;

(vii)industrial waste; and

(viii)other solid waste, as determined appropriate by the Board.

(H)The term “solid waste rail transfer facility”—

(i)means the portion of a facility owned or operated by or on behalf of a rail carrier (as defined in section 10102 of this title) where solid waste, as a commodity to be transported for a charge, is collected, stored, separated, processed, treated, managed, disposed of, or transferred, when the activity takes place outside of original shipping containers; but

(ii)does not include—

(I)the portion of a facility to the extent that activities taking place at such portion are comprised solely of the railroad transportation of solid waste after the solid waste is loaded for shipment on or in a rail car, including railroad transportation for the purpose of interchanging railroad cars containing solid waste shipments; or

(II)a facility where solid waste is solely transferred or transloaded from a tank truck directly to a rail tank car.

(I)The term “sludge” means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility exclusive of the treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.

(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the terms “household waste”, “commercial and retail waste”, and “institutional waste” do not include—

(A)yard waste and refuse-derived fuel;

(B)used oil;

(C)wood pallets;

(D)clean wood;

(E)medical or infectious waste; or

(F)motor vehicles (including motor vehicle parts or vehicle fluff).

(3)In this section the term “State requirements” does not include the laws, regulations, ordinances, orders, or other requirements of a political subdivision of a State, including a locality or municipality, unless a State expressly delegates such authority to such political subdivision.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of the Clean Railroads Act of 2008, referred to in subsec. (b), is the date of enactment of title VI of div. A of Pub. L. 110–432, which was approved Oct. 16, 2008. The Solid Waste Disposal Act, referred to in subsec. (e)(1)(D), is title II of Pub. L. 89–272, Oct. 20, 1965, 79 Stat. 997, as amended generally by Pub. L. 94–580, § 2, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2795. Subtitle C of the Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 6921 et seq.) of chapter 82 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 6901 of Title 42 and Tables.

Prior Provisions

For prior section 10908, see note set out under section 10907 of this title.

§10908 Regulation of Solid Waste Rail Transfer Facilities