WASHINGTON — U.S. legislators who’ve spent years trying to block Canadian trash from crossing the border may get their way soon as Congress will consider a bill today which allows states to set restrictions on the disposal of municipal waste from north of the border.

According to Associate Press, the bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations on trash from Canada. Passage is expected.
A similar bill passed last year, but could get approval by the Senate.

Michigan takes in about 350 truckloads a day of trash, which equals about 4 million metric tons annually.

But it seems the bill may not be needed to curb Canadian trash exports. Last year, two Michigan Democrats who had been lobbying to restrict municipal trash hauled from Canada struck with Ontario Environment officials to eliminate about half the waste trucked into state landfills by 2010.

As part of the deal, Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said they would not continue to pursue legislation that would impose expensive trucking fees on Canadian companies that haul trash into Michigan.

More recently, the city of Toronto recently bought a landfill in St. Thomas, Ont., to divert garbage normally sent to Michigan. The province also approved plans to expand a landfill in Warwick, Ont.

— with files from Associate Press