CLEANER Act of 2015
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Environment and the Economy.
CLEANER Act of 2015 or the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2015
This bill amends the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to eliminate the exemption for waste derived from the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy from regulations governing the disposal of hazardous waste.
Within a year of this bill's enactment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must:
determine whether waste associated with oil, gas, or geothermal energy activities meet the criteria promulgated for the identification or listing of hazardous waste;
identify or list as hazardous waste any of those wastes if they meet the identification or listing criteria; and
promulgate regulations regarding standards applicable to generators, transporters, and owners and operators of facilities for the treatment, storage, or disposal of those wastes.
The EPA may modify the regulation of those standards to consider the special characteristics of those wastes so long as the modified regulations protect human health and the environment.
Within a year of this bill's enactment, the EPA must promulgate revisions of certain criteria concerning landfills and waste management practices of open dumping for facilities that may receive wastes that are: (1) associated with those activities, and (2) not identified or listed as hazardous waste. Those revisions must:
protect human health and the environment, while allowing consideration of the practicable capability of such facilities; and
require groundwater monitoring as necessary to detect contamination;
establish criteria for the acceptable location of new or existing facilities; and
provide for corrective action and financial assurance as appropriate.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on December 10, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 11, 2015: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Matt Cartwright (D-PA) introduced it on December 10, 2015, and 101 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 101 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 10, 2015, 3927 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3926 days ago, on December 11, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers