Vagnozzi Targets Stalled Legislation with Garbage Import-Measuring Device
Vagnozzi and House Dems also unveil www.trash-o-meter.com web site.
DETROIT --- State Representative Aldo Vagnozzi (D-Farmington Hills) and House Democrats leading the fight against out-of-state and Canadian trash in Michigan today launched a specially designed timepiece --- the "Trash-O-Meter" --- to prompt action on stalled legislation aimed at stopping garbage importation into the state.
Modeled after the U.S. National Debt Clock in Times Square, the Trash-O-Meter is
a working device to measure the amount of trash that enters Michigan in real
time. They also unveiled
www.trash-o-meter.com, a web site to promote anti-trash legislation and garner
public input through e-mail."The solution has been on lawmakers’ desks for months, yet there has been no action," Vagnozzi said, referring to legislation put forth by House Democrats. "More than 200 garbage trucks from Canada alone roll into our state every day. That’s why we’re unveiling the Trash-O-Meter --- to call attention to this issue and send a wake-up call to the Legislature. The time to ban out-of-state and Canadian trash is now."
Since the introduction of Democratic anti-trash legislation on Jan. 29th, the Trash-O-Meter shows us that more than 2.1 million tons of Canadian and out-of-state waste have been dumped in Michigan landfills.
For more than seven months, Vagnozzi and other Democratic lawmakers have campaigned tirelessly to stop the flow of Canadian and out-of-state trash into Michigan.
The bills put forth by Vagnozzi and the House Democrats are:
H.B. 4098, which allows Michigan to reject trash from states that have a regulatory system less stringent than the rules we impose on ourselves.
H.B. 4099, which adds returnable containers to the list of items prohibited from disposal in Michigan landfills.
"Seven tons of garbage come into Michigan each minute the Legislature fails to enact these bills." Vagnozzi said. "We have introduced legislation that would disarm this environmental time bomb, but it seems as though the State Legislature wants to wait until it blows up in our faces. We cannot afford to wait any longer."
In coming weeks, House Democrats will take the Trash-O-Meter on a statewide tour to emphasize the serious impact of the Legislature’s delays.
For the last seven months, Vagnozzi and other lawmakers have waged an intensive campaign and conducted 10 Trash Town Hall Meetings in communities across the state, including Farmington Hills, to rally support for the bills.