Document rekmkDv4a5QOpBj9xqN8Mrvjq

Congress of fife Inte Hiatts I f aslffgioii, S 20515 August 30, 2017 The Honorable Rex Tillerson Secretary United States Department o f State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520 The Honorable Scott Pruitt Administrator Environmental Protection .Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460 Dear Secretary Tillerson and Administrator Pruitt: We are writing regarding the negative impact on jobs in North Dakota and other states due to the international ban on shipments to the United States o f precious metal found in petrochemical byproducts. We request the Administration work to update the domestic definition o f waste to accurately reflect the highly valuable commodity o f spent materials containing significant: precious metals, which would allow for recycling o f these metals in the United States. The United States has the cleanest, most efficient recycling facilities for the salvage of precious metals from the refining o f petrochemical byproducts in the world. However, die Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements o f Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Convention) largely bans their shipment to the United States and a handful o f other countries because the United States has not ratified the Convention despite Senate consent to do so in 1992. This has resulted in foreign countries gaining work orders, jobs, and exports at: the expense o f U.S. industry, which has the most environmentally friendly capabilities in the world for this salvage work. As a result, millions of pounds o f platinum and palladium containing spent catalysts cannot be reclaimed in the United States. Unfortunately, this situation hurts the U.S. economy and die global environment. This Administration can address this problem - and help create close to 100 jobs, some o f which would be in North Dakota as well as others throughout the nation. We believe the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can update the domestic definition o f "waste" to accurately reflect the fact that spent material that contains significant precious metals is a highly valuable commodity7and not waste. This would align with the definition contained in the Basel Convention and with the definition in the vast majority7o f countries around the world thereby allowing the recycling o f these byproducts in the United States. Recognizing the value o f these metals is a common- sense change that would permit U.S. leadership in the recovery and conservation o f precious metals to be fully realized, while simultaneously guaranteeing the safe disposal o f what is truly waste. A valuable spent precious metal material thus could be handled the same as by-products and sludge, which are Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA PRINTED ON RECYCLED PARER Tier 3/4 ED 002061 00088021-00001 not classified as wastes when sent for reclamation. The EPA has stated elsewhere that when the value o f a material is sufficiently high, that will result in protection o f the environment due to the incentives for extreme care to be taken in its processing for recovery and refining. This is because the value o f precious metal in the wastes provides a strong incentive for proper handling before recycling and during the recycling process. The United States must he able to compete internationally and precious metal reclamation will help our high tech industries continue to lead the way in development and deployment o f new and innovative products. This, combined with the job growth at home, is why it: is so important for die EPA to take the steps necessary to allow our industries to compete on a level playing field and recognize the value o f these precious metals. We thank you for your attention to this matter, and urge die Administration to address the issue as soon as possible. Sincerely, Kevin Cramer United States Congressman Chris Collins United States Congressman Lee Zeldin United States Congressman Cc: H.R. McMaster, National Security Advisor Gary Cohn, National Economic Advisor Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 3/4 ED 002061 00088021-00002