Garbage in, garbage out.(Commentary)(Editorials)

Remember the days when this country was running out of places to put its garbage? One garbage barge wondered up and down the coast, looking for a place to dump its cargo. Environmentalists happily predicted worse to come. "The throwaway society that has emerged in western societies during the late twentieth century," said Worldwatch Institute President Lester Brown, "uses so much energy, emits so much carbon, and generates so much air pollution, acid rain, water pollution, toxic waste and rubbish that it is strangling itself." That's right, strangling itself.

Alas for Mr. Brown, the suicide was called off. In the midst of the crisis, the country figured out that as a matter of fact, it could bury all the solid waste it produces over the next thousand years in a single landfill of 30 square miles and 300 feet deep. Everybody took a deep breath and realized that the world wasn't going to end just because he dared to use disposable diapers.

You can still see signs of the non-crisis in the bundles of recyclables piled up in front of people's houses on trash day. Today, federal lawmakers are scheduled to take up another of its legacies: government waste-flow controls.

Back when the country was running out of landfill space, you see, incineration - often referred to today as waste-to-energy plants - seemed like a good way to handle solid waste. There's nothing wrong with incineration as such. It's just expensive relative to the landfill alternative. Building the plants costs a lot of money.

To make sure such plants were a good investment for taxpayers and bondholders, states like New Jersey decided to force localities to dispose of their waste there. Hence the term "flow control." Not since the mafia ran the show has anybody enjoyed such a monopoly on the garbage industry. Not surprisingly, given the limited competition for trash dollars, disposal costs went up.

Trouble is, in 1994 the Supreme Court took the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution seriously. The justices ruled that flow control is an unconstitutional burden on commerce between the states, which of course it is. That was good news to towns bearing the high cost of government trash monopolies. In December the mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., stood up and announced he was going to put his town's garbage disposal up for bid. "It's time to let the forces of capitalism take hold," he said, "and end the state-mandated monopoly on waste disposal that is charging Elizabeth taxpayers double the market price."

Panicked New Jersey officials have now come to Washington for help. One idea floating about the Capitol is legislation that would rewrite the laws the high court found unconstitutional and permit facilities relying on flow control at the time of the decision a "grandfather" exemption. A vote on the measure could come up as early as today under a suspension of the rules that is normally reserved for more non-controversial measures. Supporters of the measure may hold off, however, until they think they have the votes.

Regardless of when it comes up, lawmakers ought to oppose it. It's unfortunate that some states may have been fooled into thinking there was a real garbage crisis in this country. It's worse that they made capital investments based on such fear-mongering. Garbage in, garbage out. But the solution is not to jack up the cost of taking out the trash in New Jersey or anywhere else.

Garbage in, garbage out.(Commentary)(Editorials)

Remember the days when this country was running out of places to put its garbage? One garbage barge wondered up and down the coast, looking for a place to dump its cargo. Environmentalists happily predicted worse to come. "The throwaway society that has emerged in western societies during the late twentieth century," said Worldwatch Institute President Lester Brown, "uses so much energy, emits so much carbon, and generates so much air pollution, acid rain, water pollution, toxic waste and rubbish that it is strangling itself." That's right, strangling itself.

Alas for Mr. Brown, the suicide was called off. In the midst of the crisis, the country figured out that as a matter of fact, it could bury all the solid waste it produces over the next thousand years in a single landfill of 30 square miles and 300 feet deep. Everybody took a deep breath and realized that the world wasn't going to end just because he dared to use disposable diapers.

You can still see signs of the non-crisis in the bundles of recyclables piled up in front of people's houses on trash day. Today, federal lawmakers are scheduled to take up another of its legacies: government waste-flow controls.

Back when the country was running out of landfill space, you see, incineration - often referred to today as waste-to-energy plants - seemed like a good way to handle solid waste. There's nothing wrong with incineration as such. It's just expensive relative to the landfill alternative. Building the plants costs a lot of money.

To make sure such plants were a good investment for taxpayers and bondholders, states like New Jersey decided to force localities to dispose of their waste there. Hence the term "flow control." Not since the mafia ran the show has anybody enjoyed such a monopoly on the garbage industry. Not surprisingly, given the limited competition for trash dollars, disposal costs went up.

Trouble is, in 1994 the Supreme Court took the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution seriously. The justices ruled that flow control is an unconstitutional burden on commerce between the states, which of course it is. That was good news to towns bearing the high cost of government trash monopolies. In December the mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., stood up and announced he was going to put his town's garbage disposal up for bid. "It's time to let the forces of capitalism take hold," he said, "and end the state-mandated monopoly on waste disposal that is charging Elizabeth taxpayers double the market price."

Panicked New Jersey officials have now come to Washington for help. One idea floating about the Capitol is legislation that would rewrite the laws the high court found unconstitutional and permit facilities relying on flow control at the time of the decision a "grandfather" exemption. A vote on the measure could come up as early as today under a suspension of the rules that is normally reserved for more non-controversial measures. Supporters of the measure may hold off, however, until they think they have the votes.

Regardless of when it comes up, lawmakers ought to oppose it. It's unfortunate that some states may have been fooled into thinking there was a real garbage crisis in this country. It's worse that they made capital investments based on such fear-mongering. Garbage in, garbage out. But the solution is not to jack up the cost of taking out the trash in New Jersey or anywhere else.