It goes both ways

Just last week, the House Environmental Affairs Committee approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, and Roy Eiguren, lobbyist for Envirosafe, a southern Idaho hazardous waste dump, to match Idaho’s “tipping fees” for hazardous waste to Oregon’s. That meant lowering them.

Now, in the same committee, Reps. Wayne Meyer and Elaine Smith are sponsoring legislation to match another fee to Oregon’s, this one for transportation of hazardous waste. Only this bill, which applies to nuclear waste, means raising the fees.

“Our fees were so low, compared to surrounding states,” Meyer said.

He and Smith both serve on a national committee on hazardous waste, where they discovered the disparity.