With approval from the federal government, the state of Michigan could put a halt on importing Canadian trash.

New legislation sponsored by Michigan Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and John Dingell, D-Dearborn, has been passed on to the U.S. House of Representatives after unanimous approval from the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The legislation would give states the power to control the amount of foreign trash dumped into their landfills.

A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibits states from banning Canadian trash without approval from Congress. Michigan imported more than 12 million cubic yards of trash from Canada last year.

Rep. Dan Acciavatti, R-Chesterfield Township, introduced a bill that coincides with the legislation sponsored by Rogers.

The bill, which was passed into state law in 2005, will ban foreign municipal waste from Michigan landfills 90 days after approval from Congress.

Acciavatti's legislation has the possibility of stopping Canadian waste sooner than the Stabenow-Levin agreement, which pledges to halt the importation of trash by 2010.

He added that it's important to continue fighting for the right to ban trash, even though the agreement is in place.

"The ultimate solution to stopping Canadian waste in Michigan is Congress giving us authority to regulate our borders," Acciavatti said.

The battle to stop flow of Canadian waste is being waged in other ways.

A proposal to raise Michigan's cost for using landfills from 21 cents a ton to $7.25 also has been made.

Bob McCann, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality, said whatever the solution, it's necessary to take care of this problem.

"We have argued for a matter of years that the state should have the power to regulate the importation of trash," he said. "(The tipping fee) may give us some of the tools we're looking for, but on its own, it won't help us ban trash altogether."

Sylvia Warner, Rogers' spokeswoman, said raising Michigan's tipping fee is an incorrect approach to solving this problem.

Michigan's trash disposal system was designed well, she said.

"If you raise the tipping fee, you raise the cost for every citizen of Michigan to get rid of their trash," Warner said.

Rogers sponsored similar legislation last year that was passed through the House but stalled in the Senate.

"He's been working on this since he came to Congress," Warner said. "We are hopeful that the Senate will take it up this time."

Canada is Michigan's largest source of imported trash, it's important to take care of the main contributor, Warner said.

"You can't bite all of it at once," she said.