"The four counties using Edgeboro shouldn't have to pay all the closure costs, since it accepted out-of-state garbage."

"We waited six weeks to see if there was any public reaction to taking out-of-state garbage and there was none," Mayor Larsen said.

Mr. Gibson's bill would bar any new agreements to accept out-of-state garbage for two years while a commission studies the problem.

But Fresh Kills on Staten Island, the city's last landfill, is running out of space, and Congress may authorize other states to ban out-of-state garbage.

In other cases, protesters have pressured regulators or disposal-site owners to reduce or even block importation of out-of-state garbage.

"I don't understand this out-of-state garbage," was the way he put it at the time.

This spring, Congress is to consider legislation that would allow states to impose huge surcharges on out-of-state garbage, or to ban shipments of it altogether.

"The people of West Virginia are crying out for protection from out-of-state garbage," the Governor, a Democrat, told a special session of the Legislature this week.

"I think the mountains are too beautiful for out-of-state garbage," she said.

In addition, Congress is edging toward legislation permitting states to ban out-of-state garbage.