LANSING (AP) Each garbage truck carrying Canada"s trash into Michigan would be inspected for things such as bombs and medical waste under legislation proposed Monday by a few state lawmakers.

"I want to make sure we"re getting what we"re supposed to be getting," said state Rep. Mike Kowall of White Lake, one of the three Republican House members working on the package of three bills.

The legislation would require the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to inspect the garbage in trucks coming to Michigan landfills from Canada at the state"s international crossings.

Canadian waste accounted for 7.5 percent of all waste in Michigan landfills in 2000, according to the most recent data available from the DEQ. The amount of Canadian trash dumped in Michigan increased 80 percent between 1999 and 2000, a 2000 DEQ report said.

The bills also would set fines for bringing garbage to Michigan that doesn"t meet state standards and require out-of-state trash to be sealed to prevent leaks. Lawmakers said they haven"t determined either the cost of the program or the penalties.

Rep. Mickey Mortimer, one of the House members working on the bills, said he was concerned a terrorist could sneak a weapon of mass destruction into Michigan in a garbage truck.

"How do people get things like that into the country? You put them in things people don"t want to look into," the Horton Republican said.

Toronto City Councilor Betty Disero said she doesn"t think Canadian garbage should be screened for security reasons.

"I certainly think there are other, more effective ways of using limited resources for security in North America," she said.

Although Michigan also receives trash from Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, lawmakers said they aren"t ready to call for inspections of that garbage.

DEQ spokesman Ken Silfven said it could be illegal for Michigan to single out trash from one municipality for inspection.

A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling denied states the right to refuse waste. Since then, state lawmakers have looked to Congress to approve a law allowing states to make such restrictions.

"This problem has to be solved in Washington," said Silfven, who added that it"s unlikely the department has the manpower to inspect each load of garbage from Canada.

Out-of-state trash accounts for 16.7 percent of all trash in Michigan, the DEQ said.

Michigan is No. 3 in the nation behind Virginia and Pennsylvania for the most out-of-state trash, said Mike Garfield, director of the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor.

"Michigan is becoming a leader in the business of importing trash," he said. "Michigan has more landfill space than what we need. We"re becoming the dumping ground for the entire Midwest."

Michigan will get even more trash from Canada next year as Toronto begins sending all of its trash across the border. In 2003, about 137 garbage trucks a day will go through southwestern Ontario on their way to Michigan. Now, 85 garbage trucks travel that route.

The large amount of out-of-state trash has environmentalists and some lawmakers worried that Michigan landfills are receiving trash that is prohibited in the state, such as medical waste.

Disero said Toronto is cautious about keeping materials such as batteries and medical waste out of household trash.

Rep. Paul Gieleghem, a Clinton Township Democrat, introduced legislation to require that out-of-state waste meet Michigan"s standards for its landfills. The House has not taken up that bill.

GOP Rep. Mike Bishop of Rochester, Kowall and Mortimer said they will introduce their bills either later this month or in February.