TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL ALMANAC

CHAPTER EIGHT

Municipal Waste

"Fix it Up...Wear it Out...Make it Do...Do Without."
Old Folkrhyme

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Texas Environmental Almanac, Chapter 8, Municipal Waste, Page 1

A SHORT HISTORY OF SOLID WASTE

The question of what to do with trash has been of concern to every society. Humans have essentially used the same four methods to deal with trash: reduce it, reuse it, dump it, and burn it.(1) But it was not until the late 19th century that a systematic municipally-run waste collection system was put in place in the United States. The system started in New York City where, under the direction of the Street Cleaning Commission, 1,000 men clad in white, known as the "Apostles of Cleanliness," transported trash from the streets to dumps and incinerators.(2) By 1910, most municipalities across the country had established some system of waste collection and disposal.

In the past twenty years, a substantial body of state and federal legislation regulating the disposal of industrial, hazardous and municipal solid waste (MSW) has been developed. Before that time, solid waste management depended on the judgment and decisions of individuals or local departments of health and sanitation. There was no distinction made between industrial and municipal solid waste - each was handled and disposed of in the same manner, mainly through landfilling, incineration or discharging into rivers and streams. Significant federal regulations governing the disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste did not go into effect until 1976, two years before the contamination of Love Canal was reported. In what seems to be a natural evolution of environmental law, federal waste legislation fell in place right on the heels of national water and air pollution control legislation. Concern for human health and the environment was the impetus for the enactment of the major federal legislation - the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA).

During the crafting of RCRA, Congress knew it had the opportunity both to regulate disposal methods and to reduce the generation of waste by regulating production and products. Several bills were introduced to minimize waste by regulating product contents, consumer product packaging and manufacturing processes; these bills did not pass. For both solid waste and hazardous waste, Congress made a policy decision to regulate waste disposal rather than encourage source reduction.(3)

The U.S. leads the world in (municipal) waste production, generating 200 million tons a year, enough to fill a convoy of garbage trucks stretching eight times around the globe.

Source: Noel Grove, "Recycling," National Geographic, July 1994).

SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL WASTE LEGISLATION

• In 1965, Congress made its first attempt to define the scope of the nation's waste disposal problems by enacting the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act. This financed statewide surveys of landfills and illegal dumps.

• In 1976, Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Most of the landmark legislation dealt with hazardous waste under Subtitle C, but Subtitle D of RCRA directed the EPA to set federal standards for the management of industrial and municipal non-hazardous solid waste in sanitary landfills.(4)

• In 1984, Congress passed the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments. One of the intents of the EPA was to revise the original landfill criteria to ensure that landfills that may receive hazardous household waste or hazardous waste from small quantity generators are protective of human health and the environment. States were required to adopt and implement a permit program that incorporated the EPA revisions. The EPA was then required to determine if such programs were adequate; if not, the EPA would enforce the criteria within the state. Texas received approval for its RCRA Subtitle D program in 1993.

• In 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act which established a federal hierarchy of preferred waste management methods for municipal solid waste and industrial waste.

SIGNIFICANT TEXAS SOLID WASTE LEGISLATION

• Texas has a long-standing municipal solid waste regulatory program, which was initiated with the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act, passed by the state legislature in 1969. This legislation charged the Texas Department of Health with regulating municipal solid waste (MSW). Industrial solid waste was placed under the jurisdiction of the Texas Water Quality Board, predecessor of the former Texas Water Commission. The Solid Waste Disposal Act required the Texas Health Department to adopt regulations pertaining to the design, construction and operation of landfills and other types of municipal solid waste management facilities and required many types of municipal waste management facilities to obtain a permit from the Department before beginning their operations.(5) In 1985, the hazardous waste portion of the MSW program was transferred to the Texas Water Commmission and consolidated with the industrial hazardous waste program. The Solid Waste Disposal Act was amended in 1991 to transfer jurisdiction over municipal solid waste to the Texas Water Commission, the predecessor agency of the current Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC).

Five other major pieces of state legislation have been passed relating to municipal solid waste management:

• In 1983, the Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Management, Resource Recovery and Conservation Act established the Municipal Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Advisory Council and prescribed procedures and criteria for those regional planning agencies and local governments which wished to develop solid waste management plans.

• In 1987, House Bill 2051 established a preferred hierarchy, as a state policy, for the management of hazardous waste, municipal waste and municipal sludge.

• In 1989, Senate Bill 1519 established a solid waste disposal fee program to fund the state's MSW regulatory program and provide funding for other MSW related statewide programs. The Bill also changed the voluntary state regional and local solid waste management planning program into a mandatory program with state funding provided for the development of those plans. The 24 regional planning agencies, or Councils of Governments (COGS), are responsible for developing these plans and the TNRCC awards the planning grants.

• In 1991, Senate Bill 1340, the Omnibus Recycling Act, set statewide recycling goals and directed the General Land Office, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Department of Commerce and the Texas Water Commission (now TNRCC) to conduct a comprehensive market development study that would result in a strategy to stimulate markets for recycled goods. The Legislature set a goal of 40 percent recycling for municipal solid waste by January 1, 1994. The legislation also established fees on the sale of tires and automotive oil, with the fees directed toward programs for collection of used oil and old tires and mandated state agencies to give preference to recycled materials in their purchasing. The Bill also mandated the recycling of lead-acid (automotive) batteries, and House Bill 1986 established a fee on the sale of lead-acid batteries with the revenues dedicated to the Hazardous and Solid Waste Remediation Fund.

• In 1993, Senate Bill 1051 was passed in order to expand SB 1340's programs and to change the 40 percent recycling goal established in 1991 to a 40 percent reduction goal of the total amount of municipal solid waste disposed in the state through source reduction and recycling.

• In 1993, House Bill 2537 addressed the risks associated with methane gas releases from closed landfills by establishing a process for the TNRCC to review proposals and issue permits to build atop closed municipal solid waste landfills.

DEFINITIONS OF WASTE Trash generally refers specifically to discards that are at least theoretically "dry": newspapers, boxes, cans and yard trimmings.

Garbage generally refers to "wet" discards: food remains and waste materials from the handling and sale of produce and other food products.

Municipal Solid Waste is an inclusive term for both the wet and dry discards.

Rubbish is another term for trash and refuse.(6)

Texas Environmental Almanac, Chapter 8, Municipal Waste, Page 1

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