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Texas has a long-standing municipal solid waste regulatory program, started in 1969 when the legislature
enacted the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act. This legislation charged the Texas Department of Health with regulating municipal solid waste. Industrial solid wastes were placed under the
jurisdiction of the Texas Water Quality Board. By 1991 the regulation of all municipal solid waste had been transferred to the Texas Water Commission, the predecessor agency of the current
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, formerly the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission(TNRCC).
Today, Texas's municipal solid waste regulatory programs are administered by the TCEQ. Major state legislation
relating to municipal solid waste management includes the following:
- In 1969 the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act was established and directed the Texas Department of Health to regulate the
design, construction, and operation of municipal solid waste facilities. The regulation of municipal solid waste was subsequently transferred to the Texas Water Commission, the
predecessor agency of the current Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
- In 1983 the Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Management, Resource Recovery and Conservation Act established the
Municipal Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Advisory Council to help guide the development of regional solid waste management plans. It also established procedures and criteria
for regional planning agencies and local governments to develop voluntary solid waste management plans.
- In 1987 the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act was amended to include as state policy a preferred hierarchy of treatment
methods for the management of hazardous waste, municipal waste, and municipal sludge. (This hierarchy will be discussed more fully in the following pages.)
- In 1989 the legislature established a solid waste disposal fee program to fund the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality's municipal solid waste regulatory program and provide funding for other, related statewide programs. The act also made state, regional, and local solid waste management planning
programs mandatory, rather than voluntary, and provided state funding for the development of regional solid waste management plans. The state's 24 regional planning agencies, or Councils
of Governments (COGS), were responsible for developing these regional solid waste management plans.
- In 1991 the Omnibus Recycling Act was established to set a statewide recycling goal for municipal solid waste: a 40
percent recycling goal for municipal solid waste by January 1, 1994. It directed the General Land Office (GLO), the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Department of Commerce, and the
Texas Water Commission (now Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) to conduct a comprehensive market development study that would result in a strategy to stimulate markets for
recycled goods. It also mandated state agencies to give preference to recycled materials in their purchasing. The legislation imposed fees on the sale of tires and automotive oil and
earmarked the revenues for used oil and scrap tire collection programs. The bill also mandated the recycling of lead-acid (automotive) batteries.
- In 1993 legislation was passed to, among other items, change the 40 percent recycling goal established in 1991 to a 40
percent waste reduction goal (using 1992 landfill tonnage as the base) of the total amount in order to encourage source reduction and recycling. Legislation was passed to create the
Recycling Market Development Board, which is charged with coordinating the recycling activities of state agencies and development of recycling industries and markets.
- In 1993 legislation was passed to address the risks associated with methane gas releases from closed landfills. The bill
established a process for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to review proposals and issue permits to build atop closed municipal solid waste landfills.
- The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Waste Tire Recycling Program, established by the legislature in 1991,
expired December 31, 1997, and the state legislature chose not to reauthorize the program in its original form. One of the major activities eliminated was the state-funded incentive for
the collection, processing, and disposal of scrap tires. The state legislature wanted private enterprise to take over this activity.
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