The purpose of this Act is to safeguard the health, welfare, and physical property of the people and to protect the environment by controlling the management of solid waste, including accounting for hazardous waste that is generated. The policy is based on the finding that the storage, processing, and disposal of hazardous waste at municipal solid waste facilities poses a risk to public health and the environment, and in order to protect the environment and to provide measures for adequate protection of public health, the hazardous waste will be stored, processed, and disposed of only at permitted hazardous industrial solid waste facilities. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is responsible under this Act for the management of municipal solid waste, excluding hazardous municipal waste, and shall coordinate municipal solid waste activities, excluding activities concerning hazardous municipal waste. The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter by controlling all aspects of the management of municipal solid waste, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, by all practical and economically feasible methods consistent with its powers and duties under this chapter and other law. In matters relating to municipal solid waste management the commission considers water pollution control and water quality aspects and air pollution control and ambient air quality aspects. The Act is composed of 23 subchapters laying down rules and provisions on the following: general provisions, powers and duties of Commission, permits authorizing and governing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the solid waste facilities used to store, process, or dispose of solid waste; industrial solid waste and hazardous waste generation, facility, and management; fees and funds; powers and duties of local governments; registry and cleanup of certain hazardous waste facilities that may constitute an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and safety or the environment due to a release or threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment; enforcement; administrative orders concerning; imminent and substantial endangerment; enforcement; emergency order; corrective action; appeals; joinder of parties; cost recovery; removal and remedial action agreements; waste reduction programs; disposal fees; lead-acid batteries; pollution prevention; use of land over municipal solid waste landfills; medical waste; criminal penalties; voluntary cleanup program; fiduciary liability; lender liability; immunity from liability of innocent owner or operator; municipal setting designations; computer equipment recycling program; television equipment recycling program.
États-Unis d'Amérique · 1989-09-01