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Regulations and Standards

two photos: field of grasses and closeup of grain-bearing grasses Federal laws and regulations governing solid waste management apply both in Indian Country and in states. The primary federal solid waste law is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Exit EPA. We have provided information to help you understand how, under RCRA, different requirements apply to different types of waste. We also have provided information on tribal solid waste management codes and included examples.

EPA Regulation Links

The American Indian Environmental Office (AIEO) coordinates an Agency-wide effort to strengthen environmental protection in Indian Country. AIEO oversees development and implementation of the Agency's Indian Policy and ensures that the agencywide implementation of its Indian Program is consistent with the Administration's policy to work with tribes on a government-to-government basis to protect tribal health and environments.

The Compliance and Enforcement Through Tribal Government page discusses tribes' sovereign right to protect the water, land, and air in Indian Country.

The Waste Management section of the Tribal Compliance Center provides information on how tribes and tribal operations can understand and manage solid and hazardous waste and reduce illegal dumping.

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Other Regulation Links

The Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) Exit EPA is an organization supporting the environmental agencies of the states and trust territories. ASTSWMO focuses on the needs of state hazardous waste programs; nonhazardous municipal solid waste and industrial waste programs; recycling, waste minimization, and reduction programs; Superfund and state cleanup programs; waste management and cleanup activities at federal facilities; and underground storage tank programs.

Codetalk is an information-sharing network for, and about, Native Americans. It is sponsored by all of the federal agencies who operate Native American programs.

Department of Defense Environmental Network & Information Exchange Exit EPA provides access to current Department of Defense (DOD) rules, directives, and orders, environmental legislation, and guidance. It contains a section on DOD and Native American partnerships, outreach programs, and cooperative environmental efforts.

Native American Constitution and Law Digitalization Project Exit EPA The University of Oklahoma Law Library, the National Indian Law Library, and tribes have begun making tribal codes, including solid waste codes, available on the Internet.

The US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Exit EPA addresses the unique problems of tribes and Alaska native villages and proposes legislation to alleviate these difficulties.

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You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (MSWLF) Regulations

As required by RCRA, EPA devised MSWLF criteria and published them in the Federal Register on October 9, 1991. The criteria are located in the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR Part 258 (PDF) (39 pp, 280K) | Text Version (Text file) (185K). EPA offers a technical manual to help you understand and comply with the Part 258 criteria.

Part 258 specifies financial assurance mechanisms that MSWLF owners and operators can use to guarantee that funds will be available for closure and post-closure care of and corrective action at their landfills. A November 27, 1996 Federal Register notice (PDF) (13 pp, 83K) | Text Version (Text file) (82K) modified Part 258 by adding two items to the list of acceptable financial assurance mechanisms. 

The criteria were further modified by a July 29, 1997 Federal Register notice (PDF) (7 pp, 45K) | Text Version (Text file) (40K)) that granted additional design and operating flexibility to landfills receiving less than 20 tons per day of waste. The additional flexibility applies to alternative frequencies of daily cover, frequencies of methane monitoring, infiltration layers for final cover, and means for demonstrating financial assurance.

EPA further amended the financial assurance regulations with a Federal Register notice on April 10, 1998 (PDF) (26 pp, 196K) | Text Version (Text file) (186K)). That rule increased the flexibility available to owners and operators by adding two more mechanisms to those already available: a financial test for use by private owners and operators, and a corporate guarantee that allows companies to guarantee the costs for another owner or operator.

In addition to the MSWLF criteria, there are other criteria, published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1996 and located in the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR Part 257 (PDF) (24 pp, 182K) | Text Version (Text file) (98K)), specifying that conditionally exempt small quantity generator (CESQG) hazardous waste may be managed at MSWLFs subject to Part 258 and at nonmunicipal nonhazardous waste disposal units subject to revised criteria.

Preparing No-Migration Demonstrations for Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Facilities (PDF) (44 pp, 258K) | Text Version (Text file) (95K)
This guidance addresses how ground-water monitoring requirements for landfills may be suspended if there is no potential for migration of hazardous constituents from the unit to the uppermost aquifer during the active life and post-closure care period for a landfill.

Site-Specific Flexibility Requests for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills in Indian Country (PDF) (30 pp, 245K) | Text Version (Text file) (60K)
This draft guidance document describes a process by which MSWLF owners and operators in Indian Country can request design and operating flexibility that is available to landfill owners and operators in states with EPA-approved MSWLF permitting programs.

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Tribal Solid Waste Codes and Plans

If you are interested in developing or revising a solid waste code or plan, we have provided some tribal examples which can be tailored to meet your specific needs. These codes address ways to better manage municipal solid waste through a mix of practices that includes source reduction, recycling (including composting), and disposal.

A Model Tribal Solid Waste Management Code by The Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. (ITCA) Exit EPA
ITCA offers a model tribal solid waste code. It provides a generic code which tribes can customize to suit their own situations and then enact. It is designed to be comprehensive, covering many areas of solid waste management, such as recycling, landfill design and operation, and collection and transportation of solid waste.

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