Landfills for inerts like construction debris (concrete, rubble etc.) are certainly different animals than those for municipal solid waste and hazardous wastes..
The Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (P.L. 89-272, 79 Stat. 992) became law on October 20, 1965. In its original form, it was a broad attempt to address the solid waste problems confronting the nation through a series of research projects, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies. The decade following its passage revealed that the SWDA was not sufficiently structured to resolve the growing mountain of waste disposal issues facing the country. As a result, significant amendments were made to the act with the passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), which became law on October 21, 1976. The SWDA as amended in 1976 is more commonly known as the RCRA and since then referred to as Subtitle D of RCRA
RCRA Section 4001 of Subtitle D outlines primary goals of the Act, which are:
- Promote environmentally sound disposal methods
- Maximize the reuse of recoverable resources
- Foster resource conservation
Subtitle D Regulates:
- Garbage also known as municipal solid waste (e.g., milk cartons and coffee grounds)
- Refuse (e.g., metal scrap, wall board, and empty containers)
- Sludges from waste treatment plants, water supply treatment plants, or pollution control facilities (e.g., scrubber slags)
- Nonhazardous industrial wastes (e.g.,manufacturing process wastewaters and nonwastewater sludges and solids)
- Other discarded materials, including solid, semisolid, liquid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial and commercial activities, (e.g., mining waste, oil and gas waste, construction and demolition debris, medical waste, agricultural waste, household hazardous waste,* and Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator Waste).
There were a lot of folks who stopped their landfilling operations in the summer/fall of 1976 so they wouldn't be subject to the new Subtitle D requriements, including closure plans and 30 year post closure plans
If landfill closure plans or post-closure plans are violated, fines can be up to $27,500 per day per violation. 30-yr Post closure plans and what happens in year 31iare addressed in the following referenced doc if anyone want some further reading.
http://www.gfredlee.com/Landfills/LFoverviewMSW.pdf