Enacted by | the 89th United States Congress |
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Codification | |
U.S.C. sections created | 42 U.S.C. § 3251 et seq. |
Legislative history | |
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Major amendments | |
Solid Waste Disposal Act (79 Stat. 992, Pub. L. 89–272) 1970 Amendments (84 Stat. 1227, Pub. L. 91–512) 1973 Extension (87 Stat. 11, Pub. L. 93–14) 1975 Extension (88 Stat. 1974, Pub. L. 93–611) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act |
The Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) is an act passed by the United States Congress in 1965.[1] The United States Environmental Protection Agency described the Act as "the first federal effort to improve waste disposal technology".[2] After the Second Industrial Revolution, expanding industrial and commercial activity across the nation, accompanied by increasing consumer demand for goods and services, led to an increase in solid waste generation by all sectors of the economy.[3] The act established a framework for states to better control solid waste disposal and set minimum safety requirements for landfills.[4] In 1976 Congress determined that the provisions of SWDA were insufficient to properly manage the nation's waste and enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Congress passed additional major amendments to SWDA in the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA).[3]