Landfill Law

New Mexico Solid Waste Management Regulations: The state regulations are based on the federal law. The law was last updated October 27, 1995 and contains 203 pages.
You can read the federal law or the state law by clicking above. But generally, here is what the law requires:

Location restrictions: Landfills cannot be built too close to groundwater, near an airport, on a fault, in wetlands or on a floodplain.

Liner: Landfills must be lined with a special, flexible plastic sheet on top of at least two feet of clay or a clay-substitute liner.

Leachate Collection: Landfills must lay pipes at the bottom of every cell so that leachate (tainted water) that makes its way to the bottom can be pumped out and put in a special lined pond on the landfill property.

Groundwater monitoring: Landfills must drill groundwater monitoring wells around the site and make regular tests to determine if leachate has tainted the groundwater.

Methane monitoring: Landfills are required to drill methane monitoring wells to make sure methane gas (which is often produced by rotting trash and can be explosive) does not wander outside the landfill limits.

Operating practices: Landfills must "compact" waste brought into the landfill into the tightest possible space, and cover it daily with six inches of soil; dust roads must be sprayed; fences must be erected to collect blowing litter; incoming loads of garbage must be periodically inspected.

Closure requirements: Landfills must prove they have sufficient funds to properly cap a landfill and monitor it after closure for 30 years. The cap must meet certain specifications to keep water from getting inside.

Note: The law exempts smaller landfills (those that accept less than 20 tons of garbage a day) from having to abide by these regulations.