Nationally, expenditures for solid waste collection and disposal are exceeded only by spending on schools and roads [3, p. 1]. In Texas, recent legislation which establishes minimum acceptable standards for disposal of municipal solid wastes materially affects the future costs of operating solid Waste management systems for smaller rural communities.

The 1969 amendment to the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act establishes the minimum legal standards for disposal operations in rural communities. The State Department of Health was given the responsibility for enforcement of regulations involving the collection, handling, storage and disposal of municipal solid wastes. After January 1, 1973, data presented in support of the disposal operations in Texas communities larger than fifteen hundred people must be prepared by a registered professional engineer and submitted to the State Department of Health for approval. Under the auspices of this act all towns with a population of between three thousand and five thousand are required to operate a sanitary landfill with compaction and cover at least twice per week.