Regulation of Solid and Hazardous Wastes in Mississippi

The Mining and Solid Waste Branch of MDEQ’s EPD is responsible for the issuance of all media environmental permits for SIC Codes that are related to solid waste management.  The general management of solid waste in Mississippi is primarily governed by The Mississippi Solid Waste Disposal Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 17-17-1 through 17-17-67.  The Mississippi Non-hazardous Waste Management Regulations provide for the management and ultimate disposal of specific types of waste.  Per Miss. Code Ann. §17-17-219, the operator of a commercial, non-hazardous solid waste management facility managing municipal solid waste must pay $1.00 per ton of municipal solid waste generated and managed in the state by landfilling or incineration, including waste-to-energy management. 

For all solid waste, MDEQ requires a permit or a Certificate of Coverage under a General Permit.  A Municipal Solid Waste Landfill, also referred to as a Subtitle D landfill, requires an individual permit for construction and operation. For Industrial/Non-Municipal Waste Landfills, also referred to as special waste landfills, MDEQ requires an individual permit for construction and operation.  In 1997, State Wide General Permits were issued for the construction and operation of (1) Class I and Class II rubbish sites and (2) Transfer Stations.  Applicants for these permits may be issued a Certificate of Coverage under the applicable General Permit or an individual permit.  In 1998, a State Wide General Permit was issued for composting facilities that manage yard waste, rubbish or other similar non-putrescible solid wastes only. Applicants for this permit may be issued a Certificate of Coverage or an individual permit. That stated, composting facilities that manage household garbage, wastewater sludge or other putrescible solid wastes, require an individual permit.  There are only two types of solid waste processing facilities that require a permit to operate. These types are the same as those identified for composting facilities: (1) yard waste and other similar wastes; and (2) putrescible wastes, such as medical waste.  A State Wide General Permit has not been issued for these facility types.  Finally, a land application permit is specific to the disposal of either municipal wastewater sludge or industrial sludge or other similar industrial wastes at a land application site. In either case, an individual permit is required.

MDEQ regulates the storage, treatment, disposal, generation, and transportation of hazardous wastes.  Generators of hazardous waste are allowed to store and treat their own hazardous waste in accordance with the Mississippi Hazardous Waste Regulations, Part 262. If the requirements of Part 262 are not met, then a RCRA permit is required.  Any hazardous waste disposal activity requires a RCRA permit, and commercial hazardous waste facilities are subject to special requirements.  New "Greenfield" or existing stationary sources that intend to generate or transport any hazardous waste are assigned hazardous waste identification numbers.  Non-generators and Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators (“CESQG”) are not required to have a hazardous waste identification number.  In contrast, Small Quantity Generators (“SQG”) and Large Quantity Generators (“LQG”), are required to have a hazardous waste identification number.  Mississippi’s Radioactive Waste Transportation Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 45-14-51 through 69, establishes that transportation of radioactive waste is a safety threat and that the cost of emergency response should be borne by the shippers. MDEQ has created a permit and fee process to manage the transportation of radioactive waste.

Other laws, although not directly related to environmental permitting, nonetheless regulate solid waste in Mississippi.  Mississippi’s Underground Storage Tank Act of 1988, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 49-17-401 through 433, creates the Mississippi Groundwater Protection Trust Fund. This Act levies a tax on motor fuels which is used to sustain the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund is used for investigation of contaminated sites, replacement of potable water and rehabilitation of contaminated sites.