Regulation No. 053 on solid waste disposal

REGULATION NO. 053, OF 1 MARCH 1979 THE MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR STATE DEPARTMENT, upon a proposal by the Secretary of the Environment, by the power vested in him by Article 4 of Decree No. 73.030, of 30 October 1973; in view of the fact that the problems of solid waste fall under the jurisdiction of Pollution Control and the Environment; in view of the amount of refuse or solid waste, produced by the full range of human activity, as vehicles of soil, air and water pollution; in view of the constant deterioration of areas used as landfills or dumps for solid waste or refuse; in view of the fact that, for the public well-being, in accordance with international standards, refuse from at least 80% of the urban population of cities with over 20,000 (twenty thousand) inhabitants must have a sanitarily adequate final destination system; in view of the fact that, in the interest of the quality of life, open-air trash heaps, dumps or landfills must be destroyed as soon as possible; IT IS RESOLVED: I - Specific plans for treatment and disposal of solid waste, as well as control of their installation, operations and maintenance, shall be subject to approval from the state pollution control and environmental protection agency, and copies of the authorizations granted for said plans must be sent to the Special Secretary of the Environment (SEMA). II - NATURAL refuse should not be used in agriculture or to feed animals. III - Solid waste of a toxic nature, as well as any waste that contains flammable, corrosive, explosive or radioactive substances or any other substance that could be considered dangerous, should undergo the proper treatment or processing right on the production site, and under the terms set forth by the state pollution control and environmental protection agency. IV - Refuse or solid waste should not be permitted into waterways, lakes or ponds, unless there is a need to level the ground in an artificial pond, as authorized by the state pollution control and environmental protection agency. V - Solid waste from harbors and airports must be incinerated right at the production site. VI - All solid waste which contains pathogenic agents, including that from hospitals and similar institutions, as well as food and other products for human consumption that have been tainted, must be properly packaged and transported by special carrier, under the terms set forth by the state pollution control and environmental protection agency, and then they must be burned. VII - The incinerator installations mentioned above, and in the text of Regulation No. 231, of 27 April 1976, from the Minister of the Interior, which establishes air quality standards, must: a) provide for the cremation of small animals; b) be set up by municipal authorities for public use, with the area to serve one or more towns, according to the technical capacity and local economies. VIII - Excluded from the incineration requirement is solid waste that contains pathogenic agents and that which has been subjected to a sterilization process by ion radiation, at installations licensed by the National Nuclear Energy Commission. IX - Solid waste incinerators should not be used in residential, commercial or service buildings. X - Solid or semi-solid waste of any type should not be stored or burned in the open air, and only the following situations shall be tolerated: a) the temporary accumulation of waste of any kind, in previously approved locations, provided that this does not pose a risk to public health or the environment, in the opinion of pollution control, environmental protection or public health authorities. b) the incineration of solid or semi-solid waste of any kind, in the open-air, in situations of health emergencies. XI - The introduction of solid waste into the sea shall be subject to the prior approval of the competent federal authorities. XII - The plans or projects for the final destination of solid waste must encourage joint solutions for municipal groups, as well as solutions that result in the reasonable recycling and reuse of the waste. XIII - The Special Secretary of the Environment may act directly or on a substitute basis, in the event that there is no state agency to supervise or carry out what is set forth in this Regulation. XIV - This Regulation shall take effect on the date it is published. Mauricio Rangel Reis