Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1999
Print
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Notification
New Delhi, the 25th September, 2000
S.O. 908(E).- Whereas the draft of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1999 were published under the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forests number S.O. 783(E), dated, the 27th September, 1999 in the Gazette of India, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii) of the same date inviting objections and suggestions from the persons likely to be affected thereby, before the expiry of the period of sixty days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette containing the said notification are made available to the public; And whereas copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on the 5th October, 1999; And whereas the objections and suggestions received from the public in respect of the said draft rules have been duly considered by the Central Government;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 3, 6 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules to regulate the management and handling of the municipal solid wastes, namely :-
1. Short title and commencement .--
1. These rules may be called the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.
2. Save as otherwise provided in these rules, they shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Application .-- These rules shall apply to every municipal authority responsible for collection, segregation, storage, transportation,, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes .
3. Definitions.-- In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires ,--
i. "anaerobic digestion" means a controlled process involving microbial decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen;
ii. "authorization" means the consent given by the Board or Committee to the "operator of a facility" ;
iii. "biodegradable substance" means a substance that can be degraded by micro-organisms;
iv. "biomethanation" means a process which entails enzymatic decomposition of the organic matter by microbial action to produce methane rich biogas;
v. "collection" means lifting and removal of solid wastes from collection points or any other location;
vi. "composting" means a controlled process involving microbial decomposition of organic matter;
vii. "demolition and construction waste" means wastes from building materials debris and rubble resulting from construction, re-modelling, repair and demolition operation;
viii. "disposal" means final disposal of municipal solid wastes in terms of the specified measures to prevent contamination of ground-water, surface water and ambient air quality;
ix. "Form" means a Form appended to these rules;
x. "generator of wastes" means persons or establishments generating municipal solid wastes;
xi. "landfilling" means disposal of residual solid wastes on land in a facility designed with protective measures against pollution of ground water, surface water and air fugitive dust, wind-blown litter, bad odour, fire hazard, bird menace, pests or rodents, greenhouse gas emissions, slope instability and erosion;
xii. "leachate" means liquid that seeps through solid wastes or other medium and has extracts of dissolved or suspended material from it;
xiii. "lysimeter" is a device used to measure rate of movement of water through or from a soil layer or is used to collect percolated water for quality analysis;
xiv. "municipal authority" means Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Nagar Palika, Nagar Nigam, Nagar Panchayat, Municipal Council including notified area committee (NAC) or any other local body constituted under the relevant statutes and, where the management and handling of municipal solid waste is entrusted to such agency;
xv. "municipal solid waste" includes commercial and residential wastes generated in a municipal or notified areas in either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but including treated bio-medical wastes;
xvi. "operator of a facility" means a person who owns or operates a facility for collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes and also includes any other agency appointed as such by the municipal authority for the management and handling of municipal solid wastes in the respective areas;
xvii. "pelletisation" means a process whereby pellets are prepared which are small cubes or cylindrical pieces made out of solid wastes and includes fuel pellets which are also referred as refuse derived fuel;
xviii. "processing" means the process by which solid wastes are transformed into new or recycled products;
xix. "recycling" means the process of transforming segregated solid wastes into raw materials for producing new products, which may or may not be similar to the original products;
xx. "Schedule" means a Schedule appended to these rules;
xxi. "segregation" means to separate the municipal solid wastes into the groups of organic, inorganic, recyclables and hazardous wastes;
xxii. "State Board or the Committee" means the State Pollution Control Board of a State, or as the case may be, the Pollution Control Committee of a Union territory;
xxiii. "storage" means the temporary containment of municipal solid wastes in a manner so as to prevent littering, attraction to vectors, stray animals and excessive foul odour;
xxiv. "transportation " means conveyance of municipal solid wastes from place to place hygienically through specially designed transport system so as to prevent foul odour, littering, unsightly conditions and accessibility to vectors;
xxv. "vadose water" water which occurs between the ground, surface and the water table that is the unsaturated zone;
xxvi. "vermicomposting" is a process of using earthworms for conversion of bio-degradable wastes into compost.
4. Responsibility of municipal authority .-
1. Every municipal authority shall, within the territorial area of the municipality, be responsible for the implementation of the provisions of these rules, and for any infrastructure development for collection, storage, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes.
2. The municipal authority or an operator of a facility shall make an application in Form-I, for grant of authorization for setting up waste processing and disposal facility including landfills from the State Board or the Committee in order to comply with the implementation programme laid down in Schedule I.
3. The municipal authority shall comply with these rules as per the implementation schedule laid down in Schedule I.
(4) The municipal authority shall furnish its annual report in Form-II,-
a. to the Secretary-incharge of the Department of Urban Development of the concerned State or as the case may be of the Union territory, in case of a metropolitan city; or
b. to the District Magistrate or the Deputy Commissioner concerned in case of all other towns and cities, with a copy to the State Board or the Committee on or before the 30th day of June every year.
5. Responsibility of the State Government and the Union territory Administrations .--
(1) The Secretary-incharge of the Department of Urban Development of the concerned State or the Union territory, as the case may be, shall have the overall responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of these rules in the metropolitan cities.
(2) The District Magistrate or the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district shall have the overall responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of these rules within the territorial limits of their jurisdiction.
6. Responsibility of the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Board or the Committees .—
1. The State Board or the Committee shall monitor the compliance of the standards regarding ground water, ambient air, leachate quality and the compost quality including incineration standards as specified under Schedules II, III and IV.
2. The State Board or the Committee, after the receipt of application from the municipal authority or the operator of a facility in Form I, for grant of authorization for setting up waste processing and disposal facility including landfills, shall examine the proposal taking into consideration the views of other agencies like the State Urban Development Department, the Town and Country Planning Department, Air Port or Air Base Authority, the Ground Water Board or any such other agency prior to issuing the authorization.
3. The State Board or the Committee shall issue the authorization in Form-III to the municipal authority or an operator of a facility within forty-five days stipulating compliance criteria and standards as specified in Schedules II, III and IV including such other conditions, as may be necessary.
4. The authorization shall be valid for a given period and after the validity is over, a fresh authorization shall be required.
(5) The Central Pollution Control Board shall co-ordinate with the State Boards and the Committees with particular reference to implementation and review of standards and guidelines and compilation of monitoring data.
7. Management of municipal solid wastes .--
1. Any municipal solid waste generated in a city or a town, shall be managed and handled in accordance with the compliance criteria and the procedure laid down in Schedule-II.
(2) The waste processing and disposal facilities to be set up by the municipal authority on their own or through an operator of a facility shall meet the specifications and standards as specified in Schedules III and IV.
8. Annual Reports .—
1. The State Boards and the Committees shall prepare and submit to the Central Pollution Control Board an annual report with regard to the implementation of these rules by the 15th of September every year in Form-IV.
2. The Central Pollution Control Board shall prepare the consolidated annual review report on management of municipal solid wastes and forward it to the Central Government alongwith its recommendations before the 15th of December every year.
9. Accident Reporting .--
When an accident occurs at any municipal solid wastes collection, segregation, storage, processing, treatment and dispoosal facility or landfill site or during the transportation of such wastes, the municipal authority shall forthwith report the accident in Form-V to the Secretary in-charge of the Urban Development Department in metropolitan cities, and to District Collector or Deputy Commissioner in all other cases.
Schedule I
[see rules4(2) and (3)]
Implementation Schedule
Serial No. |
Compliance Criteria |
Schedule |
1. |
Setting up of waste processing and disposal facilities |
By 31.12.2003 or earlier |
2. |
Monitoring the performance of waste processing and disposal facilities |
Once in six months |
3. |
Improvement of existing landfill sites as per provisions of these rules |
By 31.12.2001 or earlier |
4. |
Identification of landfill sites for future use and making site (s) ready for operation |
By 31.12.2002 or earlier |
Schedule -II
[see rules 6(1) and (3), 7(1)]
Management of Municipal Solid Wastes
S.no |
Parameters
|
Compliance criteria
|
1.
|
Collection of municipal solid wastes
|
1. Littering of municipal solid waste shall be prohibited in cities, towns and in urban areas notified by the State Governments. To prohibit littering and facilitate compliance, the following steps shall be taken by the municipal authority, namely :- i. Organising house-to-house collection of municipal solid wastes through any of the methods, like community bin collection (central bin), house-to-house collection, collection on regular pre-informed timings and scheduling by using bell ringing of musical vehicle (without exceeding permissible noise levels);
- Devising collection of waste from slums and squatter areas or localities including hotels, restaurants, office complexes and commercial areas;
- Wastes from slaughter houses, meat and fish markets, fruits and vegetable markets, which are biodegradable in nature, shall be managed to make use of such wastes;
- Bio-medical wastes and industrial wastes shall not be mixed with municipal solid wastes and such wastes shall follow the rules separately specified for the purpose;
- Collected waste from residential and other areas shall be transferred to community bin by hand-driven containerised carts or other small vehicles;
- Horticlutural and construction or demolition wastes or debris shall be separately collected and disposed off following proper norms. Similarly, wastes generated at dairies shall be regulated in accordance with the State laws;
- Waste (garbage, dry leaves) shall not be burnt;
- Stray animals shall not be allowed to move around waste storage facilities or at any other place in the city or town and shall be managed in accordance with the State laws.
2. The municipal authority shall notify waste collection schedule and the likely method to be adopted for public benefit in a city or town. 3. It shall be the responsibility of generator of wastes to avoid littering and ensure delivery of wastes in accordance with the collection and segregation system to be notified by the municipal authority as per para 1(2) of this Schedule.
|
2.
|
Segregation of municipal solid wastes
|
In order to encourage the citizens, municipal authority shall organise awareness programmes for segregation of wastes and shall promote recycling or reuse of segregated materials. The municipal authority shall undertake phased programme to ensure community participation in waste segregation. For this purpose, regular meetings at quarterly intervals shall be arranged by the municipal authorities with representatives of local resident welfare associations and non-governmental organizations.
|
3.
|
Storage of municipal solid wastes
|
Municipal authorities shall establish and maintain storage facilities in such a manner as they do not create unhygienic and insanitary conditions around it. Following criteria shall be taken into account while establishing and maintaining storage facilities, namely :- i. Storage facilities shall be created and established by taking into account quantities of waste generation in a given area and the population densities. A storage facility shall be so placed that it is accessible to users;
- Storage facilities to be set up by municipal authorities or any other agency shall be so designed that wastes stored are not exposed to open atmosphere and shall be aesthetically acceptable and user-friendly;
- Storage facilities or ‘bins’ shall have ‘easy to operate’ design for handling, transfer and transportation of waste. Bins for storage of bio-degradable wastes shall be painted green, those for storage of recyclable wastes shall be printed white and those for storage of other wastes shall be printed black;
- Manual handling of waste shall be prohibited. If unavoidable due to constraints, manual handling shall be carried out under proper precaution with due care for safety of workers.
|
4.
|
Transportation of municipal solid wastes
|
Vehicles used for transportation of wastes shall be covered. Waste should not be visible to public, nor exposed to open environment preventing their scattering. The following criteria shall be met, namely:- i. The storage facilities set up by municipal authorities shall be daily attended for clearing of wastes. The bins or containers wherever placed shall be cleaned before they start overflowing;
- Transportation vehicles shall be so designed that multiple handling of wastes, prior to final disposal, is avoided.
|
5.
|
Processing of municipal solid wastes
|
Municipal authorities shall adopt suitable technology or combination of such technologies to make use of wastes so as to minimize burden on landfill. Following criteria shall be adopted, namely:- (i) The biodegradable wastes shall be processed by composting, vermicomposting, anaerobic digestion or any other appropriate biological processing for stabilization of wastes. It shall be ensured that compost or any other end product shall comply with standards as specified in Schedule-IV; ii. Mixed waste containing recoverable resources shall follow the route of recycling. Incineration with or without energy recovery including pelletisation can also be used for processing wastes in specific cases. Municipal authority or the operator of a facility wishing to use other state-of-the-art technologies shall approach the Central Pollution Control Board to get the standards laid down before applying for grant of authorisation.
|
6.
|
Disposal of municipal solid wastes
|
Land filling shall be restricted to non-biodegradable, inert waste and other waste that are not suitable either for recycling or for biological processing. Land filling shall also be carried out for residues of waste processing facilities as well as pre-processing rejects from waste processing facilities. Land filling of mixed waste shall be avoided unless the same is found unsuitable for waste processing. Under unavoidable circumstances or till installation of alternate facilities, land-filling shall be done following proper norms. Landfill sites shall meet the specifications as given in Schedule –III.
|
Schedule III
[see rules 6(1) and (3), 7(2)] Specifications for Landfill Sites Site Selection 1. In areas falling under the jurisdiction of ‘Development Authorities’ it shall be the responsibility of such Development Authorities to identify the landfill sites and hand over the sites to the concerned municipal authority for development, operation and maintenance. Elsewhere, this responsibility shall lie with the concerned municipal authority.
2. Selection of landfill sites shall be based on examination of environmental issues. The Department of Urban Development of the State or the Union territory shall co-ordinate with the concerned organisations for obtaining the necessary approvals and clearances.
3. The landfill site shall be planned and designed with proper documentation of a phased construction plan as well as a closure plan.
4. he landfill sites shall be selected to make use of nearby wastes processing facility. Otherwise, wastes processing facility shall be planned as an integral part of the landfill site.
5. The existing landfill sites which continue to be used for more than five years, shall be improved in accordance of the specifications given in this Schedule.
6. Biomedical wastes shall be disposed off in accordance with the Bio-medical Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 and hazardous wastes shall be managed in accordance with the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling ) Rules, 1989, as amended from time to time.
7. The landfill site shall be large enough to last for 20-25 years.
8. The landfill site shall be away from habitation clusters, forest areas, water bodies monuments, National Parks, Wetlands and places of important cultural, historical or religious interest.
9. A buffer zone of no-development shall be maintained around landfill site and shall be incorporated in the Town Planning Department’s land-use plans.
10. Landfill site shall be away from airport including airbase. Necessary approval of airport or airbase authorities prior to the setting up of the landfill site shall be obtained in cases where the site is to be located within 20 km of an airport or airbase.. Facilities at the Site
11. Landfill site shall be fenced or hedged and provided with proper gate to monitor incoming vehicles or other modes of transportation.
12. The landfill site shall be well protected to prevent entry of unauthorised persons and stray animals.
13. Approach and other internal roads for free movement of vehicles and other machinery shall exist at the landfill site.
14. The landfill site shall have wastes inspection facility to monitor wastes brought in for landfill, office facility for record keeping and shelter for keeping equipment and machinery including pollution monitoring equipments.
15. Provisions like weigh bridge to measure quantity of waste brought at landfill site, fire protection equipments and other facilities as may be required shall be provided. 16. Utilities such as drinking water (preferably bathing facilities for workers) and lighting arrangements for easy landfill operations when carried out in night hours shall be provided.
17. Safety provisions including health inspections of workers at landfill site shall be periodically made. Specifications for land filling
18. Wastes subjected to land filling shall be compacted in thin layers using landfill compactors to achieve high density of the wastes. In high rainfall areas where heavy compactors cannot be used alternative measures shall be adopted.
19. Wastes shall be covered immediately or at the end of each working day with minimum 10 cm of soil, inert debris or construction material till such time waste processing facilities for composting or recycling or energy recovery are set up as per Schedule I.
20. Prior to the commencement of monsoon season, an intermediate cover of 40-65 cm thickness of soil shall be placed on the landfill with proper compaction and grading to prevent infiltration during monsoon. Proper drainage berms shall be constructed to divert run-off away from the active cell of the landfill.
21. After completion of landfill, a final cover shall be designed to minimize infiltration and erosion. The final cover shall meet the following specifications, namely :-- a. The final cover shall have a barrier soil layer comprising of 60 cms of clay or amended soil with permeability coefficient less that 1 x 10-7 cm/sec. b. On top of the barrier soil layer there shall be a drainage layer of 15 cm. c. On top of the drainage layer there shall be a vegetative layer of 45 cm to support natural plant growth and to minimize erosion. Pollution prevention
22. In order to prevent pollution problems from landfill operations, the following provisions shall be made, namely :- a. Diversion of storm water drains to minimize leachate generation and prevent pollution of surface water and also for avoiding flooding and creation of marshy conditions; b. Construction of a non-permeable lining system at the base and walls of waste disposal area. For landfill receiving residues of waste processing facilities or mixed waste or waste having contamination of hazardous materials (such as aerosols, bleaches, polishes, batteries, waste oils, paint products and pesticides) minimum liner specifications shall be a composite barrier having 1.5 mm high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane, or equivalent, overlying 90 cm of soil (clay or amended soil) having permeability coefficient not greater than 1 x 10-7 cm/sec. The highest level of water table shall be at least two meter below the base of clay or amended soil barrier layer; c. Provisions for management of leachates collection and treatment shall be made. The treated leachates shall meet the standards specified in Schedule- IV; d. Prevention of run-off from landfill area entering any stream, river, lake or pond. Water Quality Monitoring
23. Before establishing any landfill site, baseline data of ground water quality in the area shall be collected and kept in record for future reference. The ground water quality within 50 metres of the periphery of landfill site shall be periodically monitored to ensure that the ground water is not contaminated beyond acceptable limit as decided by the Ground Water Board or the State Board or the Committee. Such monitoring shall be carried out to cover different seasons in a year that is, summer, monsoon and post-monsoon period.
24. Usage of groundwater in and around landfill sites for any purpose (including drinking and irrigation) is to be considered after ensuring its quality. The following specifications for drinking water quality shall apply for monitoring purpose, namely :-
S.No. |
Parameters |
IS 10500: 1991 Desirable limit ( mg/l except for pH) |
1. |
Arsenic |
0.05 |
2. |
Cadmium |
0.01 |
3 |
Chromium |
0.05 |
4. |
Copper |
0.05 |
5. |
Cyanide |
0.05 |
6. |
Lead |
0.05 |
7. |
Mercury |
0.001 |
8. |
Nickel |
- |
9. |
Nitrate as NO3 |
45.0 |
10 |
PH |
6.5-8.5 |
11. |
Iron |
0.3 |
12. |
Total hardness (as CaCO3) |
300.0 |
13. |
Chlorides |
250 |
14. |
Dissolved solids |
500 |
15. |
Phenolic compounds (as C6H5OH) |
0.001 |
16. |
Zinc |
5.0 |
17. |
Sulph |
|