Historical Overview
 In 1993, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2537, which required the Regional Councils of Governments to include an inventory of closed municipal solid waste landfills in their regional plans for solid waste management. The requirements are referenced in the Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 363.064. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with Southwest Texas State University (SWTSU, now Texas State University) to do a preliminary inventory of the landfills in the 24 regional councils in Texas. This effort resulted in the location of approximately 4,200 closed and abandoned municipal solid waste landfills throughout Texas.

In 1999, Senate Bill (SB) 1447 was passed and required to the COGs to further develop the Closed Inventory. The COGs were mandated to take the SWTSU point location inventory and database and develop maps showing exact or approximate boundaries of the closed landfills. The full requirements of SB 1447 may be found in the Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 363.064.

The Inventory Effort (Methodology)
 The Southwest Texas State University Study inventoried 483 closed or abandoned landfills in the Alamo Area Council of Governments twelve county region. A typical site fell into one of the following categories:

      • Illegal surface dumps - many of which have been remediated
      • Old city and county dumps
      • Closed permitted sites
      • Private dumps

Sites that were not included were operational landfills, landfills with valid permits or sites that were closed in 1993 or later which were and continue to be in "post-closure" status.

Each site was researched further for information regarding its existence. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) staff from AACOG visited appraisal districts, county engineers, commissioners, judges, law enforcement authorities and with the general public regarding any available information. Staff also spent several days in Austin researching archival TCEQ documents. On many occasions, AACOG staff visited the site to verify its existence. Once the staff felt confident there was adequate documentation for the site’s existence, a stick and aerial map were made along with an information sheet about the site. The GIS staff utilized ESRI ArcView geographical software to map each site. When metes and bounds were available they were used in the mapping. All other sites were mapped in acreage circles. If no actual size or shape could be ascertained from the documentation, it was determined to use a five-acre circle. This determination was the median size of AACOG sites noted in the SWTSU survey. Any sites that were less than a quarter acre were not included in the inventory.

After completion of each county’s site, a public meeting was scheduled and announced in the local newspapers. At the public meetings, the gathered information and maps were presented for scrutiny. The public attending these meetings were called upon for any other pertinent information regarding the sites. Information gathered at the public meetings resulted in the addition of several unknown sites and the deletion of duplicated sites.

The Closed Landfill Inventory (CLI) is an ongoing project. Work scheduled for 2006 includes further research on sites with exact boundaries. For these sites only, the COG is required to notify the current landowner of the former landuse of the property and also the County Clerk for deed recordation. As other municipal solid waste landfills close and move beyond the “post closure” procedures, these sites will be added to the CLI. In essence, the CLI will continue to grow as long as landfills are used for waste disposal.