This act empowered the Surgeon General to conduct research and development, help states to get solid waste programs started, and provide technical assistance to improve practices. The new federal solid waste program, housed in the US Public Health Service, addressed a number of issues, the most important being the elimination of the open burning dump. Progress was good, but the feds lacked the muscle to move things along more quickly. With the passage of RCRA in the 1970s, the feds were given authority to write guidelines for improved landfill practices. While not enforceable by the feds, those guidelines were enforceable in the federal court system by citizens, states, etc.
Guidelines are, however, just that and progress remained slow.
Along came the 1980s and RCRA was amended. The message here is clear. Inherent in those criteria was a promise to the American public and Congress that improper siting design, and operation of landfills was over. The criteria made many promises, perhaps the most important being the financial assurance provisions. This is perhaps the boldest environmental statement ever made by a US industry.