There are various types of landfills. The Federal Resource and Recovery Act (RCRA) sought to define the difference between hazardous and nonhazardous landfills.

The Federal mandate pretty well defines the process that must be followed in the creation of a hazardous landfill as well as municipal landfills. Therefore, the community is on notice for these activities, and public input is sought. For example, these landfills must demonstrate zoning compliance to the DEQ prior to submission of a permit application and review.

This is not the case for nonhazardous landfills. In Weber County in Utah, the local County Commission executed contracts for the creation of a construction and demolition landfill with no notice to the public nor surrounding land owners (execpt for 24-hour notice of the meeting where the contracts were signed).

The first notice the public received regarding this landfill was from the DEQ, who then posted a Public Notice that a Permit was being sought, notified surrounding land owners of the same (only within 1000 feet), and held a Public Hearing on the matter. The Public Hearing, however, addresses only geological and environmental issues -- no substantive local matters such as whether the location is in compliance with the County General Land Use Plan or whether traffic will exceed local road capacity. In other words, the Permit is basically a done deal at this point.

For some reason, the DEQ is unconcerned with these things, saying only that their mandate doesn't allow them to review these matters. There can be Chicago-like corruption at the local level and as long as the geology is sound, district court is the only citizen remedy.