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-4- ~ (~ ~ ~ ~ ~ state water planning as authorized by the Missouri Water Resources Law, passed in 1989 by the General Assembly, had 1990 as its first year of approved funding. The is an important piece of legislation which was supported by both economic and environmental constituents. At present the state staffing is gearing up. Recently, since the last AWRBIAC meeting, a Chief Planner and a Chief Hydrologist were hired. It is important to recognize that the final product must not be a static document. This is one of the key parts of water planning and has been demonstrated so clearly in the AWRBIAC region over and over again. The plans must be a living part of society. There is a new state law which bans certain items from landfills, including whole tires, waste motor oil, large appliances, lead acid batteries, and so forth. Senate Bill 530, which took effect January 1 provides for comprehensive solid waste management. The overall goal is ,to reduce solid waste by 40% by 1998. The intent of the ban is to divert those items from landfills to collection centers and resource recovery facilities where they can be put to a beneficial use. The ban on yard waste will take effect January 1, 1992. Missouri has now increased protection of its lakes and streams, and wetlands based on water quality standards approved and put into regulation by the Missouri clean Water Commission in December. The revised standards were proposed by the Department of Natural Resources which works in conjunction with the Commission. The water quality protection under the new standards includes strict limits on more than two dozen pollutants; classification of two wetlands and sections of 12 streams as outstanding state Resources Waters; addition of 500 miles of streams around the state to the 20,500 miles of waterways in Missouri designated as Missouri's classified waters. Many Missouri farmers are using innovative practices such as no till planting, contour farming, and terrace systems in an effort to stanch the flow of the state's agricultural soil. Such measures help reduce the topsoil loss by more than 25% in the last ten years and hold the promise that Missouri will achieve tolerable, sustainable soil losses by the end of the century - a goal more commonly known as "T by 2000." In eastern Missouri there is a city, or should I say a former city, named Times Beach. The Department of Natural Resources, the U.s. Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department, and syntex Agribusiness signed a decree that would permanently remove dioxin contaminated soil from Times Beach and 26 other sites in eastern Missouri This would require the use of a temporary incinerator to be built by Syntex at Times Beach. The oil containing dioxin was originally spread in the early 1970's to control dust. The Department of Natural Resources is intent on not allowing Times Beach to become a dioxin dumping ground for the rest of the nation. The