Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

In 1983, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services by administrative order established ATSDR as a separate agency of the Public Health Service. In 1984, amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) authorized ATSDR to conduct public health assessments at RCRA sites when requested by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, or individuals, and to help EPA decide which substances should be regulated and at what levels those substances threaten human health. 

Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 1984... 

Universal waste rule was an amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations. It is designed to reduce the amount of hazardous waste items in the municipal solid waste stream. The rule encourages the recycling of certain common hazardous wastes and their proper disposal. Another objective of this rule is to reduce paperwork and other administrative requirements and regulatory burden on businesses that generate these wastes, and to save them compliance costs. 

A critical part of the regnlation is to rednce and, where possible, eliminate the generation of hazardons waste. Waste minimization was specifically mandated in the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This has had an enormous impact on the way waste is handled by printed circuit board facilities. Prevention of pollution has become the overriding goal in design with recycle and reuse technologies implemented only where pollution prevention is not feasible for technical and/or economic reasons. Chemical treatment of wastes should be utilized only where no other options exist. 

Mineral Oil Hydraulic Fluids. Disposal of used mineral oil hydraulic fluids is regulated as used oil under the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and as amended by the Used Oil Recycling Act (42 U.S.C. 6901, 6905, 6935, 6937-6939, and 6074, see 40 CFR parts 260, 261, 266, 271, and 279). Used mineral oil hydraulic fluids to be recycled are not listed as hazardous wastes and can be burned for energy recovery or recycled. In general, the newer mineral oil hydraulic fluids (including water-in-oil emulsion fluids) do not contain known chemicals or other materials that are listed in 40 CFR 261 (RCRA) and can be burned for energy recovery or recycled. However, this may not apply to some of the older hydraulic fluids, particularly those containing PCBs. 

During the 1970s and the early 1980s, toxic chemicals and other hazardous wastes were treated by land disposal or by incineration. The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984 to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) severely restricted disposal of wastes in untreated landfills, surface impoundments, and land treatment units. Additionally, negative public opinion was focused on the disproportionate risk borne by those living near incinerators and other hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities. Environmental laws passed in the 1970s clearly articulated public and congressional dissatisfaction with early site remedies that wholly consisted of containment, off-site disposal, and incineration. 

This section does not apply to (i) Any hazardous waste as such term is defined by the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.),... 

Waste minimization was first introduced as a national policy in the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The EPA elaborated on the concept in its 1986 Report to Congress. ... 

To satisfy the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1977) and its amendment for hazardous and solid waste (1984), the 80(K) Series Methods have been designed to analyze solid waste, soUs, and groundwater. In particular, methods 8240/8260 require the use of a purge-and-trap device in conjunction with packed or capillary GC/MS, respectively, for the analysis of purgeable organic compounds. Methods 8250/8270 concern analyses for the less-volatile bases, neutrals, and acids by GC/MS after extraction from the matrix by an organic solvent. 

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)1-3 and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)1 2 4 protect the public from the risks created by past and recent chemical disposal practices. Cleanup of contaminated sites is needed in order to protect human and natural resources, as defined by the Clean Air Act,5 the Clean Water Act,6 the Safe Drinking Water Act,7 and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)89... 

The hazardous waste regulatory program as we know it today began with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976. Since its enactment in 1976, the RCRA has been amended several times, to promote safer solid and hazardous waste management programs (Dennison, 1993). The Used Oil Recycling Act of 1980 and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) were the major amendments to the original law. 

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was enacted in 1976 and was revised substantially by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment (HSWA) of 1984 (40 CFR pts. 260-280). The RCRA regulates the management of solid wastes that are hazardous. The definition of solid wastes in these regulations generally encompasses all discarded materials (including solid, liquid, semisolid, and contained gaseous materials) and many secondary materials (e.g., spent solvents, byproducts) that are recycled or reused rather than discarded [3]. Products such as commercial pesticides are not ordinarily solid wastes, but they become solid wastes if and when they are discarded or stored, treated, or transported prior to such disposal. 

Provides information about all RCRA regulations and programs including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund) and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)/Superfund Amendments Reauthorization Act (SARA) Title III. Operates weekdays from 9 00 a.m. to 6 00 p.m., EST, excluding Federal holidays. Services are also available in Spanish. 

While mining processes generate metal-bearing wastes, mining wastes are outside of the current hazardous waste regulatory scope. For further information on this, refer to the current amended version of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), PL 94-580, Subtitle C, Section 3001 -"Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste."... 

The accumulation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes are regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Hazardous Solid Waste Amendments of 1984. Wastes derived from the management and destruction of chemical agents and munitions—i.e., secondary wastes —must be assessed against them and the applicable state regulations, and, if determined to be hazardous, must be managed under them. 

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