Hazardous waste governing generators, transporters

HAZARDOUS WASTES REGULATIONS GOVERNING GENERATORS, TRANSPORTERS, AND TSDFs... 

This act governs in detail how the chemical industry must manage hazardous wastes. Generation, handling, transportation, and disposal are included in the regulations. 

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed. It became effective in 1980, which governs in detail how generators of chemical wastes manage their hazardous wastes. This includes the generation, handling, transportation, and disposal of hazardous wastes. 

The RCRA has also outlined a set of systematic rules governing the transport of hazardous waste. A detailed manifest system was established, where a manifest is to be prepared for each shipment of hazardous waste. The manifest includes information on the generator, the nature of the waste, and the quantity. Each transporter of the waste is required to sign and verify the manifest and keep a copy. When the waste reaches its destination, a copy signed by all parties is returned to the origination point to verify arrival of the waste. This system ensures that no waste is lost or disposed of improperly. 

The problems of hazardous waste extend back many years. What to do with waste already disposed of also became a national issue. The result was the development of a Superfund. Contributions by both government and private industry created a source to cover the cost of cleaning up the worst of the many hazardous waste sites of the past. Industry contributed 75% of the initial 1.6 billion fund. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), passed in late 1980, took action to clean up some hazardous waste sites. The act also addressed liability. It stated that those causing or contributing to a release or threatened release from an inactive hazardous waste site shall have strict, joint, and several liability for cleanup, containment and emergency response activities at the site. Liable parties included generators and transporters of the waste and owners and operators of the disposal site. 

Manifest Disposal System. In the United States, hazardous-waste disposal is governed by the RCRA manifest system. Generators must prepare a form that discloses the type and quality of wastes to be transported to an off-site facility for treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal subject to the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA). Because the generator remains liable for proper disposal, a copy of the manifest form, signed by all handlers of the hazardous wastes, is returned to the generator to verify its delivery. However, some wastes are not transported but are treated and disposed of on-site. 

The basic laws-the Occupational Safety and Health Act, governing worker safety and health, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, governing the safe generation, storage, transport, and disposal of hazardous chemical waste, and the Clean Air Act and Federal Water Pollution Control Act, protecting puhhc health and the environment-... 

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