Resources Conservation and Recovery Act

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) serves as the EPAs main statutory weapon. The act created a cradle-to-grave management system for current and future wastes, while the EPA authorizes cleanup of released hazardous substances. Some statutes apply to specific issues and limit the amount of wastes introduced into the air, waterways, oceans, and drinking water. Other statutes directly limit the production, rather than the release, of chemical substances and products that may contribute to the nation s wastes. The RCRA protects human health and the environment from the dangers of hazardous waste. RCRA authorizes control over the management of wastes from the moment of generation until final disposal. The RCRA was passed in 1976 as an amendment 

The law intended to remedy the mistakes in past hazardous waste management. CERCLA authorized a number of government actions to remedy the conditions or the effects of a release. CERCLA, as originally enacted in 1980, authorized a 5-year plan by the federal government to perform cleanup activities. CERCLA authorized EPA to identify those sites where the release of hazardous substances had occurred or might occur and posed a serious threat to human health, welfare, or the environment. The parties responsible for the releases were required to fund the cleanup actions. 

The 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the United State s single most important law dealing with the management of hazardous waste. RCRA and its 1984 amendments. Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments, deal with the ongoing management of solid wastes throughout the country— with an emphasis on hazardous waste. Keyed to the waste side of hazardous 

Tracking system— Requires a manifest document to accompany any waste transported from one location to another. 

Permitting system— Helps ensure safe operation of facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous wastes. 

Disposal control system—Controls and restrictions governing the disposal of hazardous wastes onto, or into, the land. 

The RCRA regulates five specific areas for the management of hazardous waste, with a focus on treatment, storage, and disposal (Griffin, 1989)  

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 1984 amendments also brought the owners and operators of underground storage tanks under the RCRA umbrella. This can have a significant effect on refineries that store products in underground tanks. Now, in addition to the hazardous waste being controlled, RCRA Subtitle I regulates petroleum products. 

The RCRA controls the disposal of solid waste and requires that all wastes destined for land disposal be evaluated for their potential hazard to the environment. Solid waste includes liquids, solids, and containerized gases and is divided into nonhazardous waste and hazardous waste. The various amendments are aimed at preventing the disposal problems that lead to a need for the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund, as it is known. 

This statutory definition of solid waste is pursuant to the regulations of the EPA insofar as a solid waste is a hazardous waste if it exhibits any one of four specific characteristics ignitability, reactivity, corrosivity, and toxicity. 

Corrosivity. A liquid waste that has a pH of less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12.5 is considered to be a corrosive hazardous waste (40 CFR 261.22). Sodium hydroxide, a caustic solution with a high pH, is often used 

Union Corp. the court held that TSCA s regulation of PCBs does not preempt RCRA regulation of PCBs. The court stated  

Conditionally exempt generators (less than 100 kgfinonth) with no more than 1 kg acutely hazardous waste 

Identify and label all waste and notify the EPA of hazardous waste operations Maintain secure storage areas, keep records, and train waste handlers Use permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facilities 

This law intends to remedy the mistakes in past hazardous waste management, whereas the RCRA is concerned with avoiding such mistakes through proper management in the present and future. The RCRA mainly regulates how waste should be managed. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) authorized a number of 

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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 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) controls the disposal of ha2ardous waste. SARA Tide III governs the toxic iaventory and emission reporting the Clean Water Act (CWA) sets the limits for metals that can be present ia water discharge and the Clear Air Act (CAA)... 

Clean Air Act and its amendments ia 1970, 1977, and 1990 1967 Air Quahty Standards and National Air Pollution Acts and 1970 National Environmental PoHcy Act) (2) better waste disposal practices (1965 SoHd Waste Disposal Act 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) (see Wastes, industrial Waste treatment, hazardous wastes) (i) reduced noise levels (1972 Noise Control Act) (4) improved control of the manufacture and use of toxic materials (1976 Toxic Substances Control Act) and (5) assignment of responsibiUty to manufacturers for product safety (1972 Consumer Product Safety Act) (15,16). 

Based on the evidence that acceptable recycled petroleum products can be produced, there is a considerable legislative record encouraging the recycling of used oil. Starting with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1976 (20), used oil was held apart from the normal hazardous waste system because the oil was viewed as a valuable commodity. This was followed by the Used Oil Recycling Act in 1980 (33), which removed any federal requirement that lubricants containing re-refined base oil carry special labeling. 

The two main federal agencies involved in the protection of human health and the environment are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). EPA s principal concern is the protection of the environment, in most cases, the area outside of an industrial faciUty. There are 10 regional offices that carry out the regulatory functions of the agency (Table 1). Primary laws covered by EPA are the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and LiabiUty Act (CERCLA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and Eederal Insecticide, Eungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 

Solid and Hazardous Waste. Regulation of pollution resulting from soHd waste disposal was formulated at a much slower pace than regulation of air or water pollution. It was not until the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 (6) was passed that substantial controls were authorized. 

Transportation and Disposal. Only highly alkaline forms of soluble sihcates are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as hazardous materials for transportation. When discarded, these ate classified as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Typical members of this class are sodium sihcate solutions having sihca-to-alkah ratios of less than 1.6 and sodium sihcate powders with ratios of less than 1.0. In the recommended treatment and disposal method, the soluble sihcates are neutralized with aqueous acid (6 Af or equivalent), and the resulting sihca gel is disposed of according to local, state, and federal regulations. The neutral hquid, a salt solution, can be flushed iato sewer systems (86). 

Clean Air Act (CAA) Clean Water Act (CWA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)... 

Thiophene and 3-methylthiophene are Hsted on the TSCA chemical substances inventory. Thiophene is regulated as a hazardous material under OSHA and also regulated under the Clean Air Act, Section 110, 40 CFR 60.489, but there are no exposure limits or controls set for 3-methylthiophene. Both materials are regulated under sections 311/312 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, 1986 (SARA), as materials with an acute health and fire hazard, and under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as ignitable hazardous wastes (DOOl). 

The ammonium salts of vanadic acid and vanadium pentoxide have been Hsted as toxic constituents in soHd wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (27). 

Thermal treatment is used to destroy, break down, or aid in the desorption of contaminants in gases, vapors, Hquids, sludges, and soHds. There are a variety of thermal processes that destroy contaminants, most of which are classified as incineration. Incineration HteraHy means to become ash (from Medieval Latin, incinerare in or into ashes). With respect to the incineration of hazardous wastes regulated in the United States, however, there is a strict legal definition of what constitutes an incinerator. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) definition of incinerator at 40 CFR 260.10 is... 

Antimony may enter the human body through the consumption of meats, vegetables, and seafood which all contain about 0.2—1.1 ppb antimony. Disposal of Antimony. Antimony and its compounds have been designated as priority pollutants by the EPA (35). As a result users, transporters, generators, and processors of antimony-containing material must comply with regulations of the Eederal Resource Conservative and Recovery Act (RCRA). 

The passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1978 and its implementation in 1980 generated an increase in the recycling of trichloroethylene, which, in turn, defined the need for specifications for recycled solvent. The ASTM is currendy working on a set of consensus specifications for recycled solvent. 

The introduction of surfactant products into the environment, after use by consumers or as part of waste disposed during manufacture, is regulated by the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In this respect, surfactants are subject to the same regulations as chemicals in general. There are, however, two areas of specific relevance to surfactants and detergent products, ie, biodegradabiUty and eutrophication. 

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Toxic Substances Control Act Nuclear Regulatory Commission Title 10... 

CPI Chemical process industries RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act... 

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 1976 RCRA is the primaiy statute governing the regulation of solid and hazardous waste. It completely replaced the Sohd Waste Disposal Act of 1965 and supplemented the Resource Recoveiy Act of 1970 RCRA itself was substantiaUy amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA). The principal objectives of RCRA as amended are to ... 

LandtiUing of Hazardous Wastes In many states, the only disposal option available for most hazardous wastes is landfilling. The basis for the management of hazardous-wastes landfills is set forth in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. In general, disposal sites for hazardous wastes shoiild be separate from sites for municipal solid wastes. If separate sites are not possible, great care must be taken to ensure that separate disposal operations are maintained. 

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)—Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures EPA 40 CFR part 264 or part 265, Subpart D... 

B) Any contamination of the environment or damage to natural resources at a facility owned or operated hy Seller or a facility/location chosen hy Seller for its disposal of Wastes or any other facility at which Seller s Wastes may he released or threatened to he released, including any liability imposed by federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances, including, but not limited to, the Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 USC 9601 etseq., the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 USC 6901 et seq., or comparable and applicable state legal requirements or any extension or revision thereof or... 

Identify hazardous or regulated raw materials, intermediates, products and wastes that fall under OSHA, resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA), Department of Transportation (DOT) pipeline safety regulations or other impacting regulations. 

The atmospheric movement of pollutants from sources to receptors is only one form of translocation. A second one involves our attempt to control air pollutants at the source. The control of parhculate matter by wet or dry scrubbing techniques 3delds large quantities of waste materials—often toxic—which are subsequently taken to landfills. If these wastes are not properly stored, they can be released to soil or water systems. The prime examples involve the disposal of toxic materials in dump sites or landfills. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and subsequent revisions are examples of legislation to ensure proper management of solid waste disposal and to minimize damage to areas near landfills (4). 

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