Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT OF 1976 (SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT)
42 U.S.C. §§ 6901-6992k, October 21, 1976, as amended 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982-1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1994 and 1996.

Overview. This Act provides for comprehensive cradle-to-grave regulation of hazardous waste and authorizes environmental agencies to order the cleanup of contaminated sites. Since 1984, it has also called for the extensive regulation of underground storage tanks and the cleanup of contamination caused by leaking tanks. In addition, the Act addresses the environmental problems associated with nonhazardous solid waste and encourages states to develop solid waste management programs, regulate solid waste landfills and eliminate open dumps. Federal facilities are required to comply with federal, state and local regulations and requirements on solid and hazardous waste and underground storage tanks to the same extent as private parties. The Act contains provisions on a number of other topics, such as resource recovery, used oil management and recycling, small town environmental planning and plastic ring carriers. While most of the Act's provisions focus on the protection of human health, its wide-ranging attempts to prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution have an obvious, if largely unstated, effect on wildlife protection as well.

Findings/Policy. Congress found that most solid waste is disposed of on land in open dumps and sanitary landfills, that disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste in or on land without careful planning and management can present a danger to human health and the environment, and that reliance on land disposal should be minimized or eliminated. Congress also found that millions of tons of recoverable materials are needlessly buried each year and that recovery and conservation of these materials could reduce U.S. dependence on foreign resources. In addition, solid waste represents a potential source of fuel that can be converted into energy and the technology exists to produce usable energy from solid waste. With respect to oil, Congress found that the technology exists to recycle used oil and that used oil constitutes a threat to public health and the environment when improperly disposed of or reused. It is in the national interest to recycle used oil in a manner which does not constitute a threat and which conserves energy and materials. §§ 6901 and 6901a.

The objectives of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) are to protect health and the environment and to conserve valuable material and energy resources by measures which include:   providing technical and financial assistance to state and local governments and interstate agencies for the development of solid waste management plans (including resource recovery and resource conservation) to promote improved solid waste management techniques; prohibiting open dumping on land; assuring that hazardous waste is managed in a manner that protects human health and the environment; minimizing the generation and land disposal of hazardous waste by encouraging process substitution, materials recovery, properly conducted recycling and reuse, and treatment; establishing a viable federal-state partnership to carry out the purposes of the Act. It is national policy that, wherever feasible, the generation of hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated as expeditiously as possible. Waste that is generated should be treated, stored or disposed of as to minimize the present and future threat to human health and the environment. § 6902.

Selected Definitions. Administrator:  Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Hazardous waste:  a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, may (1) cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or (2) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise managed. Resource conservation:  reduction of the amounts of solid waste that are generated, reduction of overall resource consumption and utilization of recovered resources. Resource recovery:  the recovery of material or energy from solid waste. Solid waste:  any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility, and other discarded material. The term does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under the Clean Water Act, or source, special nuclear or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq. § 6903.

Small Town Environmental Planning. The 1992 amendments to the Act required the Administrator to establish a program to assist small communities in planning and financing environmental facilities. The Administrator was to publish a list of federal environmental and public health requirements applicable to small towns and implement a program to notify small towns of existing and future regulations and requirements. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was to study the possibility of establishing a multi-media permitting program for small towns and report to Congress by October 1995 on the results of the study. § 6908.

Plastic Ring Carrier Regulation. By statute adopted in 1988, Congress recognized that plastic ring carrier devices have been found in large quantities in the marine environment, that fish and wildlife are being entangled in them, and that nondegradable devices can remain intact for decades, posing a threat to fish and wildlife. The law directs the Administrator to adopt regulations by October 1990 to require that plastic ring carriers intended for use in the U.S. be made of naturally degradable material which, when discarded, decomposes within a period established by the regulations. EPA may decline to issue these regulations only if it determines that the requirement is not feasible or that the byproducts of degradable plastic ring carriers present a greater threat to the environment than nondegradable ones. These provisions apply to plastic ring carriers that:   contain at least one hole greater than 1 3/4 inches in diameter; are made, used or designed for packaging, transporting or carrying multipackaged cans or bottles; are of a size, shape, design or type that, when discarded, are capable of becoming entangled with fish or wildlife. §§ 6914b and 6914b-1.

Hazardous Waste Regulation. The hazardous waste provisions of the Act require the Administrator to adopt regulations identifying the characteristics of hazardous waste which should be subject to the Act's requirements, considering such factors as toxicity, flammability, corrosiveness or other hazardous characteristics. The Act also requires EPA to develop lists of specific hazardous wastes to be regulated.

The Act directs the Administrator to adopt regulations for hazardous waste generators as necessary to protect human health and the environment, including requirements that generators use a manifest system to ensure that waste being transported is sent to authorized facilities. Generators must maintain certain records, label and use appropriate containers for the waste they generate, and have waste minimization programs in place.

The Act requires the Administrator to adopt performance standards for hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal (TSD) facilities. Regulations must include standards for the location, design and construction of the facilities and for operating methods and practices. Owners and operators of TSD facilities are required to obtain permits and must be able to demonstrate financial responsibility for meeting facility closure and corrective action requirements. RCRA prohibits the disposal of most hazardous wastes in landfills unless strict treatment standards are met. Ground water monitoring is required on an ongoing basis at landfills, surface impoundments and certain other permitted TSD facilities. Corrective action is required at all permitted facilities when contamination is found. §§ 6921-6925.

States may seek approval from EPA to administer and enforce a state hazardous waste regulatory program in lieu of the federal program so long as the state program is equivalent to the federal program. No state or political subdivision may impose requirements which are less stringent than the federal requirements; nothing in the Act prevents state and local regulations from being more stringent than their federal counterparts. §§ 6926 and 6929.

The Act authorizes inspections of facilities which generate, store, treat, transport, dispose of or otherwise handle hazardous waste and requires federal or state inspection of all TSD facilities at least every two years. Administrative compliance orders and civil and criminal penalties are among the enforcement measures provided in the Act. §§ 6927-6928 and 6934.

States must compile and maintain an inventory of all sites where hazardous waste has been stored or disposed of, and EPA may make grants to the states for this purpose. The Act also requires federal agencies to undertake a continuing program to compile an inventory of agency-owned or operated sites and must submit this inventory to EPA every two years. §§ 6933, 6937 and 6939c.

RCRA requires that the Administrator develop a recycled oil program. By October 1981, the Administrator was to issue regulations establishing performance standards and other requirements as necessary to protect public health and the environment from hazards associated with recycled oil. § 6935.

Solid Waste. The Act directs the Administrator to publish guidelines by October 1977 for states to follow in developing state solid waste management plans. The Act sets minimum requirements for plan content, including provisions prohibiting the open dumping of solid waste and requiring the closing or upgrading of existing open dumps. Regional planning for solid waste management is encouraged. §§ 6941-6949a.

Resource Recovery. The Secretary of Commerce is to encourage greater commercialization of resource recovery technology by providing accurate specifications for recovered materials, stimulating markets, promoting proven technology and providing a forum for the exchange of technical and economic data relating to resource recovery facilities. Congress authorized to be appropriated for these purposes sums ranging from $5 million for fiscal year 1980 to $1.5 million for fiscal year 1988. §§ 6951-6956.

Federal Responsibilities. The Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992 amended RCRA to make it clear that all federal agencies are subject to all substantive and procedural requirements of federal, state and local solid waste, hazardous waste and underground storage tank laws in the same manner as any private party, although the President may exempt a facility under certain circumstances. This mandate includes administrative orders issued by state or local authorities, civil penalties and reasonable service charges. EPA may bring administrative enforcement actions against federal agencies in the same manner as if it were enforcing the law against a private party.

The Act requires that federal agencies establish programs for the procurement of recovered or recycled material. Agencies are to procure items which use recovered materials to the extent practical while maintaining a satisfactory level of competition. §§ 6961-6965.

Public Participation and Enforcement. Under RCRA, any person may bring a citizen suit in federal district court against anyone who is allegedly violating the Act, or a regulation or permit issued under the Act, as well as against anyone contributing to a past or present handling of hazardous waste that may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment, with a 60-day notice to the violator. In addition, the Administrator, upon receipt of evidence that past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation or disposal of a solid waste or hazardous waste may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment, may order the offending person to restrain from that action, or take such other action as may be necessary, or both.

The Act outlines procedures for the adoption of regulations and for public participation in the process. Regulations adopted by EPA are subject to judicial review as described in the Act. §§ 6972-6976.

Research and Development. The Act provides for federally-assisted research and development on a variety of waste management and recycling issues and mandates a number of specific studies and demonstration projects. §§ 6981-6987.

Plastic Pollution. In 1987, Congress required the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, to undertake a study of the adverse effects of the improper disposal of plastic articles on the environment, and the various methods that could be used to reduce or eliminate these adverse effects. The study was to focus, in particular, on specific plastic articles and disposal practices that occur in the environment with sufficient frequency to cause death or injury to fish or wildlife or affect adversely the habitat of fish or wildlife. EPA was required to report the results of the study to Congress by mid-1989. Congress also directed the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Administrator of EPA, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, to conduct a public outreach program to educate the public (including recreational boaters, fishermen and other users of the marine environment) regarding the harmful effects of plastic pollution and the need to reduce the quantity of plastic debris in the marine environment. This program was supposed to begin by April 1988 and last for at least three years. § 6981 note.

Underground Storage Tanks. By amendments to RCRA in 1984 and 1986, Congress initiated a comprehensive regulatory program for underground storage tanks (USTs) containing regulated substances, defined to include (1) petroleum and (2) substances considered hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (but not including substances being regulated as hazardous waste under RCRA). By May 1986, every owner of an existing UST was to notify the state or local agency of the existence of the tank, and provide certain information about the tank. New USTs must be reported when they are installed, and states are required to maintain inventories on the USTs present in the state.

The Administrator was directed to adopt regulations setting technical tank standards, requiring owners and operators to meet financial responsibility requirements, and mandating that owners and operators clean up releases from their USTs. A release is any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching or disposing from a UST into ground water, surface water or subsurface soils.

States may administer and enforce their own UST regulatory programs in lieu of the federal program with EPA's approval, if the state program is no less stringent than the federal program. States and local governments may adopt regulations more stringent than their federal counterparts. Federal facilities must comply with state and local UST requirements to the same extent as any private person. §§ 6991-6991i.

Medical Waste. In 1988, Congress amended the Act to authorize demonstration programs for tracking medical wastes to be set up in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, the states contiguous to the Great Lakes and other states which petition successfully to be included. The programs were to begin once EPA adopted regulations governing them and were to expire two years later. The regulations, to be adopted by May 1989, were expected to list the types of medical waste to be tracked and could exclude items that did not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise managed. The program was to include:   tracking of waste transportation from the generator to the disposal facility; assurance by the generator that the waste was received by the disposal facility; requirements for segregating waste using special containers and for labeling the containers. The Act provides for enforcement of the law and regulations, including the imposition of civil and criminal penalties. Federal facilities must comply with federal, state or local requirements concerning the control and abatement of medical waste disposal. §§ 6992-6992k.

Appropriations Authorized. The Act authorizes appropriations to the EPA for most of the Act's purposes through fiscal year 1988. The level authorized at the time was $80 million a year. Not less than 30 percent of the amount appropriated was to be used for the hazardous waste provisions of the Act, not counting the provisions on financial assistance to states for state hazardous waste programs. Sixty million dollars was authorized to be appropriated in fiscal year 1988 for grants to the states to assist them in developing and implementing their hazardous waste programs. As for underground storage tanks, the Act authorized to be appropriated $10 million for each fiscal year 1985 through 1988 for the EPA to carry out the Act, plus $25 million each year for grants to assist states in developing and implementing their UST programs. There are authorizations for appropriations for other programs throughout the Act. §§ 6908, 6914, 6916, 6931, 6933, 6948, 6949, 6956, 6982, 6987 and 6992k.

Editor's Note. RCRA is a significant example of a statute which does not refer to authorizations for appropriations for recent years. As noted above, the last fiscal year referred to in most of the sections of the statute on funding is 1988. This does not mean that appropriations have not been authorized since then or that the programs described in RCRA are defunct. In most cases, it means simply that Congress has provided this authorization elsewhere in the laws it enacts each year.

This material is a copy from: http://ipl.unm.edu/cwl/fedbook/statute_frame.htm