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Managing Hazardous Waste—RCRA Subtitle C SECTION III SECTION III

 RCRA SUBTITLE C –ÊÊÊÊÊÊ

MANAGING HAZARDOUS WASTE

SECTION III

Some threats posed by the mismanagement of

hazardous waste are obvious. Reports of chemical

accidents or spills of hazardous waste that close

highways, or illegal midnight dumping that

contaminates property, are familiar. Yet, even

when hazardous waste is managed or disposed of

in a careful manner, it may still pose a serious

threat to human health and the environment. For

example, toxic hazardous wastes can leak from a

poorly constructed or improperly maintained

hazardous waste landfill. Such waste

contamination can severely, and sometimes

irreversibly, pollute ground water, the primary

source of drinking water for half the nation.

Ground water pollution is not the only

problem posed by hazardous waste

mismanagement. The improper disposal of

hazardous waste has polluted streams, rivers,

lakes, and other surface waters, killing aquatic life,

destroying wildlife, and stripping areas of

vegetation. In other cases, careless waste disposal

has been linked to respiratory illnesses, skin

diseases (including skin cancer), and elevated

levels of toxic materials in the blood and tissue of

humans and domestic livestock. In still other

cases, the mismanagement of hazardous waste has

resulted in fires, explosions, or the generation of

toxic gases that have killed or seriously injured

workers and firefighters.

Since 1980, under RCRA Subtitle C, EPA has

developed a comprehensive program to ensure

that hazardous waste is managed safely: from the

moment it is generated; while it is transported,

treated, or stored; until the moment it is finally

In this section...

Overview........................................................... III-1

Chapter 1: Hazardous Waste Identification .. III-5

Chapter 2: Hazardous Waste Recycling and

Universal Wastes ........................ III-33

Chapter 3: Regulations Governing

Hazardous Waste Generators .... III-45

Chapter 4: Regulations Governing

Hazardous Waste Transporters .. III-55

Chapter 5: Regulations Governing Treatment,

Storage, and Disposal

Facilities ...................................... III-59

Chapter 6: Land Disposal Restrictions ......... III-101

Chapter 7: Hazardous Waste Combustion ... III-113

Chapter 8: Permitting of Treatment, Storage

and Disposal Facilities ................ III-123

Chapter 9: Corrective Action to Clean Up

Hazardous Waste

Contamination ............................. III-137

Chapter 10: Enforcement of Hazardous Waste

Regulations ................................. III-145

Chapter 11: Authorizing States to Implement

RCRA .......................................... III-157

OVERVIEW

The improper management of hazardous

waste poses a serious threat to the health of

American citizens and their environment. When

EPA began developing the hazardous waste

management regulations in the late 1970s, they

estimated that only 10 percent of all hazardous

waste was managed in an environmentally sound

manner.
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 SECTION III SECTION III Managing Hazardous Waste—RCRA Subtitle C

disposed (see Figure III-1). This cradle-to-grave

management system establishes requirements for

each of the following:

• Hazardous Waste Identification — To facilitate

the proper identification and classification of

hazardous waste, RCRA begins with hazardous

waste identification procedures.

• Hazardous Waste Generators — To ensure

proper and safe waste management, the RCRA

regulations provide management standards for

those facilities that produce hazardous waste,

and provide reduced regulations for facilities

that produce less waste.

• Hazardous Waste Recycling and Universal

Wastes — To provide for the safe recycling of

hazardous wastes, and facilitate the

management of commonly recycled materials,

RCRA includes provisions for hazardous waste

recycling and universal wastes.

• Hazardous Waste Transporters — To govern

the transport of hazardous waste between

management facilities, RCRA regulates

hazardous waste transporters.

• Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities —

To fully protect human health and the

environment from hazardous waste treatment,

storage, and disposal, the TSDF requirements

establish generic facility management

standards, specific provisions governing

hazardous waste management units, and

additional precautions designed to protect

soil, ground water, and air resources.

• Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) — To reduce

the hazards posed by permanently land

disposed waste, this program requires effective

and expeditious hazardous waste treatment.

• Combustion — To minimize the hazards

posed by the burning of hazardous waste,

RCRA imposes strict standards on units

conducting such combustion.

• Permitting — To ensure that only facilities

meeting the TSDF standards are treating,

storing, and disposing of hazardous waste, and

to provide each TSDF facility with a record of

the specific requirements applicable to each

part of its operation, RCRA requires owners

and operators of these facilities to obtain a

permit.

Hazardous Waste 

Generation

Hazardous Waste 

Transportation

 Hazardous Waste 

Disposal

Figure III-1: RCRA'S CRADLE-TO-GRAVE HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
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Managing Hazardous Waste—RCRA Subtitle C SECTION III SECTION III

• Corrective Action — Since hazardous waste

management may result in spills or releases

into the environment, the corrective action

program is designed to guide the cleanup of

any contaminated air, ground water, or soil

resulting from such management.

• Enforcement — To ensure that RCRAregulated facilities, from generators to TSDFs,

comply with these regulations, RCRA provides

EPA with the authority to enforce provisions of

the Act.

• State Authorization — To empower states and

make enforcement more efficient, RCRA also

allows EPA to authorize state governments to

administer various parts of the RCRA program.

Each of these aspects of the RCRA Subtitle C

program is carefully detailed in separate chapters

in this section.
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