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RCRA Orientation Manual EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

RCRA ORIENTATION

MANUAL

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

OVERVIEW

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

(RCRA) was enacted in 1976 to address the huge

volumes of municipal and industrial solid waste

generated nationwide. After several amendments,

the Act as it stands today governs the management

of solid and hazardous waste and underground

storage tanks (USTs).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) published the 1990 RCRA Orientation

Manual in order to educate and inform the public

about the broad requirements of RCRA’s

regulatory program. The 1990 manual has proven

to be a popular and valuable resource for anyone

working with EPA’s solid and hazardous waste

management program or UST program.

Since the manual’s publication in 1990, the

RCRA program has evolved dramatically. As a

result of changes in the dynamics of solid and

hazardous waste management, as well as changes

in the regulatory expectations and demands of

government, public, and private entities, the

RCRA program has been steadily modified

through new regulations, policies, Agency-wide

initiatives, and Congressional mandates. The

manual’s revision reflects the progress that has

been made in the program and documents the

changes in RCRA.

FEATURES OF THIS MANUAL FEATURES OF THIS MANUAL

Specifically, this manual addresses:

• Introduction to RCRA

• Managing Solid Waste — RCRA Subtitle D

• Managing Hazardous Waste — RCRA

Subtitle C

• Managing Underground Storage Tanks —

RCRA Subtitle I

• Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions

• RCRA and Its Relationship to Other

Environmental Statutes

• Public Participation in RCRA.

This manual also contains appendices that

present important RCRA forms and paperwork

requirements, a glossary, a list of acronyms and

abbreviations, an organization chart for EPA’s

Office of Solid Waste, and useful environmental

contacts.
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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RCRA Orientation Manual

MANUAL HIGHLIGHTS

Each of the seven sections of the manual

discusses different aspects of the regulatory

program.

■ Introduction to the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act Conservation and Recovery Act

• RCRA’s goals are to protect human health and

the environment from the hazards posed by

waste disposal; to conserve energy and natural

resources through waste recycling

and recovery; to reduce or

eliminate the amount of waste

generated, including hazardous

waste; and to ensure that

wastes are managed in an

environmentally safe

manner.

• RCRA, enacted in 1976, is an amendment to

the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965. RCRA

has been amended several times, most

significantly by the Hazardous and Solid Waste

Amendments (HSWA) of 1984.

• Within this manual, the acronym RCRA does

not only refer to the Statute itself, but also to

corresponding regulations codified in the

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), guidance,

and policy.

• RCRA addresses three programs — solid

waste, hazardous waste, and USTs.

• RCRA involves several organizations and

entities, including Congress, EPA’s Office of

Solid Waste and Emergency Response

(OSWER), EPA Regions, states, the regulated

community, and the general public.

• Current program initiatives include

encouraging waste minimization, streamlining

RCRA regulations, and fostering federal/state

partnerships.

■ Managing Solid Waste — RCRA

Subtitle D

• RCRA’s solid waste management program,

Subtitle D, encourages environmentally sound

solid waste management practices that

maximize the reuse of recoverable material

and foster resource recovery.

• The term solid

waste is very broad,

including not only

the traditional

nonhazardous solid

wastes, such as

municipal garbage,

but also some

hazardous wastes.

RCRA Subtitle D

addresses solid

wastes, including those hazardous wastes that

are excluded from the Subtitle C regulations

(e.g., household hazardous waste), and

hazardous waste generated by conditionally

exempt small quantity generators (CESQGs).

• The solid waste management program also

addresses municipal solid waste, which is

generated by businesses and households and

is typically collected and disposed in

municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLFs).

• EPA recommends an integrated, hierarchical

approach to managing municipal solid waste

that includes: source reduction, recycling,

combustion, and landfilling. Source reduction

and recycling are preferred elements of the

system.
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RCRA Orientation Manual EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The Subtitle D program includes technical

criteria for MSWLFs to ensure that such

landfills will be fully protective of human

health and the environment.

• EPA has launched several new initiatives to

further the development of the solid waste

management program — Wastewise, the Jobs

Through Recycling program, unit pricing, and

full cost accounting for municipal solid waste.

■ Managing Hazardous Waste — RCRA

Subtitle C

• The hazardous waste management program,

Subtitle C, is intended to ensure that

hazardous waste is managed safely from the

moment it is

generated to the

moment it is

finally disposed.

• The Subtitle C

program includes

procedures to

facilitate the

proper identification and classification of

hazardous waste.

• While waste recycling and recovery are major

components of RCRA's goals, they must be

implemented consistently with proper

hazardous waste management. As a result,

RCRA contains provisions to

ensure safe hazardous waste

recycling, and to facilitate

the management of

commonly recycled

wastestreams.

• The program also includes standards for those

facilities that generate (i.e., produce),

transport, treat, store, or dispose hazardous

waste. These include requirements for general

facility management and specific hazardous

waste management units. The provisions for

treatment, storage, and disposal facilities

(TSDFs) include additional precautions to

protect ground water and air resources.

• The hazardous waste management program

includes safeguards to protect human health

and the environment from hazardous waste

that is disposed on the land (these safeguards

are known as the land disposal restrictions

(LDR)) or burned.

• Because EPA wants to limit hazardous waste

treatment, storage, or disposal to those

facilities that can adequately protect human

health and the environment, RCRA requires

such facility owners and operators to obtain a

hazardous waste permit from the Agency.

• Since hazardous waste

management may result

in spills or releases into

the environment, RCRA

Subtitle C also contains

provisions governing

corrective action, or the

cleanup of contaminated

air, ground water, and soil.

• The Statute also grants EPA broad enforcement

authority to require all hazardous waste

management facilities to comply with the

regulations.

• The Subtitle C program also contains

provisions to allow EPA to authorize state

governments to implement and enforce the

hazardous waste regulatory program.

■ Managing Underground Storage Tanks

(UST) — RCRA Subtitle I (UST) — RCRA Subtitle I

• The RCRA Subtitle I UST regulatory program

regulates underground tanks storing petroleum

or hazardous substances.
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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RCRA Orientation Manual

• In order to protect human health and the

environment from threats posed by releases

from such tanks, the program governs tank

design, construction, installation, operation,

release detection, release response, corrective

action, closure, and financial responsibility.

• Many UST owners and operators must secure

loans from financial and other institutions to

comply with environmental regulations, such

as UST upgrading and maintenance

requirements. The Subtitle I program contains

specific provisions to protect lending

institutions from liability that they might incur

from extending such loans.

• Similar to RCRA Subtitle C, Subtitle I contains

provisions to allow EPA to approve state

government implementation and enforcement

of the UST regulatory program.

• The expense and threats of contamination

from leaking USTs necessitate efficient,

effective, and thorough cleanups. In order to

guarantee that such cleanups will be

conducted in an efficient and protective

manner, Subtitle I also established a Leaking

Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund

to facilitate cleanup oversight and guarantee

cleanups when the responsible owner and

operator cannot take action, or when the

situation requires emergency action.

■ Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions

• Consistent with RCRA’s focus on recycling, the

Statute contains provisions for EPA to

encourage recycling and promote the

development of markets for materials with

recovered materials content.

• To help achieve this goal, EPA publishes

federal procurement guidelines that set

minimum recovered materials content

standards for certain designated items. RCRA

requires federal procuring agencies to

purchase those items

composed of the highest

percentage of recovered

materials practicable.

These requirements are

specified in

Comprehensive

Procurement Guidelines

(CPG) and Recovered

Materials Advisory

Notices (RMAN).

• RCRA’s focus is not limited to solid waste,

hazardous waste, or USTs. Medical waste can

pose similar threats to human health and the

environment. As a result, RCRA established a

medical waste tracking program to ensure that

such waste is properly handled from the

moment it is generated to the moment it is

disposed. This program was a demonstration

program that began June 22, 1989, and ended

June 22, 1991. At this time, the program has

expired and no federal EPA tracking

requirements are currently in effect.

■ RCRA and Its Relationship to Other RCRA and Its Relationship to Other

Environmental Statutes

• RCRA is only one aspect of the federal

regulatory system to protect the environment.

The RCRA regulations interact closely with
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RCRA Orientation Manual EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

other environmental statutes such as the Clean

Air Act (CAA); Clean Water Act (CWA); the

Emergency Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act (EPCRA); the Federal Insecticide,

Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA); the

Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries

Act (MPRSA); the Occupational Safety and

Health Act (OSHA);

the Safe Drinking

Water Act (SDWA);

and the Toxic

Substances Control

Act (TSCA).

• One statute in

particular, the

Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or

Superfund, has a close relationship with RCRA

in that both programs are designed to protect

human health and the environment from the

dangers of hazardous waste. While these

programs are similar, they have different

regulatory focuses. RCRA mainly regulates

how wastes should be managed to avoid

potential threats to human health and the

environment. CERCLA, on the other hand, is

relevant primarily when mismanagement

occurs or has occurred (i.e., when there has

been a release or a substantial threat of a

release in the environment of a hazardous

substance, or of a pollutant or contaminant,

that presents an imminent and substantial

threat to human health).

■ Public Involvement in RCRA

• A major tenet and focus of the RCRA program

is the involvement of citizens, the regulated

community, and stakeholders in the regulatory

process. As a result, RCRA contains extensive

public participation and involvement

provisions.

• RCRA includes provisions to facilitate public

participation in the permitting, corrective

action, and state authorization processes.

• EPA, consistent with the requirements of the

Administrative Procedures Act (APA),

proactively involves the public every time the

Agency issues a rulemaking that establishes or

changes regulatory provisions.

• EPA is also committed to equal protection of

all socioeconomic and racial groups in the

implementation and enforcement of the

nation’s environmental laws. RCRA, consistent

with such environmental justice initiatives,

seeks to ensure that all segments of the

population have an equal opportunity to

participate in the regulatory process and have

equal access to information.

• Because the RCRA program as a whole is a

complex regulatory framework, EPA has

established several public outreach and

assistance mechanisms to foster public

involvement. These include access to

information through training grants; the

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); EPA’s

Office of Ombudsman; the RCRA Information

Center (RIC); and the RCRA, Superfund &

EPCRA Hotline.