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RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statues SECTION VI SECTION VI

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

CHAPTER 1

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ADDRESSING

HAZARDOUS WASTE PROBLEMS

This chapter summarizes each statute and

highlights its interaction with RCRA (see Figure

VI-2).

ENVIRONMENTAL STATUTES

In order to adequately protect human health

and the environment from exposure to hazardous

waste and contaminants, Congress enacted several

regulatory programs to protect the nation’s air and

water resources, as well as ensure the safety of

public health.

■ Clean Air Act Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act limits the emission of

pollutants into the atmosphere in order to protect

human health and the environment from the

effects of airborne pollution. For six criteria

pollutants (sulfur dioxide, particulate matter,

nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and

lead), EPA

established

National Ambient

Air Quality

Standards

(NAAQS).

Regulation of

these criteria

pollutants affords

the public some

protection from

toxic air pollutants.

In this chapter...

Overview........................................................... VI-3

Environmental Statutes .................................... VI-3

- Clean Air Act .................................................. VI-3

- Clean Water Act ............................................ VI-4

- Emergency Planning and Community

Right-to-Know Act ......................................... VI-5

- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

Rodenticide Act ............................................. VI-6

- Marine Protection, Research, and

Sanctuaries Act ............................................. VI-6

- Occupational Safety and Health Act ............. VI-6

- Safe Drinking Water Act ................................ VI-7

- Toxic Substances Control Act ....................... VI-7

Summary .......................................................... VI-9

OVERVIEW

The legislation that serves as the basis for

managing hazardous wastes can be divided into

two categories:

• Media-specific statutes that limit and monitor

the amount of wastes introduced into the air,

waterways, oceans, and drinking water

• Other statutes that directly limit the

production, rather than the release, of

chemical substances and products that may

contribute to the nation’s wastes.
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 SECTION VI SECTION VI RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statutes

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

Congress also mandated that CAA control

emissions from specific industrial sources. Using

this statutory authority, EPA designated hazardous

air pollutants and set National Emission

Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants

(NESHAPs). Primary responsibility for

implementing both the NAAQS and NESHAP

requirements rests with states.

The major interactions between RCRA and

CAA include the following:

• Hazardous waste combustion facilities may be

subject to permitting requirements under both

CAA and RCRA. EPA is developing a rule to

eliminate overlapping regulation of these

combustion facilities by setting one integrated

set of standards to fulfill the requirements of

both laws (as discussed in Section III, Chapter

7).

• Air emissions from incinerators and other

types of TSDFs regulated under RCRA must

comply with applicable ambient air quality

standards and emission limitations of CAA.

EPA has also developed air emission

regulations for TSDFs and LQGs under RCRA

(40 CFR Parts 264/265, Subparts AA, BB, and

CC) (as discussed in Section III, Chapter 5).

However, these RCRA regulations have been

amended to minimize, to the extent possible,

any overlap with CAA regulations.

• While medical waste is not subject to federal

RCRA regulation (as discussed in Section V,

Chapter 2), air emissions from new and

existing hospital, infectious, and medical waste

incinerators are subject to NSPS and emissions

guidelines under CAA.

• Extraction of pollutants from air emissions

using CAA controls (e.g., scrubbers) can create

hazardous wastes or sludges containing such

wastes. Disposal of these materials must

comply with RCRA.

■ Clean Water Act Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act imposes pollutant

limitations for all discharges of wastewater from

identifiable (“point”) sources into the nation’s

waterways. These discharges are defined as either

direct discharges, indirect discharges, or zero

discharges.

Direct discharges are discharges from “point

sources” into surface water pursuant to a NPDES

permit. NPDES permits are granted on a case-bycase basis and limit the permissible concentration

of toxic constituents or conventional pollutants in

effluents discharged to a waterway. These limits

are generally established on the basis of the best

available treatment technology and, where

necessary, to protect surface water quality

standards.

Under indirect discharges, the wastewater is

first sent to a POTW, and then after treatment by

the POTW, discharged pursuant to an NPDES

permit. Under these requirements, the generator

of the wastes cannot simply transfer the waste

materials to a POTW. Rather, the wastes must

satisfy applicable treatment and toxic control

requirements known as pretreatment standards,

where they exist. POTWs that receive hazardous

wastes for treatment are also subject to certain

RCRA permit-by-rule requirements (as discussed

in Section III, Chapter 8), and remain subject to

RCRA corrective action.

Zero discharges mean that the wastewater is

not being discharged to a navigable water, but

rather is being land disposed (e.g., through spray

irrigation) or are disposed by underground

injection. Zero discharge facilities are subject to

federal or state regulatory limitations that are as

strict as those that apply to direct and indirect

dischargers.

CWA also includes provisions intended to

prevent oil spills into the navigable waters of the

United States. These Spill Prevention, Control,
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RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statues SECTION VI SECTION VI

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

and Countermeasures regulations establish spill

prevention procedures and equipment

requirements for nontransportation-related

facilities with certain aboveground or

underground oil storage capacities that could

reasonably be expected to discharge oil into or

upon the navigable waters of the United States or

adjoining shorelines. The SPCC regulations

provide a basic framework for operational

procedures, containment requirements, and spill

response procedures.

The major interactions between RCRA and

CWA include the following:

• Sludge resulting from wastewater treatment

and pretreatment under CWA must be

handled as a RCRA waste under Subtitle C, if

hazardous.

• Discharges to surface waters from a RCRApermitted facility must comply with the

limitations set forth in a NPDES permit. This

means that either the facility itself has

obtained an NPDES permit, or the wastes

meet CWA pretreatment standards and have

been transported to a POTW.

• USTs that are subject to the technical

requirements of RCRA’s UST program may

also be subject to CWA SPCC requirements.

■ Emergency Planning and Community

Right-to-Know Act Right-to-Know Act

Congress amended CERCLA in 1986 with the

enactment of the Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act. These amendments

improved the Superfund program and added an

important section that focused on strengthening

the rights of citizens and communities in the face

of potential hazardous substance emergencies.

This section, SARA Title III, or the Emergency

Planning and Community

Right-to-Know Act,

was enacted in

response to

the more

than 2,000

deaths

caused by

the release

of a toxic chemical

in Bhopal, India.

EPCRA is intended to help communities

prepare to respond in the event of a chemical

emergency, and to increase the public’s

knowledge of the presence and threat of

hazardous chemicals. To this end, EPCRA requires

the establishment of state and local committees to

prepare communities for potential chemical

emergencies. The focus of the preparation is a

community emergency response plan that must:

1) identify the sources of potential emergencies; 2)

develop procedures for responding to

emergencies; and 3) designate who will

coordinate the emergency response.

EPCRA also requires facilities to notify the

appropriate state and local authorities if releases of

certain chemicals occur. Facilities must also

compile specific information about hazardous

chemicals they have on site and the threats posed

by those substances. Some of this information

must be provided to state and local authorities.

More specific data must be made available upon

request from those authorities or from the general

public.

The primary interaction between RCRA and

EPCRA is that some RCRA TSDFs treating

hazardous waste are required to submit annual

reports to EPA of their releases of chemicals to air,

land, and water.
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 SECTION VI SECTION VI RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statutes

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

• FIFRA requires the registration of pesticides

and disinfectants used in medical waste

treatment technologies (as discussed in

Section V, Chapter 2).

■ Marine Protection, Research, and

Sanctuaries Act Sanctuaries Act

The Marine Protection, Research, and

Sanctuaries Act requires a permit for any material

that is transported from a U.S. port or by a U.S.

vessel for deposition at sea.

The major interaction with RCRA is that

MPRSA prevents waste from a RCRA generator or

TSDF from being deposited into the ocean, except

in accordance with a separate MPRSA permit.

■ Occupational Safety and Health Act Occupational Safety and Health Act

The mission of the Occupational Safety and

Health Act is to save lives, prevent injuries, and

protect the health of employees in the workplace.

OSHA accomplishes these

goals through several

regulatory requirements

including the Hazard

Communication Standard

(HCS), and the Hazardous

Waste Operations and Emergency Response

Worker Protection Standard (HAZWOPER).

The HCS was promulgated to provide workers

with access to information about the hazards and

identities of the chemicals they are exposed to

while working, as well as the measures they can

take to protect themselves. OSHA’s Hazard

Communication Standard requires employers to

establish hazard communication programs to

transmit information on the hazards of chemicals

to their employees by means of labels on

containers, material safety data sheets, and

training programs.

■ Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

Rodenticide Act Rodenticide Act

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

Rodenticide Act provides procedures for the

registration of pesticide products to control their

introduction

into the

marketplace.

As such, its

regulatory focus is

different from most of the

statutes discussed in this

chapter. While the other

statutes attempt to minimize

and manage waste by-products

at the end of the industrial

process, FIFRA controls whether

(and how) certain products are

manufactured or sold in the first

place.

FIFRA imposes a system of pesticide product

registrations. Such requirements include premarket review of potential health and

environmental effects before a pesticide can be

introduced in the United States, reregistration of

products introduced prior to the enactment of

FIFRA to assess their safety in light of current

standards, and classification of pesticides for

restricted or general use. Restricted products can

be used only by those whose competence has

been certified by a state program.

The major interactions between RCRA and

FIFRA include the following:

• FIFRA controls limit the level of toxic

pesticides that are produced, and thereby

reduce the amount of waste that needs to be

managed under RCRA.
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RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statues SECTION VI SECTION VI

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

The Hazardous Waste

Operations and Emergency

Response Worker Protection

Standard was developed to protect

the health and safety of workers

engaged in operations at hazardous

waste sites, hazardous waste treatment facilities,

and emergency response locations. HAZWOPER

covers issues such as training, medical

surveillance, and maximum exposure limits.

The major interactions between RCRA and

OSHA include the following:

• Hazardous waste generators and TSDFs may

need to comply with OSHA training and

planning standards, in addition to RCRA

requirements.

• HAZWOPER regulations may be applicable to

RCRA corrective action cleanup activities, and

to hazardous waste operations at generator

facilities and TSDFs.

■ Safe Drinking Water Act Safe Drinking Water Act

The Safe Drinking Water Act protects the

nation’s drinking water supply by establishing

national drinking water standards (MCLs or

specific treatment techniques), and by regulating

UIC wells. The UIC program bans some types of

underground disposal of RCRA hazardous wastes.

With some exceptions, other materials cannot be

injected underground without a UIC permit.

The major interactions between RCRA and

SDWA include the following:

• MCLs may be adopted by the RCRA program

as cleanup standards for corrective action.

Selected MCLs are also used under the RCRA

ground water monitoring program for land

disposal units.

• RCRA also contains provisions parallel

to SDWA that prohibit the underground

injection of hazardous wastes, unless

such wastes have been treated to meet

their respective LDR treatment standards

(as discussed in Section III, Chapter 6).

RCRA also contains a ban on any injection of

hazardous waste into “shallow” wells.

■ Toxic Substances Control Act Toxic Substances Control Act

The primary focus of the Toxic Substances

Control Act is similar to that of FIFRA in that the

statute provides authorities to control the

manufacture and sale of certain chemical

substances. These requirements include testing of

chemicals that are currently in commercial

production or use, pre-market screening and

regulatory tracking of new chemical products, and

controlling

unreasonable

risks once a

chemical

substance is

determined to

have an

adverse effect

on health or

the

environment.

TSCA controls on such

unreasonable risks includes prohibiting the

manufacture or certain uses of the chemical,

requiring labeling, limiting volume of production

or concentration, requiring replacement or

repurchase of products, and controlling disposal

methods.

The major interactions between RCRA and

TSCA include the following:

• TSCA has a direct effect on RCRA through

controls on the disposal methods of certain

chemicals, such as PCBs. For example, while
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 SECTION VI SECTION VI RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statutes

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

CAA • RCRA hazardous waste combustion facilities are subject to CAA permit requirements

• Air emissions from RCRA incinerators and other TSDFs must comply with applicable CAA NAAQS and

emission limitations

• Pollutants and sludges extracted from CAA air emissions control devices are subject to RCRA hazardous

waste regulations if hazardous

• Hospital, infectious, and medical waste incinerators are subject to NSPS and emissions guidelines under

CAA

CWA • Sludges resulting from CWA wastewater treatment and pretreatment are subject to RCRA hazardous

waste regulations if hazardous

• Discharges from RCRA-permitted facilities must comply with the limitations set forth in NPDES permits

• RCRA-regulated USTs may also be subject to CWA SPCC requirements

EPCRA • Some RCRA TSDFs must submit annual reports to EPA detailing releases of chemicals to air, land, and

water

FIFRA • FIFRA controls limit the level of toxic pesticides that are produced, and thereby reduce the amount of

waste that needs to be managed as hazardous under RCRA

• FIFRA requires the registration of pesticides and disinfectants used in medical waste treatment

technologies

MPRSA • MPRSA prevents waste from a RCRA generator or TSDF from being deposited into the ocean, except in

accordance with a separate MPRSA permit

OSHA • RCRA hazardous waste generators and TSDFs may need to comply with OSHA training and planning

standards

• RCRA cleanup activities and hazardous waste operations at generator facilities and TSDFs may need to

comply with HAZWOPER regulations

SDWA • MCLs may be adopted by the RCRA program as cleanup standards for corrective action

• RCRA contains provisions parallel to SDWA that prohibit the underground injection of hazardous wastes,

unless such wastes have been treated to meet their respective LDR treatment standards

TSCA • TSCA controls on the disposal methods of certain chemicals, such as PCBs, reduce the amount of waste

that needs to be managed as hazardous under RCRA

• TSCA controls on the manufacture and use of certain chemical substances also reduce the amount of

waste that needs to be managed as hazardous under RCRA

Figure VI-2: MAJOR RCRA INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
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RCRA and its Relationship to Other Environmental Statues SECTION VI SECTION VI

Chapter 1: Legislative Framework for Addressing Hazardous Waste Problems

TSCA regulates PCB disposal, RCRA also

regulates PCB disposal when the PCBs are

mixed with hazardous waste.

• TSCA also regulates used oil that contains

quantifiable levels of PCBs.

• TSCA’s indirect effect on RCRA is the same as

FIFRA’s. TSCA controls the manufacture and

use of certain chemical substances, which

limits the amount of waste that needs to be

managed under RCRA.

SUMMARY

Several major environmental statutes work

together to address hazardous waste problems.

These include media-specific statutes that limit the

amount of waste released into a particular

environmental medium, and other statutes that

directly control the production of certain products,

and protect workers managing hazardous wastes.

These statutes are:

• Clean Air Act

• Clean Water Act

• Emergency Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act

• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

Rodenticide Act

• Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries

Act

• Occupational Safety and Health Act

• Safe Drinking Water Act

• Toxic Substances Control Act.