In 1980, about 1,700 Great Lakes Region facilities notified EPA that they dealt with hazardous waste and were subject to the permit standards. Over the years, many of them have closed or stopped handling hazardous waste. By June 1999, just 679 RCRA-permitted facilities were in operation. In 1984, a corrective action process was added, which requires companies to clean up the areas they used for hazardous waste storage or disposal before 1980. In 1988, EPA established a 1998 deadline for facilities, such as gas stations, to upgrade, replace, or remove their tanks.
Work is under way at nearly all of the others.