In the aftermath of a major natural disaster, a potential threat to safety and obstacle to recovery and rebuilding is the presence of significant amounts of disaster debris. Depending on the type of disaster, debris may include waste soils and sediments, vegetation (trees and shrubs), man-made structures (collapsed homes, buildings, or bridges), and personal property. The ability of residents to return to the area and live in a safe and healthy environment may depend on how quickly and effectively a community manages its debris. There are many factors that influence the proper and timely management of disaster debris. For one, the sheer volume of debris can overwhelm a community. As an illustration, what follows are disaster debris amounts generated during three major disasters: Hurricane Katrina, 2005—more than 118 million cubic yards (CY) over a 93,000-square-mile area. Hurricane Andrew, 1992—43 million CY over a 500-square-mile area. The Northridge Earthquake, 1994—7 million CY. A large volume of waste can quickly overburden existing landfill space. The likely best choice for most regions will involve diverting as much debris as possible from area landfills (through recycling, burning, composting, or another method of volume reduction) the logistics of which, however, can prove complicated without proper pre-disaster planning. Also, the desire to manage disaster debris as quickly as possible can have detrimental long-term repercussions if debris is managed improperly. During a disaster, some amount of hazardous waste will likely be commingled with nonhazardous wastes (for instance, under flooding conditions, household hazardous waste or sewage may contaminate nonhazardous personal property). Afterward, improper disposal of hazardous waste may lead to future environmental, health, or safety problems, such as the contamination of local groundwater. This report addresses debris resulting from a "major disaster" or "emergency" declared by the President. First, it discusses the types of debris commonly generated during and after a disaster and selected factors that can make "debris removal" such a costly, complex operation. Second, it discusses the roles of federal, state, and local agencies after a disaster has been declared—with regard to both funding debris removal and the actual physical process of removal. Generally, "disaster debris" includes waste materials created after a natural disaster such as an earthquake, tornado, fire, flood, hurricane, or winter snow or ice storm. Before a community can move forward with debris recovery, it must have some understanding of the types of debris involved and the volume it must handle. The type of debris generated is largely dependent upon the nature of the disaster. For example, debris caused by flooding differs somewhat from debris resulting from an earthquake or tornado. Each category of debris poses individual challenges to disposal, particularly when generated in significant amounts or when forms of waste become mixed with one another to the point that separation is difficult. Typical disaster debris includes municipal solid waste (MSW)—personal belongings and general household trash; soil and sediment; putrescibles—animal carcasses (pets or farm animals), rotten or spoiled fruits, vegetables, seafood, or meats; white goods—refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, washers, dryers, stoves, water heaters, and dishwashers; household hazardous waste—oil, pesticides, paints, cleaning agents; construction and demolition (C&D) debris—road, bridge, or building materials such as metals, asphalt, drywall, plaster, brick, concrete, roofing materials, and treated or untreated lumber; vegetative debris—trees, branches, shrubs, and logs; vehicles and vessels—cars, trucks, and boats, fuel, motor oil, batteries, and tires; and electronic waste—computers, televisions, printers, stereos, DVD players, and telephones. To appropriately manage these different waste streams, it is also necessary to estimate the total volume of debris. This is important for various reasons, including the identification of appropriate staging grounds to separate wastes, determination of necessary landfill space, determination of necessary contract services, and anticipation of special handling requirements applicable to hazardous debris. There are various methods of estimating debris totals. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) uses mathematical modeling forecasts that take into account such factors as the number of households affected, the amount of vegetative cover in a given area, commercial density, and a storm's intensity. To effectively manage disaster debris, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommend that states develop a disaster debris management plan before a disaster strikes. Such plans delineate the types of disaster debris that will be handled under particular emergency conditions and existing laws that apply to the handling and disposal of different types of waste (i.e., hazardous waste, nonhazardous waste, asbestos-containing materials). State plans may also specify requirements regarding a selection of debris storage and staging sites and waste-handling methods (e.g., chipping/grinding, burning, or landfilling) for certain types of waste, provide an inventory of debris capacity at local debris management facilities—including recycling, waste to energy, and disposal options—and evaluate equipment and administrative needs such as pre-negotiated waste management contracts and pre-qualified contractors. Although any waste management choice may involve certain environmental concerns, landfilling and burning often cause the most concern among a region's residents. Generally, disaster debris will be sent to a landfill or it may be managed in some way that reduces its volume (such as open burning/incineration, recycling, or chipping and grinding). Each choice involves activities that may require compliance with certain local, state, or federal regulations. For example, states are required to manage solid and hazardous waste in accordance with provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). (In addition to RCRA, depending on how waste is managed, provisions of other environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act may also apply.) Under Subtitle C of RCRA, EPA has the authority to implement and enforce hazardous waste management standards. Businesses that generate hazardous waste above certain thresholds must transport, treat, store, and dispose of their hazardous waste in accordance with certain regulatory requirements. However, households and certain small businesses are essentially exempt from hazardous waste management requirements under RCRA. This means that hazardous waste generated by these entities can be disposed of in common household or municipal garbage. After a disaster, this can be a particular concern when hazardous waste is generated in significant amounts by these unregulated entities. Non-hazardous solid wastes are regulated under Subtitle D of RCRA. Under Subtitle D, EPA established criteria applicable to solid waste management facilities that may receive hazardous household waste and hazardous wastes from small quantity generators. Subsequently, EPA promulgated "Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills" (at 40 C.F.R. 258). Those regulations include location restrictions, operation and design criteria (e.g., liner, leachate collection, run-off controls), groundwater monitoring and corrective action requirements, closure and post-closure care, and financial assurance criteria. The permitting and monitoring of municipal and non-hazardous waste landfills are the responsibility of individual states. The actual planning and direct implementation of solid waste programs under Subtitle D are largely a state and local function. While municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are required to meet minimum federal standards, non-hazardous solid waste that falls outside the definition of MSW is regulated by individual states. Often, a sizable proportion of disaster debris is classified as construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Under federal law, C&D waste is classified neither as hazardous waste nor as MSW. Therefore, C&D landfills are not subject to federal design and operational criteria (i.e., C&D landfills are not required under federal law to have protective liners that an MSW landfill would have). In addition to having the authority to determine what criteria a C&D landfill must meet, states would also have the authority to determine what materials constitute C&D waste. In the event of an emergency, a state may change the regulatory definition of C&D debris to more broadly characterize larger volumes of debris that have been generated in the wake of a particular disaster. One issue of concern with this approach is that C&D waste commingled with more hazardous materials could be disposed of at landfills that are not designed to accept such wastes. Therefore, it is suggested that hazardous materials such as asbestos, lead-based paint, PCBs, and any other contaminated materials should be separated from C&D waste before landfill disposal. Further, to lessen the burden on disposal facilities and potentially reduce costs, it is recommended that C&D waste be reused and recycled. Like C&D waste, vegetative debris often represents a significant proportion of disaster debris. Vegetative debris can be chipped or ground up for re-use. It is estimated that the volume of vegetative debris can be reduced by as much as 75% using this method of waste reduction. Because of the potentially huge volume of vegetative debris following a disaster, burning may be a preferred method of waste-handling (which reduces the waste by as much as 95%). If that is the case, local, state, or federal regulations that control emissions of air pollutants will likely apply. Further, when mixed or contaminated with other wastes (such as sewage), burning may not be an option. Also, if residents have begun to return to a disaster area, there may be significant opposition to burning by community members who would be affected by the smoke.