Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

Scope

RCRA is divided into three main programs:

Regulatory citations

• 40 CFR 239-282

Key definitions

• Disposal: The discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters.
• Hazardous waste: A solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may:
  • Cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or
  • Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.
• Hazardous waste generation: The act or process of producing hazardous waste.
• Hazardous waste management: The systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, and disposal of hazardous wastes.
• Land disposal: The placement in or on the land, except in a corrective action management unit or staging pile. It includes, but is not limited to, placement in a landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, injection well, land treatment facility, salt dome formation, salt bed formation, underground mine or cave, or placement in a concrete vault, or bunker intended for disposal purpose.
• Land disposal restrictions: The program requiring waste–specific treatment standards to be met before a waste can be land disposed.
• Solid waste: Any garbage or refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities.
• RCRA: The Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, 42 U.S.C. section 6901 et seq.
• Recycled oil: Any used oil which is reused, following its original use, for any purpose (including the purpose for which the oil was originally used). Such term includes oil which is re-refined, reclaimed, burned, or reprocessed.
• Resource conservation: Reduction of the amounts of solid waste that are generated, reduction of overall resource consumption, and utilization of recovered resources.
• Resource recovery: The recovery of material or energy from solid waste.
• Solid waste management: The systematic administration of activities which provide for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste.
• Used oil: Any oil which has been:
  • Refined from crude oil,
  • Used, and
  • As a result of such use, contaminated by physical or chemical impurities.
• Waste minimization: Efforts that promote a more sustainable society, reduce the amounts of waste generated, and lower the toxicity and persistence of wastes that are generated.

Summary of requirements

• Survey all waste streams.
• Determine if you have a hazardous waste.
• Solid waste must be disposed of according to state laws and local ordinances.
• When accumulating hazardous waste, follow safe management practices.
• Do not mix incompatible wastes or store incompatible wastes together.
• Inspect containers of hazardous waste for leaks.
• Ship hazardous waste offsite using authorized transporters and complying with DOT’s hazardous materials regulations.
• Send waste to authorized treatment, storage, and disposal facilities or authorized landfills.
• Comply with state and federal regulations for underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances.
• Make every effort to minimize waste.
• Give required notifications and keep records for waste covered by the land disposal restrictions.
• Take corrective actions for releases.
• Take advantage of programs covering used oil, electronic waste, and universal wastes.
• Follow requirements for coal ash storage and disposal.
• Complete required reports and other paperwork for hazardous waste imports and exports.