Hazardous Waste Regulation
Hazardous Waste Regulation
RCRA
There are two key regulations that govern hazardous waste sites in the United States. The first one is the RCRA or The Resource Conservation Recovery Act, which was passed by congress in November of 1976. The RCRA was developed to address the growing challenges the nation was up against from the growth of the volume of municipal and industrial waste. The RCRA has goals of; protecting human health and the environment from hazardous waste disposal, conserving energy and resources, reducing waste amounts, and ensuring wastes are managed in an environmentally-sound manner. An important section of the RCRA is the portion where the law establishes an effective system to control hazardous waste from the time it is generated until it is disposed of properly or from “cradle to grave” (EPA RCRA, 2015).
CERCLA
The second key regulation is The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or CERCLA, which is commonly referred to as the Superfund. CERCLA was put into action by Congress in December of 1980. The CERCLA created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industry and provided Federal authority to respond directly to the release of hazardous substances that may endanger public or environment health. The CERCLA established requirements and prohibitions on closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites, provided liability to people responsible to the release of hazardous materials on their sites, and established a fund that would pay for the cleanup if a responsible party could not be established (EPA CERCLA, 2015).
Essentially the major difference between the RCRA and the CERCLA is that the RCRA is a law that governs how a business or company will properly handle their waste materials from the time it is used until the time that is to be properly disposed of, and that business or company is responsible for that waste until it is properly disposed of. On the other hand, the CERCLA governs basically how and
RCRA
There are two key regulations that govern hazardous waste sites in the United States. The first one is the RCRA or The Resource Conservation Recovery Act, which was passed by congress in November of 1976. The RCRA was developed to address the growing challenges the nation was up against from the growth of the volume of municipal and industrial waste. The RCRA has goals of; protecting human health and the environment from hazardous waste disposal, conserving energy and resources, reducing waste amounts, and ensuring wastes are managed in an environmentally-sound manner. An important section of the RCRA is the portion where the law establishes an effective system to control hazardous waste from the time it is generated until it is disposed of properly or from “cradle to grave” (EPA RCRA, 2015).
CERCLA
The second key regulation is The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or CERCLA, which is commonly referred to as the Superfund. CERCLA was put into action by Congress in December of 1980. The CERCLA created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industry and provided Federal authority to respond directly to the release of hazardous substances that may endanger public or environment health. The CERCLA established requirements and prohibitions on closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites, provided liability to people responsible to the release of hazardous materials on their sites, and established a fund that would pay for the cleanup if a responsible party could not be established (EPA CERCLA, 2015).
Essentially the major difference between the RCRA and the CERCLA is that the RCRA is a law that governs how a business or company will properly handle their waste materials from the time it is used until the time that is to be properly disposed of, and that business or company is responsible for that waste until it is properly disposed of. On the other hand, the CERCLA governs basically how and
References: EPA CERCLA. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/cercla.htm EPA RCRA. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/laws-regs/rcrahistory.htm