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Hazardous Waste. Lecture 2, Chapter 1 Hazardous Waste Legislation. Hazardous Waste Legislation. Hazardous Waste are regulated by the Federal Government The most current regulations can be found in the Environmental Law Handbook
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Hazardous Waste Lecture 2, Chapter 1 Hazardous Waste Legislation
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Hazardous Waste are regulated by the Federal Government • The most current regulations can be found in the Environmental Law Handbook • The EPA publishes the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to enforce the laws written by Congress
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Hazardous Waste is a subset of Solid Waste • Solid Waste Act of 1965 • Amended as the Resource Recovery Act of 1970 • First federal legislation of SW disposal • No real hazardous waste regulation in these two acts, however an outline for federal disposal of SW began
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act • RCRA (1976) • First Hazardous Waste Legislation • Requires complete documentation • EPA accused of not carrying out RCRA well
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments 1984 (HSWA) • More substance and less latitude for the EPA • Strengthened RCRA • Made the EPA accountable to Congress for enforcement of the law
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Goals of RCRA and HSWA • To protect the public health and the environment from hazardous and SW • To preserve natural resources through resource recovery and conservation
Hazardous Waste Legislation • RCRA and HSWA • Definition of a waste • Lists of specific chemicals and industry products • Something corrosive, ignitable, explosive or toxic • Management objective • Goal to control HW from “cradle to grave” • From generation, transport, treatment, storage, and disposal
Hazardous Waste Legislation • To Identify a HW • Go through the lists: F, K, P, U, D • Check against HW characteristics • Ignitability, Corrosivity, Reactivity, Toxicity • Take into account exemptions: • Mining overburden, household waste, ag waste, etc
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Toxicity Measurements • Extraction Procedure (EP) toxicity test • First test developed by EPA • Involves grinding, extraction with acetic acid, filtration, and comparison with MCL’s • Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure TCLP • Replaced EP, better comparison to landfill conditions and improved QC
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Mixture Rule • A mixture of a non-hazardous waste and a hazardous waste is still a hazardous waste • There are three exemptions of mixtures • The mixture no longer exhibits a characteristic that it was listed for as a hazardous waste • Mixed with wastewater • Contains small quantities of discarded commercial products
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Cradle-to-Grave Hazardous Waste Management • Generators • A company or corporation that generates over 1000 kg of hazardous waste per month • If creating a hazardous waste, they must • Fill out a notification of hazardous waste activity • Can store HW for up to 90 days • Must ship with a licensed HW transporter • Fill out a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest and ship the waste following DOT guidelines • Small generators (100-1000 kg/month) have more lenient rules but are regulated under HSWA
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Cradle-to-Grave Hazardous Waste Management • Transporters • People that move HW • Must keep the Manifest with them at all times • Can hold HW for up to 10 days without a TSD • Must be prepared to clean up a spill
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Cradle-to-Grave Hazardous Waste Management • Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSD) • Landfills, Incinerators, Acid Neutralization tanks, holding tanks, lined impoundments • RCRA permit required • Extensive, 500-2000 page reports • Detailed info on design and treatment • Landfills and Incinerators dominate • HW landfills are required to be double lined and leachate collection • Incinerators require 99.99 to 99.9999%
Hazardous Waste Legislation • The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (CERCLA & SARA) • Superfund (CERCLA) 1980 – enacted to respond to spills and past disposal of HW into the environment • Focus on contamination of sites in the past • Reauthorized as SARA in 1986 • Went from 1.8 billion to 8.5 billion, Community Right to Know
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Superfund • CERCLA HW – any CWA, CAA, Toxic Substances Control Act or RCRA chemical • Any substance with potential to harm human health • Except petroleum and natural gas • Environmental Release • Triggers action under Superfund • Spilling, leaking, or disposal of HW into the environment
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Superfund • National Contingency Plan (NCP) • Site ranking, assessment, feasibility studies, and cleanup actions • Site ranking – National Priority List (NPL) • Site Assessment • Preliminary Assessment (PA) – paper study • Site Inspection (SI) – walk around site • Hazard Ranking System (HRS) – ranking based on PA and SI, extent of contamination, toxicity, threat
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Elements of Superfund Cleanup • Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) • RI - defining site contamination • FS - establishing engineering design • Record of Decision (ROD) • The appropriate design is selected. • Operable Units (OU) • Division of large sites into manageable smaller sites • Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs) • how clean is clean
Hazardous Waste Legislation • Hazardous Waste • Chemicals disposed of under RCRA • Hazardous Substance • Chemicals regulated under CERCLA • Hazardous Material • Chemicals that when transported are regulated by the USDOT
Homework #1 • Due Tuesday January 25th, 2000 • Problems in Chapter 1: 2, 4, 8, 9, 15, 16