The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is an act that serves mainly to regulate disposal of land-based waste, with a specific focus on hazardous land waste. The ultimate objective of the RCRA is reducing land waste and promoting recycling. The RCRA does not intend to prohibit all land-based waste disposal. On the other hand, the RCRA intends to regulate the disposal of land waste by utilizing the tracking system called the cradle-to-grave system. The cradle-to-grave system requires those who make hazardous waste to obtain their own identification number and have them accompanied by a “manifest” that tracks their hazardous waste via the identification number. With the cradle-to-grave system, the system notifies when the hazardous waste moves from one party to another within the chain system, informing everyone within the chain of the disposal process and also preventing disposal facilities from receiving unidentified or unexpected hazardous wastes. When the waste moves from one party to another within the disposal process, the regulating authority sends a copy to the parties.
The RCRA specifically limits the waste they regulate as solid wastes that the facilities discard. However, the statutory definition (42 USC § 6903(27)) reads the limitation broadly since the definition includes not only solid wastes but also semi-solids, sludge, liquid, and contained gaseous materials. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) emphasizes actual waste and not materials that are part of the manufacturing mechanism since the EPA does not want to interfere with the manufacturing processes. As mentioned above, the RCRA wanted to regulate the recycling process but did not intend a fraudulent “backdoor” recycling process that undermined the statute. As a result, in determining what is considered a waste, the EPA relies on a five-factor test:
- Whether a raw material replaces the material in question when recycled and the composition of the material in question is sufficiently similar to the raw material.
- Whether industry-wide practice generally discards the material in question.
- Whether the original manufacturer handles the material in question in a secure manner that attempts to decrease losses as much as it can before reclamation and prevents releases into the environment.
- Whether the relationship between the principal activity of the facility that handles the material in question and the recovery practice has a significant connection.
- Other factors, including the length of time the manufacturer takes to accumulate the material in question.
Subtitle C of the RCRA goes into more detail on regulating solid hazardous wastes. 42 U.S. Code § 6903(5) defines hazardous waste as “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.”
Subtitle C identifies hazardous wastes in two ways:
- If the waste could be set on fire, corrosive, reactive, or toxic, the subtitle C of the RCRA deems that waste hazardous.
- If the waste is listed as hazardous under subtitle C.
The RCRA also defines pertinent actors that are under regulatory control. The RCRA categorizes pertinent actors into three categories:
- Generators: Manufacturers must determine for themselves if they manufacture hazardous wastes. If they determine that they manufacture hazardous wastes, then the manufacturer must secure a tracking number. The manufacturer must also ensure that they store the hazardous waste securely, keep records of the hazardous waste, and properly label the hazardous waste.
- Transporters: The transporters must comply with the Department of Transportation and EPA requirements and regulations when transporting hazardous materials (“hazmat”). The transporters must also ensure that they store the hazardous waste securely, keep records of the hazardous waste, and properly label the hazardous waste.
- Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSD): the treatment, storage, and disposal facilities have the most burdensome requirements to meet. The TSD must secure permits that necessitate inspection, monitoring, and compliance with the manifest system.
Certain exceptions apply for the RCRA:
- The hazardous wastes that are covered in other statutes than the RCRA enjoys exemption (for instance, the waste covered by the CWA (Clean Water Act) or the CAA (Clean Air Act)).
- Domestic sewage, irrigation return flows, and mineral extractions qualify as exemptions under the RCRA’s definition of solid waste.
- Closed Loop Recycling: The decision from American Mining Congress v. EPA (AMC II) ruled that the by-products of a manufacturing process that are stored safely and used within 90 days of the same processing cycle are exempt from the RCRA’s definition of solid waste.
- See also 40 CFR § 261.1(a)(8)
- Generator-Controlled Exclusion: Any secondary hazardous materials that are reclaimed under the generator’s control are excluded.
- Transfer-Based Exclusion: The materials that are transferred to a third party for recycling or reclamation purposes are exempt as long as the generator of materials proves that the process is not a sham operation but a legitimate recoiling process.
See also: environmental law, Department of Toxic Substances Control (California), EPA.
For additional information visit the EPA.gov summary on the RCRA.
[Last updated in April of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]