348 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
A fund of between $1 billion and $4 billion is established, which is financed 87% by a
tax on the chemical industry and 13% by general revenues of the federal government.
Small payments are permitted out of the fund, but only for out-of-pocket medical costs
and partial payment for diagnostic services. The Superfund Act does not set strict
liability for spills and abandoned hazardous wastes. The Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 reauthorized and strengthened CERCLA (Martin
and Koszynsk 1991).
Compensation for damages is one concern; regulations that control generators,
transporters, and disposers of hazardous waste are the other side of the hazardous waste
law coin. The federal RCRA, which is discussed in this chapter as it relates to solid
waste, also is the principal statute that deals with hazardous waste. The RCRArequires
the EPA to establish a comprehensive regulatory program to control hazardous waste.
This solid and hazardous waste act offers a good example of the types of reporting
and record-keeping requirements mandated in federal environmental laws. The Clean
Water Act and Clean Air Act places requirements on water and air polluters similar to
the type of requirements for generators of hazardous waste.
A generator of hazardous waste must meet the following EPA requirements. This
manifest system of “cradle-to-grave” tracking (see Fig. 15-3) is the key to the regulatory
system.
- A determination that the waste is hazardous, either as defined by an EPA listing
of hazardous waste, or by EPA testing procedures, or as indicated by the materials
and processes used in production, must be made. These questions of definition are
not trivial. A waste must be mobile in the environment and its constituents must be
toxic, corrosive, flammable, or ignitable. In 1990, the EPAreplaced the EP (Extraction
Procedure) Toxicity test with the TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure)
to determine which, if any, constituents are mobile (Henriches 1991). The TCLP is
troublesome at best to follow in the laboratory. - An EPA general identification number must be obtained.
- A facility permit must be obtained if hazardous waste is stored at the generating
- Appropriate containers and labels must be used before shipment off-site.
- Amanifest for tracking the waste shipment off-site must be prepared, as described
- Arrival of the waste at the disposal site must be ensured.
- Annual summaries of activities must be submitted to federal or state regulatory
site for 90 days or longer.in Chap. 15 (see Fig. 15-3).agencies or both.A transporter of hazardous waste must meet several requirements under RCRA:
- An EPA transporter identification number must be obtained.
- Compliance with provisions of the manifest system is required.
- The entire quantity of waste must be delivered to the disposal or processing site.
- A copy of the manifest must be retained for 3 years.
- DOT rules for responding to spills of hazardous waste must be followed.