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Facilities and Enforcement Activities related to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA Subtitle C)
Compliance & Enforcement Data Tools
Overview of RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Program, Data Collection, and Information Sources (RCRA Subtitle C)
This page provides information about facilities regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act - Subtitle C (RCRA), and corresponding information about EPA, state and local inspections, violations, and enforcement. RCRA applies to hazardous waste handlers (i.e. generators; transporters or treatment, storage, and disposal facilities/sites). The law is intended to ensure proper management and disposal of hazardous waste. A significant component of the RCRA program is tracking, including hazardous waste manifests, facility record keeping, and biennial waste reports, etc. EPA's Hazardous Waste Web site offers more information.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, which amended the Solid Waste Disposal Act, was the first substantial effort by Congress to establish a regulatory structure for the management of solid and hazardous wastes. Subtitle C of RCRA addresses "cradle-to-grave" requirements for hazardous waste from the point of generation to disposal. RCRA allows EPA to authorize states to implement RCRA Subtitle C, enabling states to perform many of the permitting, planning, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the RCRA programs. Authorized States implement the compliance and enforcement program. However, EPA maintains enforcement and compliance monitoring authorities as well as a program oversight role.
EPA collects key information from authorized regulatory agencies, including:
- the regulated facility universe, size and operating status of facilities (e.g., handlers, generators of waste, etc.)
- compliance status and violations (determined by inspections or other self-reported information)
- the severity of violations (facilities can be designated as in Significant Noncompliance or SNC)
- whether informal or formal enforcement actions were taken, and
- whether penalties were assessed
This information is stored in the national database called RCRAInfo which is searchable on EPA’s Enforcement & Compliance History Online (ECHO) web page with additional data available in EPA's RCRA Biennial Report. Establishing a definitive regulated universe of facilities under the RCRA program is difficult and is dependent on a number of factors which are explained in the Annual Reports found in Question 4 below. Data entry and minimum reporting requirements for this system are summarized on ECHO. (See RCRAInfo for additional details about RCRA data and RCRAInfo.)
Finding RCRA Program Enforcement Data
- What are the types of hazardous waste handlers regulated by EPA and the states under the RCRA Subtitle C Program? How many are there?
- Where can I find compliance and enforcement information about handlers regulated by the RCRA Subtitle C Program?
- Can I search for a company or particular handler to see their compliance and enforcement history?
- Where can I find the number of inspections, violations and enforcement activity within a state?
- Where can I find information about compliance and enforcement activity in a state over time?
- Where can I download summary information about federal and state compliance and enforcement activity?
- Where can I find information about a specific compliance and enforcement activity across all states?
- What options are available for reviewing the amount of waste generated by RCRA-regulated facilities?
- Can I review RCRA compliance and enforcement information along with Toxics Release Inventory information?
- Where can I find specific information about RCRA waste generation, use, and disposal near where I live?
- Where can I find information about specific state compliance and enforcement program performance?
- Where can I find more information about specific enforcement cases taken by EPA under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act?
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1: What are the types of hazardous waste handlers regulated by EPA and the states under the RCRA Subtitle C Program? How many are there?
The types of RCRA Subtitle C handlers tracked for compliance and enforcement purposes are noted below:
- Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) Facilities
- Generators of Hazardous Waste (which are classified by size – “large” “small” and smallest – known as “conditionally-exempt”) – 818 facilities nation wide
- Large Quantity Generator (LQG) – 23,700
- Small Quantity Generator (SQG) – 153,300
- Conditionally-Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG) – 195,100
- Other hazardous waste handlers, such as transporters of hazardous waste
For detailed information for state by state data see the "RCRA Regulated Handler Counts by State" (PDF) (1 pp, 27K).
Establishing a definitive regulated universe* of facilities, under the RCRA program is difficult at best and is dependent on a number of factors (see further discussion in the Annual Reports). Because the quality of the universe of information varies, it is not appropriate to compare one state’s data with another without knowing the accuracy of the data for each state and details of the compliance monitoring program in each state. Although this universe is in the national database it is likely that the states have additional information, which can be found at the State environmental agency web sites available in ECHO.
*"Universe" is the standard term used to mean "number of regulated facilities."
2: Where can I find compliance and enforcement information about handlers regulated by the RCRA Subtitle C Program?
ECHO is updated monthly with information from RCRAInfo. Using the Hazardous Waste Search one can search for RCRA handlers based on ZIP code, city, or other area of interest. Other search options include handler name, industry sector (e.g.,Standard Industrial Classification {SIC} / North American Industry Classification System {NAICS} code), inspection/enforcement history and, violation status. Search results can be mapped.
3: Can I search for a company or particular handler to see if they have violations?
Yes. ECHO and, select "Hazardous Waste Data". Search by "Facility Name." Then, under the Compliance Information section, you can de-select “in compliance” which will now pull only facilities with a current violation. Past violations can also be searched. Select one or more of the violation types in the Compliance Information box (e.g., Current Status or History), then chose one or more of the drop down options (e.g., {Significant Noncompliance} SNC, or In Violation (past 3 years) for “x” number of quarters. Remember that all options selected are combined as the search criteria.
4: Where can I find the number of inspections, violations and enforcement actions within a state?
There are several ways to do this. EPA has posted data for 2008 that can be downloaded using the resources below 1 (state corrections may apply).
- 2008 Annual RCRA Major Facilities Report (PDF) (6 pp, 475K) – provides basic state-by-state inspection, violation, enforcement and penalty data by state for larger handlers (Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities {TSD’s} and Large Quantity Generators {LQG’s}).
- 2008 Annual Small Facilities Report for RCRA Non-major facilities (PDF) (6 pp, 68K) – provides calendar year 2008 violation and enforcement data by state for all active facilities that are not TSDs or LQGs.
- 2008 Annual RCRA Combined Report (PDF) (7 pp, 477K) – shows data for all facilities.
To retrieve data about which individual facilities received inspections, had violations, or were subject to enforcement, please use EPA’s ECHO Hazardous Waste Compliance Search.
5: Where can I find information about compliance and enforcement activity in a state over time?
You can use the State Review Framework RCRA State Trends Report (SRF) to select a state, examine key program indicators that EPA uses in its evaluation of the state. This tool can also produce a graph showing trends for any selected indicator beginning in 2004.
To see details and definitions regarding the SRF metrics go to the Hazardous Waste Data Searches page in the Supplemental Information Section.
6: Where can I download summary information about federal and state compliance and enforcement activity?
EPA has posted the following national files in three different formats for use. All three files contain the same information. This provides 2008 data for all states 2 (state corrections may apply).
- State Review Framework Frozen National Report (PDF) (10 pp, 70K)
- State Review Framework Frozen National Report (CSV) (1 pg, 17K)
- State Review Framework Frozen National Report (XLS) (1 pg, 69K)
The above files are summary statistics for states, whereas EPA also has detailed facility-level data (normally used by researchers, etc.). This detailed data about all RCRA compliance and enforcement information in ECHO is provided at ECHO's IDEA Downloads page. ECHO is a Web interface that draws data from the Integrated Data for Enforcement Analysis (IDEA) system, which integrates handler data from different EPA databases. The data sets were downloaded using data from the March 2009 IDEA refresh and are updated annually. The RCRAInfo Data set is one file and can be downloaded online.
7: Where can I find information about a specific compliance and enforcement activity across all states?
That information is available as a part of the State Review Framework RCRA Multi-State Report 3 (state corrections may apply).
8: What options are available for reviewing the amount of waste generated by RCRA-regulated facilities?
Two databases have chemical release and generation information reported by RCRA waste generators – Biennial Reports and Toxics Release Inventory. Read below for a comparison of these two databases, or jump to Toxics Release Inventory data (Question 9) or Biennial Reporting data (Question 11).
EPA collects yearly information under the Toxics Release Inventory, which is a community right-to-know program that requires reporting by certain facilities and reporting by pounds of chemical released to land, air and water. Under the separate RCRA Biennial Reporting requirements, EPA receives hazardous waste generation and management information for all RCRA large quantity generators and treatment, storage, and disposal facilities once every other year. The data is reported by the RCRA regulated waste codes (which can be mixtures of chemicals), so the information reported is closely linked to RCRA waste amounts managed and regulated by EPA. The Biennial Report information and the TRI information are reported in different formats and have somewhat different universes of facilities that report. Release amounts can differ between the databases because TRI asks only for the “pollutant pounds” within a waste stream, whereas Biennial Reporting includes the full volume of a waste stream (for example, hazardous chemicals that are mixed with non-hazardous materials). Biennial Report data is not currently integrated with compliance data. See Question 10 for more information about obtaining Biennial Report information. EPA recently integrated the TRI data with compliance and enforcement data within the ECHO site.
Additional TRI search engines are available here (these searches are not linked to compliance data, but provide more search choices for users that are interested in release analysis. These search engines are: TRI.Net, TRI Explorer, and EnviroFacts.
9: Can I review RCRA compliance and enforcement information along with Toxics Release Inventory information?
Yes, ECHO has been recently enhanced to allow searching for facilities with Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) information. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, require facilities in certain specified industry sectors to report data on chemical releases to the environment, waste treatment and recycling, and pollution prevention. The data is collected by the TRI program and made available to the public each year. For users interested in the RCRA or waste program the TRI data related to “Releases to Land” may be of primary interest.
TRI data is collected directly from facilities based on their calculations and estimates. This data do not necessarily reflect permit allowances or indicate noncompliance. Additionally, TRI data reflect releases and other waste management quantities of chemicals, not exposures of the public to those chemicals. TRI data alone is not sufficient to determine exposure or to calculate potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. Also, note that TRI does not cover all toxic chemicals or industry sectors. The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Factors to Consider When Using TRI Data (PDF) (29 pp, 195K) contains additional information on and assistance in using and interpreting TRI data.
ECHO now includes the most recent TRI data from Reporting Year 2007. ECHO will be updated with the 2008 data in December 2009, following the publication of the 2008 TRI National Analysis. To search for facilities that report to TRI, go to the ECHO Hazardous Waste program data page and look in the section called “Chemical Releases”. After selecting desired geographic search criteria, select one of the options for different “TRI On-site Land Releases” amounts” (e.g., >1,000, >10,000 lbs, etc.). TRI data can also be accessed through TRI.net and TRI Explorer. These tools are not linked to compliance data, but provide additional search options.
10: Where can I find specific information about RCRA waste generation, use, and disposal near where I live?
EPA, in partnership with the states, biennially collects information regarding the generation, management, and final disposition of hazardous wastes regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), as amended. The purpose of the 2007 National Biennial Report is to communicate the findings of EPA's 2007 hazardous waste reporting data collection efforts to the public, government agencies and the regulated community. The 2007 National Biennial Report consists of three volumes of data:
- The National Analysis (PDF) (68 pp, 425K) – data presents a detailed
look at waste-handling practices in the EPA regions, states, and
largest facilities nationally, including the quantity of waste
generated, managed, shipped and received, and imported and
exported between states.
- The State Detail Analysis (PDF) (458 pp, 1.2MB) – data is a detailed
look at each state's waste handling practices, including overall
totals for generation, management, and shipments and receipts, as
well as totals for the largest fifty facilities.
- The List of Reported RCRA Sites (PDF) (328 pp, 826K) – identifies every hazardous waste facility in the United States that submitted a hazardous waste report in 2007.
For this 2007 National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report, EPA has included all data that was identified by the state or implementing EPA office for inclusion in the report with the following two exceptions:
- Hazardous waste received from off site for storage/bulking and subsequently transferred off site for treatment or disposal is excluded from generation quantities
- Hazardous waste that is stored, bulked, and/or transferred off site with no prior treatment/recovery, fuel blending, or disposal at the site is excluded from management quantities
11: Where can I find information about specific state compliance and enforcement program performance?
This information is available through the State Review Framework (SRF). The SRF is a collaborative tool for EPA and states to use to assess a state’s performance in environmental enforcement and compliance assurance programs, and to ensure the implementation of actions to address issues. The SRF assesses performance of basic enforcement activities across the Clean Air Act Stationary programs, RCRA Subtitle C programs, and the Clean Water Act direct discharge program. The goal is to have continuous improvement in program performance.
During the conduct of these SRF reviews recommendations for improvement may have been included in these reports where deemed necessary. These associated recommendations are also available to the public.
12: Where can I find more information about specific enforcement cases taken by EPA under RCRA?
There are several sources of information. Please use the resources below.
In order to limit your case search to cases related to RCRA, scroll to the “Case Attributes” section of the ICIS Enforcement Data (EPA Cases) Search, and select “RCRA – Resource Conservation & Recovery Act” from the “Primary Law” drop down menu.
A compilation of most links in this RCRA Overview Resources web site may be found at the Hazardous Waste Data Searches page.
DISCLAIMER
EPA is distributing this data to improve the transparency, utility and quality of the data and provide the public with tools and real-time access to better understand facility and state performance in these programs. EPA is not distributing this information to endorse, adopt, use or propose to use the information to support an Agency decision or position. The distribution of this material is therefore not a "dissemination" for purposes of EPA's Information Quality Guidelines.
1 Please visit EPA's state data corrections page to access files or links provided by states that discuss data discrepancies for the 2008 information.
2 same as footnote #1.
3 same as footnote #1.