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Highlights
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) grants EPA and authorized states the authority to regulate hazardous waste management facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. Although EPA guidelines are designed to prevent toxic releases at RCRA facilities, accidents or other activities have sometimes released pollutants into soil, ground water, surface water and air. The RCRA Corrective Action Program, run by EPA and 41 authorized states and territories, compels responsible parties to address the investigation and cleanup of hazardous releases themselves. RCRA Corrective Action differs from Superfund in that Corrective Action sites generally have viable operators and on-going operations.
Program Goals and Results
By the year 2020, EPA and the authorized states plan to have largely
completed the work of implementing final remedies at all facilities requiring
Corrective Action. (See Goal 3 of the Office of Solid Waste's 2020
Vision for more details.) While working toward the 2020 goal, EPA
decided to ensure that sites presenting the greatest risk to human health
and the environment are dealt with first. Accordingly, the Corrective
Action Program had pledged to select a final remedy at 30% and put a final
remedy in place at 20% of 1,968 highest-priority sites by 2008. Those goals have been raised, however, to better reflect progress made through 2006. Now, the Corrective Action Program has pledged to select a final remedy at 36% and put a final remedy in place at 27% of 1,968 highest-priority sites by 2008.
Remediation of the highest-priority sites involves numerous steps and often takes years. To stabilize these threatening sites prior to a final remedy, the Corrective Action Program created two Environmental Indicators (EIs):
- The Human Exposures EI ensures that people near a particular site are not exposed to unacceptable levels of contaminants.
- The Groundwater EI ensures that contaminated groundwater does not spread and further contaminate groundwater resources.
The EIs have now been satisfied at most of the highest-priority Corrective Action sites. In 1997 the Agency set out to meet the human exposures EI at 95% and the groundwater EI at 70% of the then 1,714 highest-priority sites by 2005. With significant contributions from authorized state environmental agencies and the hard work of individual facilities, EPA reached 96% and 78% respectively by September 30, 2005.
What's New?
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2008 National Corrective Action Conference - New Orleans, LA - June 3-4, 2008. 
Memo: Ensuring Effective and Reliable Institutional Controls at RCRA Facilities (PDF) (9 pp, 351K)
2020 Corrective Action Universe
Guidance for Reporting Land Revitalization Indicators and Performance Measures at Corrective Action Facilities (PDF) (19 pp, 88K)
U.S. EPA signs a One Cleanup Program Memorandum of Agreement with the State of Wisconsin (PDF) (12 pp, 777K) that includes comfort for RCRA corrective action facilities.
2008 Corrective Action Baseline (PDF) (35x pp, 92K) - Table includes EPA Region, state, facility name, and EPA ID number for all 1,968 highest-priority sites.