Jump to main content.

Software and Databases

RCRA Guidance and Policy

Policy Database for Waste Management and Emergency Programs
The Policy Database for Waste Management and Emergency Programs provides the public with online access to EPA policy documents from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and the EPA Regional waste and emergency response programs. This database contains the policy, guidance, and interpretive documents that the Agency intends to use or rely on for the implementation and enforcement of its statutes and regulations.

RCRA Online
RCRA Online is an electronic database of selected letters, memoranda, and questions and answers written by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Solid Waste since 1980. These documents cover the management of nonhazardous, hazardous, and medical waste regulated by the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

RCRA Frequent Questions Database
This searchable database enables users to search frequently asked questions or submit their own question or comment on a variety of RCRA issues and topics. Before searching, view the search tips.

Top of Page

Hazardous Waste Management – Data and Tools

Hazardous Waste Combustion (HWC) NESHAP Toolkit
This Toolkit contains implementation information on the Hazardous Waste Combustion NESHAP (40 CFR Part 63, Subpart EEE) for the general public, regulators and the regulated community. The Toolkit's primary focus is on general and process-oriented information including RCRA and CAA permitting requirements and policies; transition of air emission requirements from RCRA to CAA; delegation of federal requirements to state agencies; checklists and guidelines; and links to other useful Web sites.

Priority Chemical Query Tool
The Priority Chemical Query Tool is a tool used to retrieve and manipulate data on Priority Chemicals (PCs) reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) by industrial facilities. This data was also used to develop the National Priority Chemicals Trends Report.

RCRAInfo
RCRAInfo is EPA's comprehensive information system, providing access to data supporting the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984. RCRAInfo replaces the data recording and reporting abilities of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Information System (RCRIS) and the Biennial Reporting System (BRS).

The RCRAInfo system allows tracking of many types of information about the regulated universe of RCRA hazardous waste handlers. RCRAInfo characterizes facility status, regulated activities, and compliance histories and captures detailed data on the generation of hazardous waste from large quantity generators and on waste management practices from treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.

State Authorization Tracking System Data
State authorization is a rulemaking process through which EPA delegates the primary responsibility of implementing the RCRA hazardous waste program to individual states. This process ensures national consistency and minimum standards while providing flexibility to states in implementing rules. Currently, 49 states and territories have authority to implement the RCRA base program. Many also are authorized to implement parts of the program that EPA has since promulgated, such as Corrective Action and Land Disposal Restrictions. State RCRA programs must be at least as stringent as the federal requirements, but states can adopt more stringent requirements.

Change Management Process (CMP)

To manage new or changing information needs of the RCRA Subtitle C program, EPA and the States developed a Change Management Process (CMP). The CMP was designed to meet the needs of both the RCRA information management community and the RCRA program management community. The process allows all RCRAInfo users to submit change suggestions and provides all stakeholders a voice in deciding which system changes are implemented with the resources available to EPA’s Office of Solid Waste. More information on the CMP (PDF) (24 pp, 951K, About PDF)

Top of Page

Solid Waste Management – Data and Tools

Recycling symbol

Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) Supplier Database
A key component of the CPG Program is EPA's list of designated products and the accompanying recycled-content recommendations. The Supplier Database includes manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers for each designated item.

Municipal Solid Waste Reporter's Guide: A Guide for Local Media
A Windows software application that presents background information to assist print and broadcast media in understanding municipal solid waste issues. This guide was last updated in October 1996.

Recycling Measurement Tool
EPA developed a voluntary, standard methodology for measuring recycling rates. At present, few states or local governments define recycling in the same way, use the same approach for measuring recycling rates, or include the same materials in their rates. Utilizing this methodology can help you accurately evaluate the success of your program and ensure that your fiscal, administrative, and planning decisions are sound.

ReduceIt - Companion Software to Source Reduction Program Potential Manual
This companion software is designed to be used in connection with the Source Reduction Program Potential Manual to help solid waste managers plan for a source reduction program and determine the impact of various source reduction options on their community. The Source Reduction Program Potential Manual and Software estimate the program potential for six source reduction options: three residential (grasscycling, home composting, and clothing reuse) and three commercial and industrial (office paper reduction, converting to multi-use pallets, and paper towel reduction). These tools show solid waste managers how to use these options to help estimate program potential locally by applying their own waste composition data. ReduceIt was last updated in June 1998.

Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools
EPA developed a school waste reduction toolkit called "Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools" that provides useful information to schools, school districts, and school business officials interested in learning how to create or build upon a program to reduce waste in their schools. The toolkit includes sections such as "10 Steps for Becoming Waste-Free" and "Program Options" that give tips on how to start new, or expand upon, existing waste reduction programs.

Top of Page

Solid and Hazardous Waste Facility Design and Siting Tools

EPA's Composite Model for Leachate Migration with Transformation Products (EPACMTP)
EPACMTP is a subsurface fate and transport model used by EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) to establish regulatory levels for concentrations of constituents in wastes managed in land-based units.

Industrial Waste Air Model (IWAIR)
EPA developed IWAIR to assist facility managers and regulatory agency staff in evaluating inhalation risks. Workers and residents in the vicinity of a unit may be exposed to volatile chemicals from the unit in the air they breathe. Exposure to some of these chemicals at sufficient concentrations may cause a variety of cancer and noncancer health effects (such as developmental effects in a fetus or neurological effects in an adult). With a limited amount of site-specific information, IWAIR can estimate whether specific wastes or waste management practices may pose an unacceptable risk to human health.

Industrial Waste Management Evaluation Model (IWEM)
The IWEM software is designed to assist you in determining the most appropriate waste management unit design to minimize or avoid adverse ground water impacts, by evaluating types of liners, the hydrogeologic conditions of the site, and the toxicity and expected leachate concentrations of the anticipated waste constituents.

Waste Management Facility Siting Tool
This Web-based tool provides assistance in siting waste management facilities based on proximity to sensitive locations and potential hazards such as fault lines, flood plains, wetlands, and karst topography.

Top of Page

Waste Climate Change Tools

EPA and its partners have developed several climate change tools to help individuals and organizations determine the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of their purchasing, manufacturing, and waste management actions. These tools include:

Top of Page

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.