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RCRA Corrective Action
Frequently Asked Questions
About Corrective Action
What is the Corrective Action program?
Who implements the Corrective Action program?
How does Corrective Action work?
Where does EPA's Corrective Action authority come from?
How is RCRA Corrective Action different from the Superfund
Program?
What are Environmental Indicators?
What is the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA)?
What are the Government Performance and Results Act goals
for Corrective Action?
How can facilities get off the RCRA Cleanup Baseline?
What are the RCRA Cleanup Reforms?
How can the public be involved in Corrective Action?
When is Corrective Action complete?
What is the 2020 Goal for Corrective Action?
What is the Corrective Action program? In 1980, when the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) law and regulations went into effect, thousands of facilities became subject to hazardous waste management regulations. These regulations helped to ensure that hazardous waste generated from ongoing industrial operations is properly managed and does not contribute to a future generation of toxic waste sites. However, many of these facilities had soil and groundwater contamination resulting from their waste management practices prior to 1980. The RCRA Corrective Action program addresses investigation and cleanup of past and present contamination at these operating industrial facilities.
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Who implements the Corrective Action program?Both EPA and the states are responsible
for implementing the RCRA Corrective Action program. However, EPA is gradually
transferring responsibility from the federal government to individual
states. When EPA determines that a state Corrective Action program is
equivalent to the federal program, the state assumes responsibility through
a process called authorization. Within Region 3, three states, Delaware,
West Virginia, and Virginia, are authorized for RCRA Corrective Action.
Where EPA remains the primary implementer, states assist EPA by conducting
corrective action activities through work sharing agreements with the
Region.
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How does Corrective
Action work?Facilities subject to RCRA corrective
action are responsible for conducting investigations and cleanups as necessary
to protect human health and the environment. These activities have traditionally
been required pursuant to a Corrective Action Permit or Adminstrative
Order. Since 1998 EPA Region 3 has also utilized other administrative
mechanisms, such as, the Facility Lead Agreement. The Facility Lead Agreement
encourages facilities to take the lead in addressing corrective action
outside of the terms of an enforceable permit or order. EPA and the states
oversee the implementation of activities through a review and approval
process, along with oversight of field activities. In some cases, facilities
pro-actively choose to conduct investigations and cleanup actions in advance
of regulatory oversight.
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Where does EPA’s
Corrective Action authority come from?EPA's authority to require facility-wide
corrective action comes from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
, specifically, sections 3004(u)&(v), 3005(c)(3), 3008(h), 3013, and
7003. EPA's regulations for corrective action at permitted facilities
are found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR Part 264 Subpart
F. EPA provides additional direction on corrective action through guidance,
policy directives and related regulations, all of which were designed
to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the program. The most
recent and comprehensive guidance issued for RCRA corrective action is
in the May 1, 1996
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [Adobe Acrobat file]
(EPA,
1996a, 61 FR 19431).
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How is RCRA Corrective
Action different from the Superfund Program? The Corrective Action program is different
from Superfund because it deals with sites that have viable operators
and generally have on-going operations. Superfund was primarily designed
to remedy the mistakes in hazardous waste management made in the past
at facilities that have been abandoned, or where a viable responsible
party cannot be identified. The Corrective Action program primarily encompasses
active facilities that have a RCRA permit, historically needed a RCRA
permit, or are currently seeking a RCRA permit to treat, store, or dispose
of hazardous waste. As a condition for obtaining a RCRA operating permit,
these active facilities are required to clean up contaminants that are
currently being released or that were released in the past. RCRA facilities
must pay for the cleanup at their site. For more information about Superfund,
see Region 3's Superfund
Program website.
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What are Environmental
Indicators? Please go to the Environmental
Indicators web page for more information.
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What is the Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA)?Please go to the GPRA
Goals web page for more information.
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What are Government
Performance and Results Act goals for Corrective Action?Please go to the GPRA
Goals web page for more information.
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How can facilities
get off the RCRA Cleanup Baseline?The RCRA Cleanup Baseline is a tool for
tracking EPA and state progress. Although facilities are not "removed"
from the baseline, after a cleanup is completed and an opportunity for
public comment is provided, a letter is issued to the company stating
that no further corrective action is necessary at the time.
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What are the
RCRA Cleanup Reforms?EPA introduced RCRA Cleanup Reforms in
1999 and implemented additional Reforms in 2001 to speedup the pace of
cleanups. The Reforms build upon various approaches taken by EPA and the
states in recent years to achieve faster, more efficient cleanups. EPA
designed the 1999 Reforms to: (1) focus the program more effectively on
achieving environmental results, rather than fulfilling unnecessary steps
in a bureaucratic process; (2) foster maximum use of program flexibility
and practical approaches to achieve program goals; and (3) enhance public
access to cleanup information and improve opportunity for public involvement
in the cleanup process. The 2001 Reforms introduced new initiatives to
reinforce and continue the momentum of the1999 Reforms. Specifically,
the 2001 Reforms direct energies to: (1) pilot innovative approaches;
(2)accelerate changes in culture; (3) connect communities to cleanups;
and (4) capitalize on redevelopment potential. For more information about
the reforms, please go to the EPA National web site on this topic at http://www.epa.gov/correctiveaction/reforms.htm.
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How can the
public be involved in Corrective Action?Public participation plays an integral
role in all RCRA programs, including Corrective Action. The RCRA
Public Participation Manual provides a clear description of the many
public participation activities that are required by federal regulations.
The manual also points out steps you or your organization can take to
provide more public input into the process.
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When is Corrective
Action complete? A facility has fulfilled all of its corrective
action obligations when the final remedy (1) protects human health and
the environment, (2) achieves media (i.e. soil, air, groundwater, surface
water) cleanup objectives, and (3) cleans up the sources of releases to
eliminate or further reduce threats to human health and the environment.
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What is the 2020 Goal for Corrective Action? 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. This goal was established following the issuance of the discussion paper Beyond RCRA: Prospects for Waste and Materials Management in the Year 2020, which was developed jointly by the EPA and state environmental agencies. It aims to open and inspire dialogue on what the future could hold for the RCRA program in 20 years. For more information on this topic, please visit the EPA National web page at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/vision.htm.
For more information on EPA’s 2020 Vision, please visit the EPA National Web page, and for a complete list of the 2020 corrective action universe of sites, visit the National Information Web page.
For questions regarding this page, please contact Luis Pizarro or Paul Gotthold.