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Hazardous & Solid Waste Clean-Up

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EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) is responsible for both ensuring that currently generated solid waste (hazardous and nonhazardous waste) is managed properly, and that currently operating management facilities address any contaminant releases from their operations. To ensure that currently generated wastes are properly managed, Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976. Congress amended RCRA in 1984 with the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to require the cleanup of contamination in the environment from improper waste management practices prior to the passage of RCRA and from potential future releases. HSWA requires responsible parties that are seeking a permit to treat, store, or dispose of hazardous wastes (TSDs) to clean up environmental contaminants at their sites regardless of the time of the release. This cleanup at Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) is termed RCRA Corrective Action.

RCRA's Corrective Action Program

Accidents or other activities at RCRA facilities (or TSDFs) have sometimes released hazardous pollutants into soil, ground water, surface water, and air. The Corrective Action Program allows the RCRA facilities to address the investigation and cleanup of these hazardous releases. EPA estimates that more than 5,000 RCRA facilities are potentially subject to Corrective Action, over three times the number of sites on the Superfund National Priorities List. The degree of investigation and subsequent Corrective Action necessary to protect human health and the environment varies significantly among facilities. When EPA determines that state programs are equivalent to the federal RCRA program, the corrective action program is delegated to the state. At this time 33 states are authorized to run their own Corrective Action Program. In Region 8, the states of Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota are authorized to implement the hazardous waste program on non-tribal lands.

How is Corrective Action Different from Superfund?

OSW's hazardous waste cleanup program, referred to as the Corrective Action Program, is different than Superfund because it deals with sites that have viable operators and on-going operations. Superfund was primarily designed to remedy the mistakes in hazardous waste management made in the past at sites that have been abandoned or where a responsible party cannot be identified. Cleanup at Superfund sites is paid for mainly from the general fund. The Corrective Action Program encompasses active, soon to be active, or facilities that have closed since 1984 that were permitted, are permitted, or seek a 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 released or have been released in the past. RCRA facilities must pay for the cleanup at their facility. For more information about Superfund, see the Superfund Program web site.

Entering the Corrective Action program

One of the keys to understanding the RCRA Corrective Action Program is knowing how a facility becomes subject to the Corrective Action process. There are three primary ways a Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility (TSDF) becomes subject to the Corrective Action process:

  1. A TSDF that is seeking a permit to operate must ensure, through the Corrective Action process, that there are no unacceptable releases from past waste management activities.
  2. EPA may issue an enforcement order, because of high priority contaminant releases, requiring a facility seeking a permit to implement Corrective Action.
  3. A facility owner/operator may initiate Corrective Action by entering an agreement with EPA in advance of receiving a permit.
  4. Accidental releases from facility operations must be addressed by Corrective Action.

Facilities Undergoing Corrective Action

The list of facilites undergoing RCRA corrective action is maintained in the national RCRA database known as The Resource Conservation and Recovery Information or RCRAInfo.

Corrective Action Enforcement

The National Hazardous Waste Enforcement Program is managed by EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

RCRA Cleanup Reforms

Since 1984, EPA and authorized states have made considerable progress in implementing the Corrective Action requirements. Despite the progress made, states, environmental groups, and the regulated community have raised concerns, including: slow progress in achieving cleanup or other environmental results; an emphasis on process and reports over actual work in the field; unrealistic, impractical or overly conservative cleanup goals; and lack of meaningful public participation. Because of various reasons raised by many stakeholders, the Agency believes that it is time for a fundamental re-evaluation of its Corrective Action Program. This re-evaluation comes in the form of the RCRA Cleanup Reforms. For more information on RCRA Cleanup Reforms see the RCRA Cleanup Reforms.

RCRA Public Participation

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 as well as pointing out steps you or your organization can take to provide more public input into the process.

Other EPA Waste Cleanup Efforts

In addition to OSW's waste clean up efforts, you may wish to investigate the following waste clean up programs throughout EPA:


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