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Environmental Law > RCRA > Flashcards

RCRA Flashcards

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1
Q

RCRA - Factors Leading to Passage

A
  • concern that air and water statutes would make land the path of least resistance -> RCRA was thought of at the time as eliminating the last env. law loophole
  • designed to be very tough
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2
Q

RCRA - Impact of Strict Regs

A
  • resulted in shutdown of hazardous waste facilities (they hadn’t been regulated previously, + regulation meant sudden increase in costs -> unprofitable)
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3
Q

Original 1976 RCRA - Section 3002

A
  • Section on “Standards applicable to generators of hazardous waste”
  • Administrator shall promulgate regs establishing such standards, applicable to generators of hazardous waste identified or listed under this subtitle
  • Prof emphasized lack of “reasonably” in there - reflects RCRA designed to be tough
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4
Q

Section 7003 of Original RCRA

A
  • Imminent Hazard Section
  • allows Secretary to sue whenever there’s evidence that handling, storage, treatment, transportation or disposal of any solid waste/hazardous waste presenting “imminent and substantial endangerment” to health or env
  • Sec can sue any person for contributing to the disposal to stop it or “to take such other action as may be necessary”
  • Innovative arg - present leaking = contributing to the disposal, and can hold liable under strict joint + several liability
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5
Q

Hazardous and Solid Waste Act Amendments of 1984

A
  • amendments to RCRA prompted by distrust between legislative and executive branches (distrust of Gorsuch EPA during Reagan admin)
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6
Q

1984 Amendments - Major Changes

A
  • kept same overall structure
  • defined “solid waste” + “hazardous waste”
  • determined standards “necessary to protect human health and the environment” applicable to generators, transporters, and owners/operators of TSD facilities
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7
Q

TSD Facilities

A
  • TSD = treatment, storage, + disposal -> these are the facilities that deal w/ the hazardous waste in the end
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8
Q

RCRA vs. CERCLA

A
  • RCRA is generally more prospective, CERCLA more retrospective
  • however, CERCLA winds up having some prospective effects b/c parties don’t want to be subject to its liability
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9
Q

Generators - Duties

A
  • identify hazardous waste
  • label hazardous waste
  • initiate manifest system to track waste
  • arrange for transportation by transporter licensed for hazardous waste to TSD facility licensed to handle hazardous waste
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10
Q

Transporter - Duties

A
  • Use manifest system (tracks the hazardous waste)
  • comply with EPA Transporter Requirements (includes truck design standards, driver training, and insurance requirements)
  • comply with DOT Hazardous Material Transportation
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11
Q

TSD Facilities - Duties

A

Design, performance, and operating requirements

Disposal Facility Illustrative Requirements:
- insurance requirements + financial assurances -> waste stays hazardous for much longer than you’re around, + need to be prepared to pay
- double liners & leachate collection (part of RCRA design standards)
- pre-treatment requirements to minimize migration of hazardous constituents (e.g., incineration)
- closure and post-closure plans

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12
Q

Major Issues Under RCRA

A
  • what is the meaning of “waste” and “hazardous”?
  • what constitutes a TSD?
  • what environmental standards apply to TSDs?
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13
Q

Solid Waste Definition

A
  • under RCRA, “solid waste” can be solid, semisolid, liquid, or gas
  • the definition provides certain exemptions (solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to CWA, special nuclear or byproduct material subject to Atomic Energy Act)
  • big question becomes when material qualifies as “discarded”
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14
Q

Design Standards vs. Tech Standards

A
  • design standards means the gov is telling you what kinds of equipment you need to use
  • tech-based means you have to achieve a certain goal (which is set based on existing tech) but you can use whatever you want to get there
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15
Q

Why so difficult to decide when material discarded?

A
  • difficult in part b/c the statute does want to promote resource recovery and recycling -> doesn’t want to prematurely label stuff discarded
  • also, in process of recycling and recovering, you’re probs exposing people + env. to hazardous substances - theoretically not waste, so statute doesn’t cover, but might still be worried about it
  • 54 pages in Fed Reg on this - COMPLEX (need very careful determ. on whether hazardous WASTE being disposed of safely without discouraging useful acts)
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16
Q

Companies and “Waste”

A
  • companies came up with a bunch of ways to get around calling something waste
  • ex of burning something and mixing the ash with concrete - the burning generates heat and fuel, and you’re theoretically creating construction materials
17
Q

Key Points for Solid Waste Definition

A
  • discarded means abandoned, recycled (defined in paragraph c) or “inherently waste-like”
  • counts as solid waste if the material is “abandoned” by being disposed of, burned, or stored
18
Q

“Recycled” for Purposes of Solid Waste

A

A material is recycled and therefore solid waste if:
- used in a manner that counts as disposal
- accumulated speculatively
- burned for energy recovery
- reclaimed

19
Q

When is waste “hazardous”?

A
  • if it causes or significantly contributes to increase in mortality or increase in serious/irreversible illness
  • if it poses substantial present or potential hazard to human health or env when “improperly” treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed (it counts as hazardous based on what happens under improper management, regardless of what you specifically do with it)
20
Q

Types of Hazardous Waste

A
  • listed
  • characteristic
21
Q

Listed Hazardous Waste

A
  • no tests involved, these are just hazardous wastes in the first instance
  • tend to be listed by industry + what they produce
22
Q

Characteristic Hazardous Wastes

A

Four characteristics:
- ignitability
- corrosivity
- reactivity
- toxicity

For each of these, EPA has a test to see whether the waste would have that characteristic under certain conditions -> generator needs to apply this test, and it counts as a hazardous waste if it fails

23
Q

Difficulties with Hazardous Waste Def

A
  • fairly narrow definition - doesn’t include a lot of carcinogens
  • a lot of environmentalists think EPA should expand the def, but the agency argues it can get most hazardous substances between the two categories
24
Q

Mixture Rule

A
  • adopted by EPA to prevent evasion of regs by diluting hazardous waste
  • provides that any mixture of a listed waste with another solid waste is considered to be hazardous
25
Q

Derived-From Rule

A
  • similar to mixture rule - trying to prevent people from skirting regulation
  • provides that wastes derived from the treatment, storage or disposal of a listed waste are deemed to be hazardous wastes
26
Q

Characteristic Wastes and the Mixture/Derived-From Rules

A
  • if the waste is only hazardous because it’s characteristic, you CAN get out of these two rules if whatever you do to the waste makes it pass the test
  • vs. for listed wastes, you can’t get out of regulation no matter what
27
Q

Incineration

A
  • TSD facilities have to meet certain pretreatment requirements to minimize migration of hazardous constituents -> incineration becomes the big way to do this
  • this is part of what gave rise to the environmental justice movement - huge problems in the 80s with where these incinerators that were suddenly needed were being located
28
Q

1984 RCRA Section 3004(d)

A
  • pretreatment requirement for TSD facilities
  • you can’t dispose of hazardous waste on land UNLESS Administrator determines that the prohibition of such waste isn’t “required in order to protect human health and the environment for as long as the waste remains hazardous”
  • need to show no migration of the hazardous constituents (constituents, not the waste) for as long as the waste remains hazardous (presumptively 10,000 yrs unless you show otherwise) -> if you CAN’T show this, you need to do pretreatment under 3004(m) before you can dispose of on land
29
Q

1984 RCRA Section 3004(m)

A
  • Treatment standards for wastes subject to land disposal prohibition
  • says Administrator shall promulgate regs specifying the “levels or methods of treatment, if any, which substantially diminish the toxicity” so short-term + long-term threats to human health + env are minimized
  • focus for pretreatment basically winds up being incineration (think companies opt for this cause easier)
30
Q

1984 RCRA 3004(o)

A
  • sets design standards for TSD facilities (minimum tech requirements)
  • includes installation of two or more linears + leachate collection system, + ground water monitoring
31
Q

1984 RCRA 3004(g)

A
  • Designed to give EPA more time to deal with less hazardous wastes
  • 3 thirds concept - EPA needs to promulgate regs for at least one-third of all hazardous wastes by 45 months after 1984 Ams, two-thirds of them by 55 months, + ALL the wastes by 66 months
  • comes with hammer provision - if EPA fails to meet the deadlines, certain tough standards will apply on the first two (can’t dispose of in landfill if…) + if misses third one, such hazardous waste shall be prohibited from land disposal (EPA let this hammer fall only for a few wastes it thought companies shouldn’t need to produce in the first place)
32
Q

RCRA - Subchapter C

A
  • deals with hazardous waste
  • cradle to grave strict federal regulation - from the moment its generated, then transported + disposed of
  • Applies to generators, transporters, + owners and operators of TSD facilities
  • compliance with standards “necessary to protect human health and the environment”

Environmental Law (17 decks)

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