Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The Land Disposal Flexibility Act was passed in 1996 and allows characteristic
wastes to be treated in Clean Water Act (CWA) systems or disposed of in Class I
injection wells.
The primary goal of RCRA is the protection of human health and the environ-
ment. Other goals include waste reduction and the conservation of natural resources,
the reduction or elimination of hazardous waste, the promotion of recycling, and
the encouragement of state programs for RCRA. The main purpose of the LDR
program is to prohibit activities that involve placing untreated hazardous wastes in
or on the land. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has developed
a treatment standard for most hazardous wastes (listed and characteristic). The
treatment standards set either (1) concentration limits for treated wastes below which
wastes may be safely land disposed or (2) specific technology-based standards that
must be used on the waste. Stabilization/solidification (S/S) is the best demonstrated
available technology (BDAT) for many contaminants and applications.
The EPA hazardous site cleanup program, referred to as Superfund, was autho-
rized and established in 1980 by the enactment of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Public Law (PL) 96-510.
This legislation allows the Federal government (and cooperating state governments)
to respond directly to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances and
pollutants or contaminants that may endanger public health or welfare or the envi-
ronment. Prior to the passage of PL 96-510, Federal authority regulated hazardous
contaminant release mainly through RCRA and the CWA and its predecessors. The
general guidelines and provisions for implementing CERCLA are given in the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP) (Federal Register,
40 CFR 300, 1982).
Three classes of actions are available when direct government action is called for:
1.
Immediate removals are allowed when a prompt response is needed to
prevent harm to public health or welfare or to the environment. These are
short-term actions usually limited to 6 months and a total expenditure of
$1 million.
2.
Planned removals are expedited, but not immediate, responses. These are
intended to limit danger or exposure that would take place if longer term
projects were implemented and responses were delayed.
3.
Remedial actions are longer term activities undertaken to provide more
complete remedies. Remedial actions are generally more expensive and
can only be undertaken at sites appearing on the National Priorities List
of the NCP.
Remedial actions may involve technically complex problems that are expensive
to resolve. The selection of technical measures takes place only after a full evaluation
of all feasible alternatives based upon economic, engineering, environmental, public
health, and institutional considerations. Off-site transportation and disposal of waste
is generally an expensive option and is justified only when proven cost-effective,
and then only in facilities that comply with current hazardous waste disposal regu-
lations under Subtitle C of RCRA.
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