The+Resource+Conservation+and+Recovery+Act

=The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and 1989 =

The RCRA was enacted by Congress in 1976, as an amendment to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, to control the nation's disposal of solid and hazardous w aste. EPA enforces this law with the goal to ensure that the RCRA rules and regulations are met and to take any actions necessary to correct any violations. EPA achieves these goals by inspecting hazardous waste handlers, closely watching hazardous waste activities, and taking legal action when a handler is not cooperative. Goals of the RCRA: The Hazardous Waste Program is a federal program created to supervise hazardous wastes and to make sure that the waste is handled in a safe and healthy manner. The RCRA's corrective action program is designed to investigate and and guide the cleanup of any contamination from hazardous waste management of spills or releases into the environment.
 * Protect human health and environment from hazardous waste disposal
 * Conserve energy and natural resources
 * Reduce the amount of generated waste
 * Ensure managed wastes in an environmentally stable manner



Why was the law needed?
The law was created to deal with the increasing national waste problem. The nation's problem began after the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800's when the amount of new products and material goods expanded. The problem grew worse after World War II, the nation began generating 500,000 metric tons of hazardous waste per year. The EPA performed a nation survey in 1996 that estimated 279 million metric tons of hazardous waste generated nationwide in 1995.

1989
Established by the EPA in 1989, the Santa Susana Field Laboratory applied Corrective Actions to the RCRA. The Corrective Actions include four steps; RCRA facility assessment, RCRA facility investigation, corrective measures study, and corrective measures implementations.

Work Cited:
"Resource Conservation and Recovery Act." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. .

"Managing Hazardous Waste." Regions 10: The Northwest. US Environment Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. .

"Welcome to Basel Convention." //Welcome to Basel Convention//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. .