Resource Recovery and Conservation Act
Introduction:
In 1965 the Solid Waste Disposal Act was passed, providing for reductions in waste, environmentally friendly waste management, resource conservation, and aimed to safeguard citizens from the effects of hazardous waste. Eleven years later this act was amended to become the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. The amended act created a regulatory system that embraced reduce, reuse, and recycle; it also banned open dumping. Dumping of hazardous chemicals came under the control of RCRA and rules governing storage, disposal, and treatment were made. RCRA focuses on three areas: solid waste, hazardous waste, and underground storage tanks. All aspects of RCRA affect the oil and gas
…show more content…
The conditions set forth in the permit are closely observed to ensure no deviations take place (The Hazardous Waste Permitting Process: A Citizens Guide).
Compliance or monitoring activities for RCRA permits vary depending on which section of RCRA jurisdiction governs your company. The legislation requires cradle to grave compliance, meaning that hazardous waste must be within compliance from its generation, transport, storage, and destruction. All three portions of the regulation require inspection and periodic auditing. These audits and inspections are carried out by state agencies or the EPA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Compliance Monitoring). Federal permit information can be found at 40CFR264.
Discussion:
In my opinion the RCRA is a beneficial program to the industry and safety professional. While some view additional audits and inspections to be bothersome, I view it as motivation for compliance. Without the act waste produced by industry and stored by vendors could damage many areas of the environment. By instituting a cradle to grave system the EPA has put the burden on the producer to ensure that waste are handled safely, which may be the largest hardship for the safety professional acting as a responsible party. Water Quality Act
Introduction:
In 1972 the Clean Water Act was created by amending the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 (History of the Clean Water Act). The Clean Water Act is the product of almost 100
Through the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Congress directed EPA to regulate all aspects of hazardous waste. As a result, EPA developed strict regulations for the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. States may implement stricter requirements than the Federal regulations as needed. Treatment and Disposal: Any process that changes the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a waste to minimize its threat to the environment. Storage: The temporary holding of waste before the waste is treated,
The Toxic Substance Control Act was enacted to protect both humans and the environment from the effects of toxic or harmful chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency was placed in charge of this act, and has since been enforcing and amending it. The EPA is permitted to define testing requirements for all chemicals, and can also restrict the manufacture and sale of any particularly hazardous chemicals. In addition, all imports and exports of these chemicals must be recorded at every step along the journey to ensure that regulations
The importance of comprehensive site investigations and getting the right report, and by an EPA accredited auditor can be seen in the court case Charben Haulage Pty Ltd v Environmental & Earth Sciences Pty Ltd (2004) FCA 403. In this case Caltex had obtained development consent from the local council to decommission a suburban service station and remediate it to residential standards. A condition of the consent was that an auditor accredited by the EPA would sign off the completed decontamination.
The first step taken towards solving the water crisis issue was back in 1974 with the Safe Drinking
This policy by the United State according to this act mandated that pollution be prevented and most especially reduced from the source. It further states that, in an instance where pollution in unavoidably or unable to be prevented, then recycling of such waste should be done considering the safety and well being of the environment and the people. In a case where it is not possible to prevent pollution or recycled, such need to be treated in a safe manner to protect to reduce any hazardous environment (Burnett, 2000).
The maxim cujus est solum ejus est usque ad coelum et ad inferos - "the owner of the soil owns to the heavens and also to the lowest depths" – applies to the ownership of land in Oklahoma. However, early Oklahoma case law set the principle that “fugacious” substances that are capable of subsurface migration within a reservoir cannot be owned separately from the soil. As the owner of land does not own an interest in the hydrocarbons below the surface until he has extracted it and take personal possession. This doctrine of ownership is commonly referred to in the state as the "exclusive-right-to-take" theory. This means that the landowner or mineral rights owner only has the exclusive right to drill, produce and gain possession of hydrocarbons. This also includes the right to take possession of the oil and gas coming from below another person’s property.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 has proved to be one of the most important environmental protection programs of all time. Also known as Superfund, this act spawned dramatic changes to the environment of the United States. Superfund aimed to cleanup hazardous waste sites in America and protect the health and safety of the general public. Over the years, the Superfund legislation has authorized the government to aid in the cleanup of toxic waste in a variety of effective ways that have ensured the welfare of its citizens. On the whole, CERCLA has transformed hazardous waste sites, changed the outdated disposal methods that companies utilized, and ignited environmental awareness.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) was created in response the rapid loss of clean water. The government wanted to restore and preserve the water, as much of it was no longer useable for consumption or recreational use. A lot of this was due to agricultural runoff which lead to a surplus of phosphorus and nitrogen in many waters. (Tim Martins)
The air samples used in monitoring are compared to health and safety standards and regulations for compliance. An industrial hygienist may have to perform monitoring activities. If designated substances are in the workplace the employer is required to perform an assessment and implement a control program. The MOL issues a regulation for each designated substance. Controlling exposure to chemical and biological agents must be considered as well.
has already begun a process of upgrading and refining their environmental compliance program. Adopted programs are where retail facilities have begun to apply a better hazardous waste management system, develop and implement enhanced training on hazardous waste products, develop SOPs relating to compliance with environmental laws, and have created a title held accountable for ensuring environmental compliance. The development and implementation of Environmental Management Systems, another requirement of this CAFO, will also aid with being in accordance at return and distribution center as well.
REI, like all businesses in the U.S., is compelled by law to comply with numerous business laws and legal regulations. Some regulations, like the clean air act, apply to specific industries, while others, like tax laws, apply to all businesses operated within the U.S. As result, REI is required to comply with all local, state, and federal tax laws. Being a cooperative, REI is not required to submit Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, but it is required to file similar reports to its co-op members to report on its financial performance (Komvopoulos, Labinov, Iseri, Leon, Tradd & Lopez, 2012).
The Clean Water Act (CWA) founds the elementary structure for regulating releases of contaminants into the water bodies of the US and also for surface waters it regulates quality standards. The origin of the CWA was passed in 1948 and was named the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, then the Act was suggestively reorganized and prolonged in 1972. as "Clean Water Act" this became the Act 's communal name after amendments in 1972.Further down to CWA, EPA has applied other pollution control agendas such as for industry, the setting wastewater standards. We similarly have set some water quality standards for all pollutants in surface waters.
Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act was formulated with the goals of putting the end to the discharging of high quantities of contaminated materials into water resources, and further prevent pollution of water , and making sure that surface waters met the standards needed to support human and agricultural usage. Essentially, the Clean Water Act stipulates the fundamental structure used in the regulation of discharges of toxic pollutants into water resources of the US and ensuring conformance of quality standards for groundwater (Environmental Protection Agency). The Clean Water Act was draws based on the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, which was later developed and revised in 1972 to the Clean Water Act. Under the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to implement programs to control pollution example being the establishment of standards for wastewater discharge for various industries. In addition, the CWA establishes the water quality standards applicable to all groundwater contaminants. The Clean Water Act makes it illegal to unload any contaminant material from a point source into navigable water bodies without acquiring permit from EPA. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program, under the EPA, helps in controlling discharges (Environmental Protection
Congress passed The Solid Waste Disposal Act in 1965. The Agency of Environmental Safety considered this Act as the primary effort made by federal authority for efficient waste clearance technology. This act controls the dumping material; manage storage and management of solid, both and non-precarious and precarious wastage. It highlights the processes that are environmentally liable to dispose waste at the commercial, municipal, industrial and household levels (Tchobanoglous & Vergara, 2010). This was considered as primary initiative of a chain of systems focusing on resource management and air cleaning (Gerlak, 2005). There have been several major adjustments made to the Act with the reference to Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (1976). The involvement of federal
Special hazardous USEPA pollutants include wastes, medical wastes, military wastes and the radioactive releases. The hazardous waste can be either a designated waste or a characteristic waste. A characteristic waste is named so because it exhibits one of the properties such as corrosiveness, reactivity, ignitability or radioactivity. A designated waste is the waste that is in the list of the USEPA.