Page 400 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

CAT3525_C11.qxd 1/27/2005 12:26 PM Page 371

Part III

Hazardous Waste Management

This section covers the management of those wastes that are considered to pose a significant threat,
both now and in the future, to human health and the environment when improperly managed.
Wastes considered hazardous are those which are ignitable, corrosive, reactive, and toxic. It follows
that such wastes cannot be handled or disposed without following special precautions. Wastes des-
ignated as “hazardous” are generated by a wide range of industries of varying sizes. As we shall see
in this section, specific requirements for waste management by a generator will vary as a function
of the amounts generated over a specified time frame.
Unfortunately, regulations addressing hazardous waste management were few prior to 1976,
when the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was enacted. Under RCRA the U.S.
EPA was granted specific authority to regulate the generation, transportation, and disposal of haz-
ardous waste. Topics in this section will adhere to requirements of RCRA (and, to a lesser extent,
other important regulatory and legal frameworks such as those of the Department of Transportation
and the Clean Air Act) and include identification of hazardous waste; hazardous waste generator
requirements; hazardous waste transportation; treatment, storage and disposal facility requirements;
incineration; hazardous waste treatment; and land disposal of hazardous waste.
Management of nuclear (radioactive) wastes is not handled in this book; radioactive wastes are
not addressed by RCRA but by other laws, for example the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.