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11 Identification of Hazardous

Waste

I hate facts. I always say the chief end of man is to form general propositions — adding that no general
proposition is worth a damn.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
The Mind and Faith of Justice Holmes

11.1 INTRODUCTION
As discussed in Chapter 3, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was the first truly
significant step in the comprehensive management of hazardous as well as municipal wastes in the
U.S. The ultimate goal of RCRA is to promote the protection of public health and the environment
and to conserve material and energy resources. RCRA requires the U.S. EPA to promulgate and
enforce regulations regarding the management of hazardous waste. These regulations established
mandatory procedures and requirements for compliance with RCRA. RCRA has remained current
with waste management issues and problems by being amended several times. The most sweeping
set of amendments was included in 1984 as the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA).
RCRA has nine subtitles, each of which addresses some aspects of resource conservation and
waste management. Subtitle C is the primary component that deals with management of hazardous
waste. Its goal is to identify a hazardous waste and set standards for the accumulation, storage,
transportation, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste. The provisions of Subtitle C apply to a
waste from the moment it becomes hazardous until it is no longer a hazardous waste. This embraces
the so-called “cradle-to-grave” approach to the regulation of hazardous waste.
Hazardous waste management regulations are published in the Federal Register, which is pub-
lished daily. The Federal Register provides a system for making regulations and legal notices issued
by federal agencies available to the public.

11.2 THE RCRA SUBTITLES

U.S. EPA regulations are compiled in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR),
Protection of the Environment. The topics are as follows:

Subtitle Topic
A General Provisions
B Office of Solid Waste, Authorities of the EPA administrator
C Hazardous Waste Management
D State or Regional Solid Waste Plans
E Duties of the Secretary of Commerce in Resource Recovery
F Federal Responsibilities
G Miscellaneous Provisions
H Research, Development, Demonstration, and Information
I Underground Storage Tanks

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