Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 –
RCRA (pronounced RICK-rah) gave the United States Environmental Protection Agency the authority to control hazardous waste from “cradle-to-grave.” This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous wastes. RCRA focuses only on active and future facilities and does not address abandoned or historical sites. The 1986 amendments to RCRA enabled to EPA to address water contamination that could result from underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances. All RCRA cleanups must be performed so as to reduce the likelihood that hazardous or non-hazardous substances from past practices will ever leach into the ground water or run over the ground to larger surface water bodies.
Source: River Network
