Chapter 4: A Guide to Materials on RCRA Available on the Internet

RCRA Links

CERCLA Links

Pollution Prevention Links

EPA maintains a toll-free hotline that can provide answers to questions about RCRA. Outside of Washington, D.C. the hotline's toll-free number is (800) 424-0346. Within the DC area the hotline number is (703) 412-9010. EPA maintains a "RCRA Online" database that can be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/rcraonline. This site enables visitors to locate and to download documents addressing a wide range of RCRA topics. A useful guide to RCRA that is available from this site is EPA's "RCRA Orientation Manual."

EPA's waste management regulations are codified at 40 C.F.R. pts. 240-281. Regulations governing hazardous waste begin at 40 C.F.R. pt. 260. Regulations governing underground storage tanks are found at 40 C.F.R. pts. 280-292. These CFR sections are available online through the National Archives and Records Administration's website, which includes a searchable version of the Code of Federal Regulations (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html) and a continuously updated electronic CFR ("e-CFR") that can be found at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr/.

EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response is responsible for implementing RCRA. Its webpage is located at http://www.epa.gov/swerrims. EPA's RCRA Docket and Information Center provides the public with access to documents concerning RCRA rulemakings including copies of all EPA generated documents associated with rulemaking activities, which are available to the public online at http://www.epa.gov/swerrimsr/osw/ric.htm. Information about EPA's regulation of underground storage tanks under RCRA is available from the agency's Underground Storage Tank (UST) Docket maintained by the agency's Office of Underground Storage Tanks at http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/resource/docket.htm.

Background information on RCRA and its history is available from the National Council for Science and the Environment at http://www.cnie.org/NLE/CRSreports/BriefingBooks/Laws/h.cfm. EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) is the division within the agency responsible for RCRA and CERCLA matters.

Detailed data on hazardous waste generation, management and disposal is collected by EPA's Resource Conservation and Recovery Information System (RCRIS). These data can be accessed on-line at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/rcris/rcris_query_java.html

Most states operate RCRA programs under delegated authority from EPA. Information about some of these state RCRA programs may be found on the Internet. See, for example, the websites maintained by New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation at http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dshm/hzwstman/hzwst.htm, and Florida's website at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/hwRegulation/default.htm.

A GUIDE TO CERCLA MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET

EPA maintains dockets containing important information about sites eligible for cleanup under CERCLA. These include a National Priorities List Docket, a Federal Facilities Docket, and Superfund Administrative Records, which include Records of Decision (RODs) concerning site cleanups. Maps of sites on the National Priorities List and fact sheets describing conditions at them can be reviewed online at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm.  Abstracts of Rods for each site can be reviewed online at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/rods/index.htm.

EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) maintains a website that provides substantial information about its operation of the Superfund program at http://www.epa.gov/oswer. Guidance documents prepared by EPA on § 106 administrative orders are available at http://es.epa.gov/oeca/osre/cercla.html.  EPA's Superfund Docket and Document Center provides public access to Superfund rulemaking material at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/contacts/docket.htm. Updates to the National Contingency Plan's National Priorities List (NPL) can be accessed online at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/contacts/nplupdte.htm. Cleanup enforcement documents are available at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/. Descriptions of reforms in the Superfund program and the program's cleanup success stories are available at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/reforms/index.htm.  EPA's Brownfields program, which seeks to encourage redevelopment of contaminated sites. maintains a website that can be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA maintains a toll-free hotline that can provide answers to questions about CERCLA. Outside of the Washington, DC metropolitan area the hotline's toll-free number is (800) 424-9346. In DC area the hotline number is (703) 412-9010.

EPA's CERCLA regulations are codified at 40 C.F.R. pts. 300-311. The list of CERCLA hazardous substances appears at 40 C.F.R. Pt. 302. These CFR sections may be accessed online through the National Archives and Records Administration's website, which includes a searchable version of the Code of Federal Regulations (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html) and a continuously updated electronic CFR ("e-CFR") that can be found at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr/. The Department of Interior's regulation on conducting natural resource damage assessments under CERCLA are available at http://www.doi.gov/oepc/frlist.html.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry maintains a list, in order of priority, of the hazardous substances most commonly found at NPL sites. This list is available online at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cercla/99list.html.

Information about reporting releases of hazardous substances under CERCLA is provided at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oepa/guidance/cercla/rqs-gen.htm, a website that is maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy.

A GUIDE TO MATERIALS ON POLLUTION PREVENTION AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET

The homepage of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) is located at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/. It includes links to the agency's Design for the Environment Program (http://www.epa.gov/dfe/), which encourages the incorporation of environmental considerations into product design decisions, and to EPA's Green Chemistry Program (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/greenchemistry), which encourages the use of technologies that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances.

OPPT maintains a webpage devoted entirely to Pollution Prevention ("P2") issues. The webpage is located at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/p2home/index.htm. It includes a monthly "electronic newsletter" (http://www.epa.gov/p2/) that provides updates on developments in various pollution prevention programs. It also explains EPA's use of "P2" principles as a vehicle for reinventing traditional agency programs and for developing innovative new strategies to promote environmental protection. The webpage provides information about EPA's P2 practices and programs (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/p2home/programs/index.htm) and it includes links to technical assistance resources and to information about P2 programs undertaken by others (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/p2home/resources/index.htm).

EPA maintains a Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange that is composed of nine regional centers offering information, training, referrals and research on pollution prevention principles. A webpage describing the exchange is located at http://www.p2rx.org/AboutUs/aboutp2rx.cfm. EPA also maintains a Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (PPIC), as required by Congress in the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). A webpage described this clearinghouse is located at http://www.epa.gov/oppt/ppic/.