The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, is a Federal law of the United States contained in 42 U.S.C.A., §321. It is usually pronounced as "Wreck-rah." The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that RCRA's goals are:

• to protect the public from harm caused by waste disposal
• to encourage reuse, reduction, and recycling
• to clean up spilled or improperly stored wastes.

Related acts

An amendment of the earlier Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, RCRA was enacted to create a management system to regulate waste from "cradle-to-grave." In 1984 the Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments Act was added to the Act and in 1986 the law was expanded further to regulate underground storage tanks and other leaking waste storage facilities. However, unlike the "Superfund" (CERCLA), RCRA only regulates active and not historical sites.

Implementation and scope

The EPA Office of Solid Waste (OSW) is responsible for implementing RCRA. The act is similar to the Clean Air Act (USA) (1970) in that it allows the OSW to delegate responsibility for certain wastes to the state level. All but three states have accepted full responsibility for RCRA enforcement and receive financial support for doing so.

Primarily, RCRA serves to define hazardous waste and to provide provisions for the recording and record keeping necessary to keep track of such wastes. This is accomplished through the use of a manifest system called Biennial Reporting System, reports which companies file every two years with EPA or their local state agency. RCRA also covers Treatment, Storage and Disposal facilities and provides the provisions for permitting such facilities. RCRA includes significant enforcement legislation including the ability to pursue criminal prosecution and large fines.