The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA)

This law, administered by EPA, establishes a Federal program to provide comprehensive regulation of hazardous waste, which includes certain materials held to pose a potential threat to public health and safety when they are discarded. RCRA regulations provide for and maintain a hazardous waste management system that covers the generation, transportation, use, and disposal of such waste (sometimes summarized as the regulation from “cradle to grave management of hazardous waste”). Major control mechanisms include a manifest system to track hazardous waste shipments and a permit system requiring waste site owners and operators to comply with specified safety standards. While RCRA primarily regulates safety precautions at hazardous waste facilities in operation today, it also has strong provisions potentially relevant to cleanup if any part of a facility was in operation during the 1980s.