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Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Enforcement
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA)
(P.L. 94-580) consists collectively
of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965  (SWDA)
and the subsequent amendments to it. It was passed to eliminate
the mounting problem of accumulating waste and the potential risks
to human health and the environment associated with these wastes.
It placed controls on the generation, transportation, treatment,
storage, and disposal of hazardous waste, as well establishing
a framework for the management of non-hazardous waste. Additionally,
it sets forth statutory authorities and the liability for owners
and operators of facilities that fail to comply with the statutory
and regulatory requirements.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act has provisions relating
to the regulation and enforcement of regulations for Hazardous
Waste (Subtitle C), Solid Waste (Subtitle D), Underground
Storage Tanks (Subtitle I) and Medical Waste (Subtitle
J) and the associated facilities and handlers. The remediation
or cleanup of hazardous wastes that have come from active RCRA
facilites, underground storage tanks, and oil spills is addressed
in the appropriate topic under Cleanup
Enforcement.
 Although
RCRA creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous
and nonhazardous solid waste, it does not address the problems
of hazardous waste found at inactive or abandoned sites or those
resulting from spills that require emergency response. These problems
are addressed by a different act, the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly called
Superfund, which was enacted in 1980. (See
Superfund under Cleanup Enforcement)
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