the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program that requires any point source of pollution to obtain a permit. Permits contain either effluent limits or require the installation of specific pollutant treatment. Permit holders must monitor discharges, collect data, and keep records of the pollutant levels of their effluents. Industrial sources that discharge into sewers must comply with EPA pretreatment standards by applying the best available control technology.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
1976
The RCRA was enacted to regulate the “cradle‐to‐grave” generation, transport, and disposal of both nonhazardous and hazardous wastes to land, encourage recycling, and promote the development of alternative energy sources based on solid waste materials.
Generators must maintain records of the quantity of hazardous waste generated, where the waste was sent for treatment, storage, or disposal, and file this data in biennial reports to the EPA. Transporters and disposal facilities must adhere to similar requirements for record keeping as well as for monitoring the environment.
Clean‐Up, Emergency Panning, and Pollution Prevention The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
1980
CERCLA began a process of identifying and cleaning up the many sites of uncontrolled hazardous waste disposal at abandoned sites, industrial complexes, and federal facilities. EPA is responsible for creating a list of the most hazardous sites of contamination, which is termed the National Priority List (NPL). It was amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986.
After a site is listed in the NPL, EPA identifies potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and notifies them of their potential CERCLA liability, which is strict, joint and several, and retroactive. PRPs are (i) present or (ii) past owners of hazardous waste disposal facilities, (iii) generators of hazardous waste, and (iv) transporters of hazardous waste.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)
1986
Title III of (SARA) contains a separate piece of legislation called the (EPCRA). There are two main goals of EPCRA: (i) to have states create local emergency units that must develop plans to respond to chemical release emergencies and (ii) to require EPA to compile an inventory of toxic chemical releases to the air, water, and soil from manufacturing facilities.
Facilities must work with state and local entities to develop emergency response plans in case of an accidental release. Affected facilities must report annually to EPA data on the maximum amount of the toxic substance on‐site in the previous year, the treatment and disposal methods used, and the amounts released to the environment or transferred off‐site for treatment and/or disposal.
Pollution Prevention Act (PPA)
1990
The act established pollution prevention as the nation's primary pollution management strategy with emphasis on source reduction. Established a Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse whose goal is to compile source reduction information and make it available to the public.
The only mandatory provision of the PPA requires owners and operators of facilities that are required to file a Form R under the SARA Title III to report to the EPA information regarding the source reduction and recycling efforts that the facility has undertaken during the previous year.
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) (2000) Section 303(d) of the CWA
2000
Requires states to develop prioritized lists of polluted or threatened water bodies and to establish the maximum amount of pollutant (TMDL) that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standard.
A TMDL is the sum of (i) the individual waste‐load allocations (WLAs) for point sources (industrial and municipal), (ii) load allocations for nonpoint sources, (iii) natural background levels, and (iv) a margin of safety (USEPA 2000).
Examples (Multiple Choice)
Example 2.3
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are not promulgated by EPA for which of the following pollutants?
1 Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
2 Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
3 Mercury
4 Ozone
Example 2.4
Primary NAAQS are established to
1 protect children from toxic air pollutants
2 protect the public welfare, including protection against decreased visibility, damage to animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings
3 protect the public health, including the health of “sensitive” populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly
4 both B and C
Example 2.5
A waste is determined to be characteristically toxic under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) if
1 the waste contains specific compounds at greater than threshold concentrations
2 it is determined that chemicals in the waste are bioaccumulative, toxic, and persistent in the environment
3 leachate from the waste contains specific compounds at greater than threshold concentrations
4 exposure to the waste causes adverse health effects in laboratory animals
Solution
The leachability of specific compounds at greater than threshold concentration determines whether a waste is characteristically RCRA hazardous for toxicity.
Example 2.6
Under Superfund legislation, a company can be held liable for all costs associated with remediation of a contaminated site.
1 Only if the company disposed of wastes at the site illegally
2 Only if the company is solely responsible for contaminated at the site
3 Only if the company disposed of waste at the site illegally and is solely responsible for contamination at the site
4 If the company disposed of wastes at the site legally and contributed only a small fraction of wastes disposed of at the site
Solution
The strict, joint, and several provisions of the Superfund legislation mean that a company might be held responsible for all of the cleanup costs associated with a site, even if the company's activities were legal and contributed only a small fraction of the contamination at the site.
Example 2.7
ISO 14000 refers to a set of voluntary standards that include
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program that requires any point source of pollution to obtain a permit. Permits contain either effluent limits or require the installation of specific pollutant treatment. Permit holders must monitor discharges, collect data, and keep records of the pollutant levels of their effluents. Industrial sources that discharge into sewers must comply with EPA pretreatment standards by applying the best available control technology.
