RCRA Key Terms

Director, or administrator, refers to the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a position appointed by the President of the United States.

EPA refers to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is a U.S. federal government agency that was created to protect human health and the environment.

Generator refers to a person, business, or other entity that creates hazardous waste.

Hazardous materials are substances (gas, liquids, or solids) that may harm people or the environment.

Hazardous waste refers generally to waste that has properties that may harm people or the environment. We will discuss how the RCRA regulations specifically define hazardous waste.

RCRA refers to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This federal law is the basis for EPA regulations that regulate the management of hazardous wastes, used oil, and underground storage tanks.

Regional administrator refers to one of the ten regional administrators who report to the Director of the EPA.

Remediation refers to the process of removing contaminants from the environment and cleaning up or restoring a contaminated site to a point where it no longer endangers human health or the environment.

Specific wastes are wastes or waste management practices that have unique qualities that RCRA has singled out for special handling. Specific wastes include recyclable materials that contain precious metals, spent lead-acid batteries, solid waste military munitions, combustible hazardous wastes, and hazardous wastes mixed with low-level radioactive material.

Transporter refers to a person, business, or other entity who moves the waste from the generator to the storage, treatment, or disposal facility.

TSDF is the abbreviation for "treatment, storage, and disposal facility." TSDFs handle hazardous waste.

Used oil is any refined crude or synthetic oil that is contaminated by physical particles or chemicals as a result of use.

To learn more about RCRA safety standards visit our RCRA Refresher Online Training web page.