RCRA

Emergency preparedness is central to the RCRA regulations. The owners and operators of TSDFs must ensure that their facilities are designed and equipped to immediately respond to any type of hazardous incident that could potentially occur. All facility personnel must be trained in emergency preparedness, and owners and operators must make sure their employees have access to emergency prevention and response equipment.

Owners and operators of TSDFs are required to plan in advance for the eventual closing of their facilities. At the time of closure, the owners and operators must clean up and remove all contaminants to ensure that the site poses no continuing threat to human health or the environment. They must also make financial and logistical arrangements for groundwater monitoring and facility maintenance to cover a 30-year post-closure period.

The RCRA unit-specific regulations are designed to help ensure that owners and operators of TSDFs and other handlers of hazardous waste prevent toxic chemicals from being released into the environment. The regulations provide clear guidelines for how to manage hazardous waste units, beginning with the design and construction of a unit and progressing through its operation and maintenance, to the point of its closure, when the unit is no longer of service or the facility ceases operation. By complying with the RCRA unit-specific regulations, handlers of hazardous waste help to prevent releases of hazardous wastes that endanger the human community and the environment.

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