RCRA Corrective Action: Preparing for 2020

Historical activities at permitted and/or interim status treatment, storage, or disposal facilities have sometimes resulted in releases of hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents to environmental media. The RCRA Corrective Action program requires such facilities to conduct site-wide investigations and cleanup actions as necessary to protect human health and the environment. In 1999 and 2001, EPA implemented administrative reforms to the program designed to increase the rate of cleanup at Corrective Action sites by emphasizing the importance of outcomes and eliminating unnecessary procedural steps. As part of the reforms and the Government Performance and Results Act, the EPA and the states have successfully identified and met interim goals for the Corrective Action program. In 2003, EPA announced its most sweeping and ambitious cleanup goals to date for the program. These goals, known as the 2020 Initiative state that "By the year 2020, cleanup of existing contamination problems at RCRA-regulated facilities will hopefully be largely complete, though some long-term remediation work may be ongoing, and some mechanism for addressing releases that may occur in future will presumably be needed." EPA has compiled a list of 3,746 facilities for which the ambitious goals for 2020 apply. This unique two hour training course will cover the history and evolution of the Corrective Action program, the statutory and regulatory authority used to require RCRA Corrective Action; the process (both pre-and post-RCRA Reforms); the timing and costs of RCRA Correction Action; and strategies and tools for meeting the aggressive government goals for the program