42 U.S.C. § 6902
Current through P.L. 118-47 (published on www.congress.gov on 03/23/2024)
The objectives of this chapter are to promote the protection of health and the environment and to conserve valuable material and energy resources by-
The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the United States that, wherever feasible, the generation of hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated as expeditiously as possible. Waste that is nevertheless generated should be treated, stored, or disposed of so as to minimize the present and future threat to human health and the environment.
42 U.S.C. § 6902
EDITORIAL NOTES
PRIOR PROVISIONSProvisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 3251 of this title, prior to the general amendment of the Solid Waste Disposal Act by Pub. L. 94-580.
AMENDMENTS1984-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98-616, §101(b)(1), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a).Subsec. (a)(4) to (11). Pub. L. 98-616, §101(b)(2), struck out par. (4) which provided for regulating the treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal of hazardous wastes which have adverse effects on health and the environment, added pars. (4) to (7), and redesignated former pars. (5) to (8) as (8) to (11), respectively.Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-616, §101(b)(1), added subsec. (b).
- Administrator
- The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
- State
- The term "State" means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- demonstration
- The term "demonstration" means the initial exhibition of a new technology process or practice or a significantly new combination or use of technologies, processes or practices, subsequent to the development stage, for the purpose of proving technological feasibility and cost effectiveness.
- disposal
- The term "disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters.
- hazardous waste management
- The term "hazardous waste management" means the systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, and disposal of hazardous wastes.
- hazardous waste
- The term "hazardous waste" means a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may-(A) cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or(B) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.
- practices
- The term "practices" means design, financing, permitting, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance, and other practices that contribute to achieving zero-net-energy buildings or facilities.
- resource conservation
- The term "resource conservation" means reduction of the amounts of solid waste that are generated, reduction of overall resource consumption, and utilization of recovered resources.
- resource recovery
- The term "resource recovery" means the recovery of material or energy from solid waste.
- solid waste management
- The term "solid waste management" means the systematic administration of activities which provide for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste.
- solid waste
- The term "solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under section 1342 of title 33, or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 923) [ 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.].