RCRA - STORAGE/DISPOSAL > Overview

Welcome to this stop along the way of your EVC tour: the waste storage facility area - specifically the area covering container labeling/management. As you may know, the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the implementing federal regulations at 40 CFR Parts 260-272 govern hazardous waste management. Many states also have their own, sometimes more stringent, regulations. Not only is hazardous waste management one of the most common environmental issues at college and university campuses, but the specific requirements for hazardous waste (RCRA) are so numerous, the EVC has, as appropriate, split the content into three areas as follows:

• RCRA (Storage/Disposal)
• RCRA (Record keeping)
• RCRA (Training/Other)

The overall intent of RCRA is to manage hazardous waste from generation to ultimate disposal. This "cradle to grave" approach has resulted in regulations governing hazardous waste generators, transporters, and treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facilities. Given that most university facilities do not themselves transport hazardous waste to an off-site hazardous waste disposal facility, treat hazardous waste, or operate a hazardous waste disposal facility, the regulations governing these activities are not addressed in the EVC. More typically, your facility would generate, store the waste and then have a contractor transport the waste off site for disposal.

The following materials, as wastes, may invoke the hazardous waste generator storage and disposal regulations (this is not an exhaustive list): solvents, degreasers, paint wastes, waste oils, spent batteries, pesticides, thermostats, lamps, chemical wastes, and unknown wastes.

Continue further along the EVC tour and learn more about how a campus hazardous waste storage facility must label and manage containers storing hazardous waste.