The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is proposing new modifications to further safeguard the environmental and public health problems associated with recycling hazardous materials and other waste.
The proposals announced by the EPA will specifically modify the official EPA 2008 Definition of Solid Waste rule, which serves as a guide for differentiating between regular solid waste and hazardous waste and the different types of hazardous waste, along with disposal and recycling standards and regulations.
If the EPA's proposals from today are put into effect then it will further improve the accountability and standards of recycling hazardous wastes. One example is that companies that recycle their hazardous materials away from their operation facilities would be subjected to further record keeping and safe onsite storage requirements. Additionally, the proposals would create a standardization that would call for all hazardous wastes to meet certain requirements that prevents it from being disposed illegally or improperly recycled.
Assistant Administrator for the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Mathy Stanislaus commented on the importance of the new rules proposed today and the effect they will have on both public health and environmental health. Stanislaus said, "Safe recycling of hazardous materials conserves vital resources while protecting the environmental and economic health of our communities. Today's proposed enhancements show EPA's commitment to achieving sustainable materials management through increased recycling, while retaining safeguards to protect vulnerable communities and the environment."
Additionally, the EPA is opening up the proposals for public comment and is including its evaluation of how the proposals would affect both minority and low-income communities in the United States.
The EPA began reassessing the rule in order to see where regulations could be improved and has focused a large portion of the reassessment on communities that are affected by the large disposal or recycling operations of hazardous waste and hazardous materials.
The DSW rule has been in the news over the debate of whether coal ash should be included a hazardous waste by the EPA. Currently coal ash is not regulated on the federal level but the EPA has suggested proposals acting that would regulate coal ash residuals.
The Huffington Post reported an industry-funded study concluded that if the EPA included coal ash as a hazardous waste it could cost the U.S. up to 316,000 jobs and $110 billion in economic losses. A bill has even been introduced that would prevent the EPA from pursuing such regulations even though environmental groups have continued to refute the numbers.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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