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RCRA Corrective Action: Approaches to Enforcement
EPA considers the following elements when using enforcement to achieve facility cleanups under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA):
- Meaningful public participation
- Environmental Justice factors
- Coordinating cleanup programs
- Expediting cleanup
- Brownfields redevelopment
Meaningful public participation |
EPA policy encourages public involvement early and often in the permitting process and cleanup programs. Chapter 4 of the RCRA Public Participation Manual (PDF) (18 pp, 50K, About PDF) addresses public participation in corrective action under permits and RCRA section 3008(h) orders. |
Environmental Justice (EJ) factors |
EJ is a high priority for EPA. EPA gathers information about specific areas to identify EJ concerns and issues at RCRA corrective action facilities. Additional information about the EJ program is available on EPA's EJ website. |
Coordinating cleanup programs |
When RCRA and Superfund cleanups are related EPA coordinates the two cleanup programs to eliminate duplication of effort and streamline cleanup processes. EPA encourages close coordination among RCRA, Superfund, and state/tribal cleanup programs. Where appropriate, EPA uses Superfund tools to support RCRA corrective action and increase the speed of cleanups. |
Expediting cleanup |
EPA's enforcement approach depends on facility-specific circumstances, including the size and urgency of the threats, and the cooperation of the involved parties. EPA's Enforcement Approaches for Expediting RCRA Corrective Action (PDF) (22pp, 1.1MB, About PDF) and EPA’s National Enforcement Strategy for Corrective Action provide information and guidance on steps to expedite cleanup. |
Brownfields Redevelopment |
In some circumstances, EPA can provide a Notice of Liability letter (“comfort letter” or “status letter”) to purchasers or developers of property that may have RCRA cleanup liability potential. Such letters are provided solely for informational purposes and relate only to EPA's RCRA corrective action enforcement intentions at a property based on known information. The February 5, 2001, Comfort/Status
Letters for RCRA Brownfields Properties (PDF) (14pp, 931K, About PDF) is the model for the RCRA effort. The Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) is an agreement not to file a lawsuit against a purchaser of property that was contaminated prior to the purchase. Initially, PPAs were done only at sites where Superfund was the legal authority if cleanup was necessary, but EPA will considersite-specific circumstances to determine if a PPA is appropriate for use at a particular RCRA site. To date, EPA has entered into only a few RCRA PPAs. The April 8, 2003, Memorandum on Prospective Purchaser Agreements and Other Tools to Facilitate Cleanup and Reuse of RCRA Sites (PDF), (4pp, 3.71MB, About PDF) provides factors that should be used to evaluate a request for a RCRA PPA. |