Abstract |
As mandated by Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA promulgated regulations governing the safe management of hazardous waste from the point of generation until the point of final deposition. Within these regulations, EPA developed a streamlined management program for certain hazardous wastes, known as universal wastes. The universal waste program provides an alternative set of regulations that reduce the regulatory burden by allowing longer storage of these wastes and reduced recordkeeping. Universal wastes are: generated in a wide variety of settings, not solely industrial generated by a vast community present in significant volumes in nonhazardous management systems. This module describes the universal waste program, found in 40 CFR Part 273, and defines which hazardous wastes may be handled under these streamlined regulations. When you have completed this module, you will be able to: recognize the wastestreams subject to the universal waste program; identify the participants in the universal waste program; understand the regulations for each type of participant; understand the state authorization procedures; understand the relationship of The Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act (P.L. 104-142) to EPA's universal waste program. |