Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
It is the EPA's position that exposure to hazardous chemicals and infectious disease causing pathogens on land may
cause death, disease etc. to humans, Yet, in part 503.9 these same chemicals and pathogens on land only cause
death, disease etc. to organisms.
(27) 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,
TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 82--SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 6903. Definitions
5) 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.
The Hazardous Constituents list (Appendix VIII) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is used to
identify the universe of chemicals of concern under RCRA, the primary environmental law governing the proper
disposal of hazardous wastes.
The Hazardous Constituents list includes substances that meet the following criteria:
1. Inclusion in the Clean Water Act list of priority pollutants
2. Chemicals considered hazardous to transport by the Department of Transportation
3. Chemicals identified as carcinogens by the U.S. EPA's Carcinogen Assessment Group
4. Chemicals with high acute toxicity, as identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's
Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances list.
Appendix II to Part 258 --List of Hazardous Inorganic and Organic Constituents
Reference
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR - CHAPTER I - PART 261. Appendix VIII to Part 261 -- Hazardous
Constituents include: Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Cadmium. Chromium, Cobalt, Cobalt, Copper,
Cyanide, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, Thallium., Tin, Vanadium, and Zinc......
http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_list_name=hc
TITLE 42 > CHAPTER 82 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 6903 Definitions
(4) The term “Federal agency” means any department, agency, or other instrumentality of the Federal Government,
any independent agency or establishment of the Federal Government including any Government corporation, and the
Government Printing Office.
(5) 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.
(34) The term “treatment”, when used in connection with hazardous waste, means any method, technique, or process,
including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any
hazardous waste so as to neutralize such waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous, safer for transport,
amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume. Such term includes any activity or processing
designed to change the physical form or chemical composition of hazardous waste so as to render it nonhazardous.
(3) 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.
(14) The term “open dump” means any facility or site where solid waste is disposed of which is not a sanitary landfill
which meets the criteria promulgated under section 6944 of this title and which is not a facility for disposal of
hazardous waste.
(26) The term “sanitary landfill” means a facility for the disposal of solid waste which meets the criteria published
under section 6944 of this title.
(26A) The term “sludge” means any solid, semisolid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, or
industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility or any other such
waste having similar characteristics and effects.
(27) 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.].