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A civic engagement and data science design was used to develop a report-back intervention to address stakeholder concerns related to air emissions surrounding a coke oven factory near Buffalo, NY, United States. This factory had historically emitted high levels of benzene pollution and ceased operation in October 2018 due to violations of the United States Clean Air Act and United States Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Using publicly-available air pollution and weather data, descriptive time series and windrose data visualizations were developed using open-source software as part of a 2-page report-back brief. Data from two air toxics monitoring sites in this direction suggest that industrial sources were likely the major contributor to the benzene in the air at these locations prior to May 2018, after which traffic emissions became the likely major contributor. Windrose visualizations demonstrated that the wind typically blew towards the northeast, which was qualitatively consistent with locations of stakeholder concerns. With the factory closed, collective efforts subsequently shifted to address traffic emission air pollution sources, factory site clean-up, ground and water pollution mitigation. Because this intervention utilized open-source software and publicly-available data, it can serve as a blueprint for future data-driven nursing interventions and community-led environmental justice efforts.

Unit 1 of the Kori Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and Unit 1 of the Wolsong NPP are being prepared for decommissioning; their decommissioning is expected to generate large amounts of intermediate-level, low-level, and very low level Waste. Mixed waste containing both radioactive and hazardous substances is expected to be produced. Nevertheless, laws and regulations, such as the Korean Nuclear Safety Act and Waste Management Act, do not define clear regulatory guidelines for mixed waste. However, the United States has strictly enforced regulations on mixed waste, focusing on the human health and environmental effects of its hazardous components. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy regulate the radioactive components of mixed waste under the Atomic Energy Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the hazardous waste component of mixed waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In this study, the laws, regulations, and authorities pertaining to mixed waste in the United States are reviewed. Through comparison and analysis with waste management laws and regulations in Korea, a treatment direction for mixed waste is suggested. Such a treatment for mixed waste will increase the efficiency of managing mixed waste when decommissioning NPPs in the near future.

This article discusses what it means to “contribute” to waste disposal as that term is used in section 7002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. More specifically, the article examines wh...

The U. S. Congress established the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976 to regulate hazardous wastes. In 1980 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was passed to target cleanup of the most heavily impacted sites. While the goals of both Acts were commendable, controversy still exists as to what constitutes "hazardous waste." In 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency mandated the use of the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure to define what wastes are hazardous. This procedure does not address the fact that some wastes may exists at sites under conditions that differ from those under which the test is performed. Hence, an expensive clean-up may be demanded when, in fact, the wastes are harmless. An example is provided from a reservoir where bottom sediments were deemed hazardous by TCLP analyses. Ion site partitioning analysis was used to identify bioavailable amounts of metals. These levels were tested on biota from the reservoir to determine actual toxic effects. The results indicated that the causes of low biological productivity were the scavenging of phosphorus by iron from the mine wastes and to lime (CaO) added to raise the reservoir pH.

In order to comply with the environmental regulations framed based on five major laws such as the clean water act, clean air act, safe drinking water act, resource conservation and recovery act, and comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act, various industries, and research and development labs are impelled to implement green and sustainable technologies. Considering the environmental concerns, various chemical industries and pharmaceutical companies adopted green and sustainable technologies, even though the cost of the process is comparatively high. In order to attain economical viability, it is mandated to extend the research to optimize the process. In this chapter, we discuss the use of a green solvent in biocatalysis with a focus on the significant advances in supercritical fluids. The combination of green chemistry and biocatalysis largely fueled the demand for sustainable green technologies and increased the desire to develop green products. The biocatalytic approaches utilizing scCO2 and scCO2/green solvents for the chemical synthesis, separation, rapid and efficient extraction of compounds under mild reaction condition without any product degradation, eco-friendliness, tunable solvating power with respect to temperature and pressure, improvement in yield and easy product separation are discussed.

Natural hazards can be powerful mechanisms that impact the restoration of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) contaminated sites and the community revitalization associated with these sites. Release of hazardous materials following a natural hazard can impact communities associated with these sites by causing the release of hazardous or toxic materials. These releases can inhibit the restoration of the sites, thus altering the long-term sustainable community revitalization. Hazard-related contaminant releases in areas characterized by large populations can create problems equal to those posed by the original site clean-up. Similarly, natural hazards can enhance the probability of future issues associated with the renovated sites. This manuscript addresses the co-occurrence of 12 natural hazards (singly and in combination) at individual RCRA sites. The co-occurrence was determined by the co-location of exposure likelihoods determined from the Cumulative Resilience Screening Index (CRSI) and the site locations for RCRA facilities provided by Environmental Protection Agency. Results showed that several natural hazards were likely to occur at RCRA facilities and these occurrences should be included in management and policy evaluations of these sites.

Despite ongoing controversy, several strategic frameworks for defining chemicals of concern (e.g., persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic [PBT]; persistent, mobile, toxic [PMT]; persistent organic pollutant [POP]) share persistence as a key criterion. Persistence should be considered over the entire chemical life cycle from production to disposal, including hazardous waste management. As a case study, we evaluate persistence criteria in hazardous waste regulations in Washington state, USA, illustrate impacts on reported waste, and propose refinements in these criteria. Although Washington state defines persistence based on half-life (>1 y) and specific chemical groups that exceed summed concentration thresholds in waste (i.e., >0.01% halogenated organic compounds [HOCs] and >1.0% polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]), persistence is typically addressed with HOC and PAH evaluation but seldom with half-life estimation. Notably, persistence is considered (with no specific criteria) in corresponding federal regulations in the United States (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act). Consequently, businesses in Washington state report annual amounts of state hazardous waste (including persistent waste) separately from federal hazardous waste. Total state-only waste, and total state and federal waste combined, nearly doubled (by weight) from 2008 to 2018. For the period 2016 to 2018, persistence criteria captured 17% of state-only waste and 2% of total state and federal waste combined. Two recommendations are proposed to improve persistence criteria in hazardous waste regulations. First, Washington state should consider aligning its half-life criterion with federal and European Union PBT definitions (e.g., 60-120 d) for consistency and provide specific methods for half-life estimation. Second, the state should consider expanding its list of persistent chemical groups (e.g., siloxanes, organometallics) with protective concentration thresholds. Ultimately, to the extent possible, Washington state should strive toward harmonizing persistence in hazardous waste regulations with corresponding criteria in global PBT, PMT, and POP frameworks. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:455-464. © 2020 SETAC.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) manages cleanup of hazardous waste releases at over 3,500 sites across the US, which covers approximately 17.5% of all developed land in the country. This paper evaluates the housing market impacts of cleanups performed under RCRA by estimating the program's impacts on the distribution of housing prices. We find that cleanups near residential properties yield significant, yet localized, increases in home prices, and that impacts are concentrated in lower deciles of the price distribution. We find no evidence of sorting along socio-demographic dimensions in response to cleanup. Our findings suggest that cleanups could correct pre-existing disparities in exposure to contaminated water.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has recognized Very Low Level Waste (VLLW) as a category that provides both practical and economic benefits, see [1]. The criteria for national and international low active and very low radioactive (LLW) disposal classifications are described in the EPRI Final Report [2]. This report provides the technical basis for a waste category of very low level waste that applies to any existing low level waste classification system. The generic VLLW category is defined in terms of individual radionuclide specific activity limits, see Chap. 2, Fig. 2.1. From the individual radionuclide-specific activity limits, an effective dose limit of no greater than 50 µSv/a (5 mrem/a) to the maximally exposed individual (MEI) is given in the final EPRI report. The U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C; [3] has been developed in the USA for the disposal of this waste in accordance with the EPRI report.

State enforcement of federal environmental legislation has long been associated with the fear of environmental freeriding and states being too lenient, potentially leading to a race-to-the bottom in enforcement. This paper analyzes the effect of enforcement decentralization from 1998 to 2011 on a range of enforcement outcomes across US states as they have been authorized to implement their own programs aligning with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). In this study, we look at the association between enforcement decentralization and corresponding outcomes, namely the number of evaluations, number of detected violations, and the amount of monetary penalties. Results showed that enforcement behaviors have not changed significantly as states have assumed more enforcement responsibilities; hence, we found no evidence of a race-to-the-bottom scenario associated with RCRA decentralization.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in the USA are regulated under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which includes the requirement to protect human health and the environment (HHE) during the post-closure care (PCC) period. Several approaches have been published for assessment of potential threats to HHE. These approaches can be broadly divided into organic stabilization, which establishes an inert waste mass as the ultimate objective, and functional stability, which considers long-term emissions in the context of minimizing threats to HHE in the absence of active controls. The objective of this research was to conduct a case study evaluation of a closed MSW landfill using long-term data on landfill gas (LFG) production, leachate quality, site geology, and solids decomposition. Evaluations based on both functional and organic stability criteria were compared. The results showed that longer periods of LFG and leachate management would be required using organic stability criteria relative to an approach based on functional stability. These findings highlight the somewhat arbitrary and overly stringent nature of assigning universal stability criteria without due consideration of the landfill's hydrogeologic setting and potential environmental receptors. This supports previous studies that advocated for transition to a passive or inactive control stage based on a performance-based functional stability framework as a defensible mechanism for optimizing and ending regulatory PCC.

This handbook is designed to provide an accurate, current, and authoritative summary of the principle Federal and Florida laws that directly or indirectly relate to agriculture. This handbook should provide a basic overview of the many rights and responsibilities that farmers and farmland owners have under both Federal and Florida laws as well as the appropriate contact information to obtain more detailed information. However, the reader should be aware that because the laws, administrative rulings, and court decisions on which this handbook is based are subject to constant revision, portions of this publication could become outdated at anytime. Several details of cited laws are also left out due to space limitations. This document is FE583, one of a series of the Food and Resource Economics Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Published December 2005. FE583/FE583: 2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (ufl.edu)

The US consumes large quantities of electricity. As a result, there is a growing concern that energy may not be readily available in the future. This worry is compounded by the depletion of traditional sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Municipal solid waste in landfills is a resource the country may utilize as a renewable source of energy, as the gas produced from landfills can be used to power generators for electricity production, rather than wasted and flared to comply with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act standards. Systems that utilize reciprocating internal combustion engines, microturbines, and molten carbonate fuel cells can feasibly and cleanly reduce landfill gas emissions while producing electricity. However, these methods require input work and initial investments. The main economic goal is to maximize energy production. After economic analysis, the molten carbonate fuel cell system was determined to be the most efficient due to its versatility and low emissions. The successful implementation of the system may result in the propagation of the system, the increase in value of landfill gas, and the waste that produces landfill gas. This may also lead to restructuring of municipal waste system to enhance the usage of landfill gas. Keywords: municipal solid waste, MSW, landfill gas, reciprocating internal combustion engines, microturbines, molten carbonate fuel cells, MCFCs, siloxanes, emissions, greenhouse gases.

The immediate aftermath of Earth Day 1970 ushered in a host of environmental legislation: in the United States alone, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, National Forest Management Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Toxic Substances Control Act were all passed with bipartisan support in the 1970s. [...]in 2020, we are bearing witness to disappearing Arctic ice, dying coral reefs, floating plastic garbage patches, floods, greenhouse gas emissions, intensifying storms, raging wildfires, a precipitous sea-level rise and searing summer heat—as well as mourning the loss of human and nonhuman life in the Deepwater Horizon explosion off the coast of Louisiana, which occurred ten years ago this April (on almost the exact day of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day) and set into motion the biggest oil spill in the history of the United States (Editorial Board 2020). The result has been an area of scholarship which has blossomed to encompass and speak to a diverse range of interests and concerns, including air and water pollution, climate change, deforestation, the extraction and metabolization of natural “resources,” harms to animals other than human animals, environmental (in)justice and relationships between “nature” and “culture.” Continuing the theme of nonhuman animals, James Gacek and Richard Jochelson, in “Animals as Something More Than Mere Property: Interweaving Green Criminology and Law,” further probe the edges of human–animal relations by discussing and describing the development of laws governing human ownership and management of nonhuman animals, arguing that the studies of law and green criminology, when interwoven, “have the potential to reconstitute the animal as something more than mere property.”

The need for energy storage systems (ESS) is increasing with expanding demand for energy and with newly emerging renewable energy technologies. Following this growth in ESS, the environmental impacts of such technologies are crucial and must be carefully studied and evaluated. Multiple aspects to disposal and after-use treatment of different ESS can have adverse effects on the environment and the ecological systems. Scientists, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations are attempting to address issues of disposal of ESS waste as well as their environmental impact. This paper lists the types of ESS and the environmental impacts associated with each type; while also highlighting the disposal and recycling of batteries and the corresponding regulations governing their disposal in different regions. The European Union's Directive 2006/66/EC, the United States of America's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Australian's Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act are all statuets for ESS waste classification and management. The EU and the US have implemented and enforced those regulations while they are less so in Australia. Jordan, a country located in the Middle Eastern region and part of the Basel Convention, faces an ESS waste management problem where the Ministry of Environment claims to follow the EU rules and regulation, yet none are implemented or enforced. This is made worse by the decreasing number of batteries disposed of at specialized landfills where spent batteries are stored, which there is only one of its kind in Jordan. While recycling technology is known, social awareness is vital in encouraging the Jordanian population to properly dispose of ESS waste and to incentivise safe collection, treatment, and recycling.

Hazardous waste needs to be carefully managed and disposed of as the material classified under this category can ignite, or explode, or react violently with water, air, and other substances, or corrode the drums that the waste is transported or temporarily stored in. Some of this material may also be carcinogenic, or toxic to humans or the environment, infectious, or even present the risk of creating mutations. Because of the danger that hazardous wastes pose, environmental management and regulations, in all phases of their life, are very detailed and stringent in most countries. The United States was the first to enact a comprehensive framework of regulations on hazardous waste with the landmark acts of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liabilities Act (CERCLA). These important pieces of environmental legislations are discussed in detail in order to demonstrate both the complexity of protecting the environment and human populations, and the challenges, but also the trends in waste minimization and disposal. The design criteria and the elements of the disposal facilities for these types of wastes are also discussed here. In addition, the main elements of related pieces of legislation in Canada and in Europe are described and comparisons are provided between the regulatory acts in the United States, Canada, and Europe. This will help the reader realize that environmental legislation in advanced countries shares similar elements, frequently borrowing important insights from another country's regulations, as well as the future trends. Finally, the chapter concludes with a brief exposition of the management and disposal of the most dangerous type of waste that of radioactive waste.

In 1976, Congress enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, an amendment to the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, which called for regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of solid and hazardous waste disposal. The petitioner bares the responsibility for proving the waste is not hazardous based on the constituents for which it was originally listed; EPA must determine if the waste is hazardous for other reasons. EPA must have reasonable basis for requesting additional information or denying a petition. EPA transporter regulations, set forth in 40 CFR Part 263, deal primarily with manifest tracking and discharge cleanup. Large and small quantity generators cannot treat, store, dispose of, transport, or offer for transportation, hazardous waste without having received an EPA Identification number. Toxic Substances Control Act was enacted in large part due to the discovery of widespread contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and the EPA's lack of regulatory tools to control PCB material.

Objective This article analyzes state patterns of environmental inspections to determine if the government enforces environmental laws equitably. Methods This article examines state inspections of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) nationwide from 2002 to 2011. It uses negative binomial regression models to test for disparities in levels of inspections at the county level. Results Results indicate evidence of race-based disparities in levels of state inspections in counties with larger populations of African Americans. Results also suggest evidence of age-based disparities in levels of inspections, as well as disparities in socially disorganized counties. Conclusions Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has addressed class-based disparities in levels of inspections of the RCRA, the findings indicate that the EPA should examine its inspection efforts based on age and structural characteristics of communities.

This chapter addresses whether companies within the US chemical industry establish policies and commitments pertaining to environmental sustainability and whether they violate environmental regulations pertaining to sustainability. It examines whether chemical companies who are members of the industry's voluntary Responsible Care programme embrace the principles of the programme by describing their environmental commitment to sustainability, as well as by implementing actions pertaining to it. Violations pertaining to the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Pollutant Elimination Discharge System and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act are included in the facility reports. The ratio used for each category was: violations–number of facilities; significant violations–number of facilities; and enforcement actions–number of facilities. The financial performance of the firms was measured as the ratio of net income–sales for 2000 and 2001, to control for the size of the firm. The empirical support of hypothesis 2 demonstrates that there is a relationship between sustainability and financial performance.

The objective of this work was to study the dynamic leaching behavior of thirty-three elements in municipal solid waste incinerator fly ash using a column test employing double deionized water. Nearly all of the elements initially present in the leachate were found to leach quickly and then decrease to near constant concentrations after five pore volumes of water passed through the column. Of the eight elements subject to toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) investigations, all except lead were found in concentrations below regulatory limits. After three pore volumes of water passed through the column, leachate lead concentrations were found to have diminished to TCLP permissible levels. Concerning Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Title D regulations pertaining to permissible landfill leachate production, lead concentrations were still found at levels above allowable limits after as many as 40 pore volumes of leachate production.

I. INTRODUCTION II. THE WASTEWATER LIFE CYCLE--A PATHWAY TO THE OCEAN A. Flushed Pollutants B. The Effects of Flushed Pollutants on Marine Organisms 1. Pharmaceuticals 2. Illicit Drugs 3. Caffeine III. EXISTING LEGAL AND REGULATORY LANDSCAPE A. The Clean Water Act and Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act B. The Controlled Substances Act and California Uniform Controlled Substances Act C. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and California Medical Waste Management Act D. Endangered Species Act and California Endangered Species Act IV. TOOLS FOR PROTECTING THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT A. Policy Reform and Legislative Amendments 1. The Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule and the Safe Drug Disposal Act of 2009 2. Amending the CWA/Porter-Cologne Act 3. Amending the CSA/Uniform Controlled Substances Act 4. Adoption of a Universal No-Pharmaceutical Flushing Policy B. Public Education and Continued Research V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION Big cities produce a lot of sewage, which often contains pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, and caffeine. These flushed pollutants can remain in wastewater even after processing by a wastewater treatment plant, and may have negative effects on marine organisms and ecosystems if introduced into the marine environment. California is home to Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose--three of the ten most populous cities in the United States. (1) All three are located in coastal counties (2) and utilize wastewater treatment plants ("publicly owned treatment works" or "POTWs") (3) that discharge treated wastewater effluent directly into the Pacific Ocean. (4) As our cities grow, municipal wastewater is expected to contain increasing concentrations of flushed pollutants, posing a heightened threat to the health of our coasts and the marine environment more broadly. However, monitoring and regulation of flushed pollutants is currently insufficient, allowing them to be introduced into the marine environment undetected. This raises serious concern that flushed pollutants may devastate the marine environment beyond repair. The precautionary principle, a central tenet of environmental law and policy, "asserts that regulators and decision makers should act in anticipation of environmental harm, without regard to the certainty of the scientific information pertaining to the risk of harm." (5) In the face of great uncertainty as to the amounts of flushed pollutants being introduced into the marine environment and the effects they will have on marine organisms and ecosystems, a precautionary approach is necessary to ensure adequate protection. This Article advocates for policy reform to increase monitoring and regulation of pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, and caffeine in wastewater, and to ultimately minimize the amounts of these flushed pollutants that are discharged into California's coastal waters. Part I provides an overview of the wastewater life cycle as a pathway for flushed pollutants to enter the marine environment. This is followed by a discussion of the effects that pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, and caffeine may have on marine organisms. Part II discusses the current legal and regulatory landscape for managing pollutants in municipal wastewater and its inadequacies in preventing flushed pollutants from harming marine organisms and ecosystems. Part III proposes various legislative tools that can be used to address this issue and suggests topics for future research. II. THE WASTEWATER LIFE CYCLE--A PATHWAY TO THE OCEAN In addition to their contributions to tourism and the economy, coastal ecosystems offer unique recreational and educational opportunities, hold important cultural value, and provide a variety of ecosystem services. …

The objective of this research was to develop an iron phosphate ceramic (IPC) waste form using converter slag obtained as a by-product of the steel industry as a source of iron instead of conventional iron oxide. Both synthetic off-gas scrubber solution containing technetium-99 (or Re as a surrogate) and LiCl–KCl eutectic salt, a final waste solution from pyrochemical processing of spent nuclear fuel, were used as radioactive waste streams. The IPC waste form was characterized for compressive strength, reduction capacity, chemical durability, and contaminant leachability. Compressive strengths of the IPC waste form prepared with different types of waste solutions were 16 MPa and 19 MPa for LiCl–KCl eutectic salt and the off-gas scrubber simulant, respectively, which meet the minimum compressive strength of 3.45 MPa (500 psi) for waste forms to be accepted into the radioactive waste repository. The reduction capacity of converter slag, a main dry ingredient used to prepare the IPC waste form, was 4136 meq/kg by the Ce(IV) method, which is much higher than those of the conventional Fe oxides used for the IPC waste form and the blast furnace slag materials. Average leachability indexes of Tc, Li, and K for the IPC waste form were higher than 6.0, and the IPC waste form demonstrated stable durability even after 63-day leaching. In addition, the Toxicity Characteristic Leach Procedure measurements of converter slag and the IPC waste form with LiCl–KCl eutectic salt met the universal treatment standard of the leachability limit for metals regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This study confirms the possibility of development of the IPC waste form using converter slag, showing its immobilization capability for radionuclides in both LiCl–KCl eutectic salt and off-gas scrubber solutions with significant cost savings.

The treatment of hazardous waste poses some unique chemical reactivity hazard management challenges. Hazardous waste in the United States is regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, typically due to potential environmental and health hazards. However, hazardous waste can also have chemical reactivity hazards associated with storage, handling, or mixing with other materials. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been active in communicating chemical reactivity hazards to the regulated community and has identified numerous sources for additional information. The Center for Chemical Process Safety has also been very active in providing advisory materials and monographs on the safe management of chemical reactivity hazards. Other federal government agencies, such as the Chemical Safety Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, have also taken up the call for increased awareness of the hazards of unintentional chemical reactions. Despite these efforts, history of incidents indicates that reactive chemical hazards associated with hazardous waste still go overlooked. In this article, we review hazardous waste incidents through case studies and public sector reports through the lens of chemical reactivity hazard management. In each incident, inadvertent heating resulted in an unintended chemical reaction, and sufficient information existed or could have been obtained to identify the hazards. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 395–398, 2014

The ability of near-surface disposal facility cover designs to meet percolation performance criteria is influenced by degradation occurring over long periods of time. This study was conducted to determine the effect of degradation on percolation based on probabilistic distributions derived from historical climate data. Water-balance predictions were evaluated using the HELP model, employing several variations of degradation in a traditional Resource Conservation and Recovery Act disposal facility cover design over a 100-year simulation period. Analysis results were evaluated relative to two different selected thresholds for annual percolation (1 mm and 3 mm). Approximately 20 percent of the results did not exceed both the 1-mm and 3-mm thresholds, while 10 percent of the realizations exceeded the 1-mm threshold but not the 3-mm threshold, with remaining cases exceeding the 3-mm threshold. These results demonstrate the importance of considering degradation in designing near-surface disposal facilities, especially given the very long performance periods desired by different regulators. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In this memorandum, the chemical and radionuclide contaminant results from the Third Quarter Calendar Year 2016 (CY16) sample of Tank 50H salt solution are presented in tabulated form. The Third Quarter CY16 Tank 50H samples (a 200 mL sample obtained 6” below the surface (HTF-5-16-63) and a 1 L sample obtained 66” from the tank bottom (HTF-50-16-64)) were obtained on July 14, 2016 and received at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) on the same day. Prior to obtaining the samples from Tank 50H, a single pump was run at least 4.4 hours and the samples were pulled immediately after pump shut down. The information from this characterization will be used by Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) & Saltstone Facility Engineering for the transfer of aqueous waste from Tank 50H to the Saltstone Production Facility, where the waste will be treated and disposed of in the Saltstone Disposal Facility. This memorandum compares results, where applicable, to Saltstone Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) limits and targets.2 Data pertaining to the regulatory limits for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) metals will be documented at a later time per the Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan (TTQAP) for the Tank 50H saltstone task. Themore » chemical and radionuclide contaminant results from the characterization of the Third Quarter CY16 sampling of Tank 50H were requested by Savannah River Remediation (SRR) personnel and details of the testing are presented in the SRNL TTQAP.« less

Surface barrier technology is used to isolate radioactive waste and to reduce or eliminate recharge water to the waste zone for 1000 years or longer. However, the design and evaluation of such a barrier is challenging because of the extremely long design life. After establishing a set of design and performance objectives, a package of design solutions was developed for 1000-year surface barriers over nuclear waste sites. The Prototype Hanford Barrier (PHB) was then constructed in 1994 in the field over an existing waste site as a demonstration. The barrier was tested to evaluate surface-barrier design and performance at the field scale under conditions of enhanced and natural precipitation and of no vegetation. The monitoring data demonstrate that the barrier satisfied nearly all objectives in the past two decades. The PHB far exceeded the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act criteria, functioned in Hanford's semiarid climate, limited drainage to well below the 0.5 mm yr-1 performance criterion, limited runoff, and minimized erosion and bio-intrusion. Given the two-decade record of successful performance and consideration of the processes and mechanisms that could affect barrier stability and hydrology in the future, the results suggest the PHB is very likely to perform for its 1000-year design life. This conclusion is based on two assumptions: (1) the exposed subgrade receives protection against erosion and (2) institutional controls prevent inadvertent human activity at the barrier. The PHB design can serve as the basis for site-specific barriers over waste sites containing underground nuclear waste, uranium mine tailings, and hazardous mine waste.

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2014. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2014. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2014 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

Viewpoint pubs.acs.org/est Power Failure: The Battered Legacy of Leaded Batteries Oladele A. Ogunseitan* Program in Public Health and School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, United States flow of toxic products intact. The U.S. has not ratified the Basel Convention. Rather, lead-acid batteries are regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, as part of negotiations to harmonize U.S. policies with initiatives of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop- ment. 4 Individual states in the U.S. stipulate either mandatory or voluntary cash deposits, typically $5−10, for used batteries returned by consumers at the point of purchase of a new lead- acid battery. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers the high “recycling” rate of lead-acid battery as evidence of successful public-private partnerships in pollution prevention policy. 4 The apparent success of the retailer take-back program masked growing concerns about pollution and health impacts created by battery recycling in developing countries, until similar problems emerged within continental U.S., exemplified by a recent case in California. In February, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown proposed spending $176.6 million to accelerate the testing and cleanup of thousands of lead- contaminated homes surrounding the troubled Exide battery recycling facility in the Vernon district of Los Angeles, which is predominantly populated by families in the lower socio- he history of automobiles is inextricable from the story of economic category. 5 The funds will support testing 10 000 one of the most pervasive toxic chemical exposures in homes within 1.7 miles of the closed facility and the removal of modern human history. Globally, billions of people were lead-contaminated soil from about 2500 homes where levels poisoned by lead (Pb) between 1921, when General Motors pose the greatest risk of poisoning. 5 Corporation introduced tetraethyl lead as an antiknock agent in Unfortunately, the Exide-linked pollution in Los Angeles is gasoline-powered cars, until 2015, when leaded gasoline was only a “tip of the iceberg” in terms of global impacts of lead scheduled to be phased out in Algeria, the last country still poisoning from batteries. The international market for using leaded gasoline. reclaiming lead is growing rapidly, 2 and battery-recycling The elimination of lead from gasoline is one of the greatest operations can be found in almost every city in the developing milestones in public health. Regulatory policies were world. Battery smelting operations are often located in densely instrumental in achieving the phase-out of leaded gasoline, populated areas with inadequate pollution controls. Regulatory and these were informed by incontrovertible scientific evidence policies that supported high rates of battery recycling also that there are no safe levels of exposure to lead and that dampened interest in developing safer lead-free alternatives. children are particularly susceptible to its adverse health The emergence of hybrid and full electric automobiles has effects. 1 Unfortunately, lead remains a tenacious toxicant spurred the development of advanced lithium-ion batteries, but because of ubiquitous lead-acid batteries that power more these may have their own safety concerns. than a billion cars on the road today. T EMPOWERING INNOVATION California’s landmark Safer Consumer Products Law of 2013 requires manufacturers to seek safer alternatives to harmful chemical ingredients in widely used products. At the federal level, the U.S. EPA uses alternatives analysis (AA) as part of chemical action plans in its chemical management program. Similarly, the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program imposes alternatives analysis obligations upon certain partic- A FAILED POLICY ON RECYCLING In 2015, ∼90% of 1.62 million tons of lead consumed in the United States was for production of >94.1 million lead-acid batteries. 2 These batteries have an international life cycle: during the first 8 months of 2015, 19.3 million spent lead-acid batteries, containing an estimated 167 000 tons of lead, 2 were exported to low- and middle income countries where they fed hazardous industries for materials recovery. Spent lead-acid batteries are recognized as hazardous waste under Annex VIII of the United Nation’s Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. 3 However, several loopholes keep the international © 2016 American Chemical Society Received: June 24, 2016 Published: July 28, 2016 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03174 Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, 50, 8401−8402