EPA OSHA Hazardous Waste and Superfund Q&A

See attached document.

Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/enviro/

From this web site answer these questions for your own community's zip code.

1. What potential hazardous waste sites that are part of Superfund exist in my area of interest?
2. What facilities in my area of interest have reported hazardous waste activities?
3. What detailed hazardous waste information for large quantity generators do you have for my area of interest?
4. What companies have been issued permits to discharge waste water into rivers in my area of interest?
5. What public water systems for my county have violations reported in Envirofacts?
6. What water microbial and disinfection byproduct data do you have for my state?
7. What facilities in my area of interest have toxic releases?
8. What facilities in my area of interest produce air emissions?
9. What are the potential sites identified by the Brownfields program in my area of interest?
10. What potential hazardous waste sites that are part of Superfund exist in my area of interest?
11. What facilities in my area of interest have reported hazardous waste activities?
12. What facilities in my area of interest are in the process of being cleaned up, or have been cleaned up, under the RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) Corrective Action Program?
13. What facilities in my area of interest are in the process of being cleaned up, or have been cleaned up, by programs falling under the Cleanups in My Community banner?
14. What facilities in my area are regulated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for radiation and radioactivity?
15. How can I learn about environmental levels of radiation in air, drinking water, precipitation and pasteurized milk?

Safety managers are also typically responsible for compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. Over a trillion dollars has been spent by American taxpayers to clean up the environment. While this investment has largely been paid for by industry, it means that those costs are passed on to consumers who buy the goods and services of these industries. Environmental management issues can have a tremendous impact on the financial health of a company and the physical health of the community.

OSHA's standard 29 CFR 1910.120?hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) was enacted to respond to cleanup issues. The EPA's Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (1986) is a corollary to the OSHA standard. The OSHA standard covers hazardous substance response operations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 and major corrective actions taken in cleanup operations under the Resources Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976.

One part of the SARA provisions, Title III, is the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. Title III establishes requirements for federal, state and local governments and industry regarding emergency planning and reporting on hazardous and toxic materials. The EPA list of extremely hazardous and toxic materials continues to grow and has over 400 substances currently.

Indiana's counterpart to CERCLA or "Superfund" is the Hazardous Substances Response Trust Fund law. Under the Superfund statute or HSRTF, a generator or transport is liable for all remediation costs incurred by the U.S. EPA or the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to investigate and clean up a contaminated site. A current owner or operator of contaminated property is also liable for all remediation costs, even if the owner or operator did not cause the contamination.

A federal exemption for small businesses was passed by Congress in 2001. There is no such protection under Indiana's HSRTF at the present time. CERCLIS - a list of potential and hazardous sites maintained by the EPA. There are 201 of these sites in Indiana. Buyer beware!

64% of Hoosiers and virtually 100% in rural areas rely on groundwater for drinking water. There are 27 sites in Indiana with groundwater contamination. The groundwater of 41,000 people in Elkhart, Indiana, was threatened by pollutants from the Conrail Railyard site.