Senate Approves Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System

Date: October 3, 2012

Source: News Room

The system for managing the country's most dangerous materials is finally entering the digital age. Legislation allowing EPA to establish an electronic system for tracking hazardous waste shipments has been sent to President Obama for signature following Senate approval. If signed, the bill will modernize EPA's 25-year-old paper system used to track hazardous waste disposal shipments under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) and reduce costs, duplication and accounting errors. According to the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Thune (R-SD), about 139,000 businesses submit a total of between 2.5 million and 5 million hazardous waste manifests each year, tracking everything from dry-cleaning chemicals to engine oil, at a cost of $200 million to $500 million annually.

EPA first proposed a paperless manifest system in 2001 but could not do so without congressional action to determine how to fund the program. Under RCRA, waste manifests identify who shipped waste, who is transporting it and where it is going, as well as describing the contents of each hazardous waste shipment to assist first responders in knowing what materials they are dealing with in case of an emergency. "Congress has a responsibility to make federal regulatory processes more efficient and less costly," Thune said. Under RCRA, waste manifests identify who shipped waste, who is transporting it and where it is going, as well as describing the contents of each hazardous waste shipment to assist first responders in knowing what materials they are dealing with in case of an emergency.

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