| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 10:18:38 -0500 (EST) From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Recycling hazardous waste
March 17, 1999
Hazardous waste fines and penalties are arrived at according to the severity of the infraction. If a business or institution has been offered the observation that they are not in compliance with all environmental regulations and offered a period of time to voluntarily fix the problem, and then failed to comply, or when more severe violations require court action, fines and penalties do not have to be involved.
When someone has failed to comply with a regulatory requirement or a court order, or when they have contributed to a release of hazardous waste, civil actions are initiated by the US Dept. of Justice. Pnelaties force the person to comply or clean up and are also used to provide stronger deterrence to being out of compliance. The more imminent and substantial the endangerment to human health and the environment, the worse the offense, modified by the willingness of the person to correct the problem.
Creating imminent danger is worse than being out of compliance.
The civil penalty policy is based on:
- consistency
- the seriousness of the violation
- economic incentives for noncompliance are eliminated
- amounts are sufficient to deter further or the same further violantion
- compliance is achieved and maintained
and are all based on severity of the violation, the duration of the violation, the economic benefit gained through noncompliance, and site-specific adjustments(up or down).
How much hazardous waste is generated by businesses?
Not all of it, but a substantial proportion.
In 1995, large quantity generators, who number 20,873 in the US produced 214 million tons of hazardous waste. TX had the highest generation (69 million tons, followed by TN (39 million), LA (17 million), MI (13 million) and IL (13 million).
We cannot estimate the amounts generated by small quantity generators on a national scale. Each state will substantially vary, and state government is the best source of this information, one by one.
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