Tina Smith: “in addition to the Superfund Accelerated Cleanup bill, I would also like to introduce today a targeted Resource…”

“in addition to the Superfund Accelerated Cleanup bill, I would also like to introduce today a targeted Resource Conservation and Recovery Act--or ``rick-ra''--reform bill. I offer this bill in the hopes that it will supplement and enhance the reforms we are proposing to Superfund. It is my feeling that these changes are consistent with the goals of the RCRA ``Rifle Shot'' proposal being discussed within the Administration. My targeted bill is intended to: Provide greater consistency among environmental statutes; make RCRA more user friendly; eliminate costly and ineffective bureaucratic burdens; and maintain, or improve, current protections to human health and the environment. I feel the provisions of this bill will greatly enhance recycling and reuse of hazardous materials and will begin to provide cohesiveness between the two largest hazardous waste laws--Superfund and RCRA. We are trying to accomplish three things with this act: First, remove some recyclable hazardous materials from current RCRA provisions, and instead, subject them to a tailored set of standards which will facilitate the reuse of these materials in an environmentally friendly way. Under current law, the only option is to discard such materials. Second, specify a reasonable point at which a material is considered hazardous. Currently, EPA is required to apply very strict controls once a hazardous material is created, even if it is created very early in a manufacturing process.”