Rethinking the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for the 1990s

February 1991

Citation:

ELR 10063

Issue

Author

Jonathan Z. Cannon and Marcia E. Williams

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things."

—Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)¹ regulatory regime contains more than 600 pages of complex regulations governing the management of waste. Economic estimates suggest that the RCRA system requires expenditures of $3-$ 6 billion per year for compliance. Whether these expenditures are obtaining the maximum environmental benefit is unclear.

Ms. Williams is a Divisional Vice President for Environmental Policy and Planning for Browning-Ferris Industries and serves as Project Director for the company's Pacific region. She is also a former Director of the U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste. Mr. Cannon is a partner with the Washington, D.C., office of Beveridge and Diamond. He is a former Deputy Assistant Administrator of the U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and served as Acting Assistant Administrator of OSWER from March through November 1989.

The authors are indebted to several people who reviewed and commented on drafts of this Dialogue. They include Aaron Goldberg, Jon Greenberg, Gene Lucero, Robert Gulley, John Dernbach, and Debi Dobkowski.

Article File

21.10063.htm