Environmental Laws and Regulations Relating to Medical Waste Disposal

摘要

In the United States, over the last ten years, the improper disposal of solidwaste has manifested itself in the passage of a series of Federal and State-level control statutes of unprecendented scope and impact. At the Federal level, the statutes include three major environmental laws and three major amendments. The three major laws are: (1) the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976; (2) the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976; and (3) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980. CERCLA is also known as Superfund. The three amendments are: (1) the Hazardous and Solid Waste Act (HSWA) of 1984; (2) the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986; and (3) the Medical Waste Tracking Act (MWTA) of 1988 (Lee, 9/89). The objective of the paper is to provide: (1) a summary of the MWTA and the EPA rules for implementing MWTA; (2) MWTA's relationship to both EPA and other Federal regulatory programs; and (3) a brief update of State regulations regarding medical waste disposal.