Should EPA regulate the lab safety aspects of waste treatment processes?
The focus of hazardous waste rules, indeed, the focus of EPA rules in general has been on environmental protection and public health. In the case of chemical waste, the focus of the rules is to prevent the release of hazardous chemicals into the environment as occurred at Love Canal and many less notorious locations. The focus is in agreement with the stated policy of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act: “The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the United States that, wherever feasible, the generation of hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated as expeditiously as possible. Waste that is nevertheless generated should be treated, stored, or disposed of so as to minimize the present and future threat to human health and the environment.” Generally adopted RCRA rules remain in harmony with the policy. However, the New England XL rule expands the scope of regulation to worker safety by incorporating language from the OSHA Lab Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450).[4
