Why is Hazardous Waste from Hard Rock Mining Exempt from Federal Regulation?
There are no federal statutes that regulate the hazardous waste generated from sulfide mining. If it were not for an exemption, the hazardous solid waste generated by the various processes of sulfide mining would be heavily regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The distinction between hard and soft rock mining is important in order to understand why other federal statutes do not apply. Hard rock mining waste is not regulated under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA); instead hard rock mining waste fits under the RCRA regime. A. Hazardous Solid Waste from Hard Rock Mining is Exempt from RCRA 1. History and Regulatory Mechanisms of RCRA In 1976, Congress passed RCRA, to alter the Solid Waste Disposal Act, which was passed as Title II of the Clean Air Act of 1965.[180] RCRA is meant to regulate the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of “hazardous waste” through a permitting program.[181] After determining that the w
