Environmental Legislation and Regulations

This chapter presents a summary of federal environmental statutes that affect petroleum contaminated sites and remediation activities either through direct legislation or indirectly through other effects such as liability or other regulation. National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) was one of the first comprehensive environmental laws to mandate national goals and guidelines for cleaning up the environment. The Solid Waste Disposal Act was the original waste disposal act passed in 1965 to regulate solid and hazardous waste disposal at landfills, and to address the ongoing problem of resource recycling, especially the problem of recycling used motor oil. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was originally passed in 1976 in response to public concerns over improper disposal of hazardous wastes. The Occupational Safety and Health Act regulations apply only to the workplace and to workers in private industry; that is, nongovernmental workers.