EPA reports on implementation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 requires EPA to establish criteria for what constitutes hazardous wastes. The law authorizes various financial and technical assistance efforts to help state and local governments develop and implement comprehensive wastes management plans that will control hazardous substances from the source, eliminate open dumps, establish sanitary landfills as the only acceptable disposal practice, and establish resource conservation measures as the long-term preference for refuse management. The act requires that the public be involved in planning and implementing the EPA-sponsored programs. Progress and problems with implementing the new law, including the absence of guidelines to define ''''public participation'' properly, are discussed.