U.S. Code » Title 42 » Chapter CHAPTER 82— SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— GENERAL PROVISIONS

42 U.S.C. § 6902

Objectives and national policy

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(a) ObjectivesThe objectives of this chapter are to promote the protection of health and the environment and to conserve valuable material and energy resources by—(1) providing technical and financial assistance to State and local governments and interstate agencies for the development of solid waste management plans (including resource recovery and resource conservation systems) which will promote improved solid waste management techniques (including more effective organizational arrangements), new and improved methods of collection, separation, and recovery of solid waste, and the environmentally safe disposal of nonrecoverable residues;(2) providing training grants in occupations involving the design, operation, and maintenance of solid waste disposal systems;(3) prohibiting future open dumping on the land and requiring the conversion of existing open dumps to facilities which do not pose a danger to the environment or to health;(4) assuring that hazardous waste management practices are conducted in a manner which protects human health and the environment;(5) requiring that hazardous waste be properly managed in the first instance thereby reducing the need for corrective action at a future date;(6) minimizing the generation of hazardous waste and the land disposal of hazardous waste by encouraging process substitution, materials recovery, properly conducted recycling and reuse, and treatment;(7) establishing a viable Federal-State partnership to carry out the purposes of this chapter and insuring that the Administrator will, in carrying out the provisions of subchapter III of this chapter, give a high priority to assisting and cooperating with States in obtaining full authorization of State programs under subchapter III;(8) providing for the promulgation of guidelines for solid waste collection, transport, separation, recovery, and disposal practices and systems;(9) promoting a national research and development program for improved solid waste management and resource conservation techniques, more effective organizational arrangements, and new and improved methods of collection, separation, and recovery, and recycling of solid wastes and environmentally safe disposal of nonrecoverable residues;(10) promoting the demonstration, construction, and application of solid waste management, resource recovery, and resource conservation systems which preserve and enhance the quality of air, water, and land resources; and(11) establishing a cooperative effort among the Federal, State, and local governments and private enterprise in order to recover valuable materials and energy from solid waste.(b) National policy

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.

(Pub. L. 89–272, title II, § 1003, as added Pub. L. 94–580, § 2, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2798; amended Pub. L. 98–616, title I, § 101(b), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3224.)Editorial NotesPrior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 3251 of this title, prior to the general amendment of the Solid Waste Disposal Act by Pub. L. 94–580.

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–616, § 101(b)(1), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a).

Subsec. (a)(4) to (11). Pub. L. 98–616, § 101(b)(2), struck out par. (4) which provided for regulating the treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal of hazardous wastes which have adverse effects on health and the environment, added pars. (4) to (7), and redesignated former pars. (5) to (8) as (8) to (11), respectively.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–616, § 101(b)(1), added subsec. (b).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 178 cases (21 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case: City of Chicago v. Environmental Defense Fund
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City of Chicago v. Environmental Defense Fund (1994) scotus · cites it 4× “generated should be treated, stored, or disposed of so as to minimize the present and future threat to human health and the environment," 42 U. S. C. § 6902 (b), we cannot interpret the statute to permit MWC ash sufficiently toxic to qualify as hazardous to be disposed of in…”
People v. Thoro Products Co., Inc. (2003) colo · cites it 2× “[2] See also 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (a)(4)(2002)(primary purpose of federal RCRA program was to assure that "hazardous waste management practices are conducted in a manner which protects human health and the environment.”
Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (2013) ca9 · cites it 2× “(quoting 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (b)). 3. Citizen suits Chief responsibility for enforcement of the CWA and RCRA lies with EPA, which may delegate that authority to the States.”
Blue Circle Cement, Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Rogers (1994) ca10 · cites it 4× “42 U.S.C. § 6902 (a)(1). “[Discarded materials have value in that energy or materials can be recovered from them.”
Ky. Waterways Alliance v. Kentucky Util. Co. (2018) ca6 · cites it 4× “” 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (a). Like the CWA, RCRA embodies principles of cooperative federalism.”
American Petroleum Institute v. Environmental Protection Agency (2017) cadc · cites it 4× “” 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (a)(6). EPA made this very point in Safe Food to defend its exclusion for recycled zinc fertilizers even though those fertilizers could have “considerably higher” contaminant levels than the corresponding “virgin commercial fertilizer.”
Adkins v. VIM Recycling, Inc. (2011) ca7 · cites it 2× “See 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (a). Specifically, states would create and implement, under RCRA, comprehensive plans regulating solid waste.”
Attorney General of Oklahoma v. Tyson Foods, Inc. (2009) ca10 · cites it 2× “As an enforcement measure, RCRA's citizen suit provision permits suit against any person "who has contributed or who is contributing to the past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid .”
MacDermid, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Protection (2001) conn · cites it 2× “2000); see 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (a) (8) (1994). The primary purpose of the act “is to reduce the generation of hazardous waste and to ensure the proper treatment, storage, and disposal of that waste .”
Bruce Goldfarb v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (2015) ca4 “1251 (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (b)); see also H.R.Rep. No.”
Brod v. Omya, Inc. (2011) ca2 “” 42 U.S.C. § 6902 (b) (2006). In addition to enforcement by the EPA and designated state agencies, RCRA provides private individuals a means, in some circumstances, by which to commence an action in a district court to enforce RCRA’s *165 waste disposal mandates.”
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Inc. v. Severstal Sparrows Point, LLC (2011) mdd “After receiving authorization, the state may implement its hazardous waste program “in lieu of the Federal program.”
Show all 178 citing cases →
— 42 U.S.C. § 6902(a) — 1 case
City of Phoenix v. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (2003) arizctapp
— 42 U.S.C. § 6902(b) — 1 case
T & B LTD. INC. v. City of Chicago (2005) ilnd
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