Impact of RCRA Upon the Mining Industry

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, commonly known as RCRA, which amends the previous Solid Waste Disposal Act, was signed into law on October 21, 1976. Members of the mining industry began their contacts with EPA in this area two to three years before the Act finally was passed, and that seemed and probably was all to the good. We reviewed and commented upon their studies and in general tried to acquaint them with the peculiarities and the uniqueness of the wastes generated by our industry, of which they were abyssmally ignorant. I suppose we thought that through the bureaucracy we might have some influence upon the provisions of the solid waste legislation that was being bandied about on the hill. Certainly the industry, in general, did very little direct lobbying, as I recall, and there were several reasons for that. For one thing we conceived that the legislation was aimed at the chemical industy and believed that if their people looked after their interests, ours would be safeguarded automatically. Also, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) was heating up at the same time and, in fact, was signed into law on the same day. In addition, a great deal of lobbying activity was required by amendments of the Clean Air Act and Federal Water Pollution Control Act that were being put together in Congress. These were conceived to be of far greater importance to our industry than a bill to control mostly chemical wastes and, in fact, new bills in both areas became law the following year. Finally, the solid waste bill, RCRA, was patched together by committee staffs over one weekend and was reported out by a conference committee rather hurriedly. Some little goodies about mining were almost after-thoughts in this process.