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1997 RCRA HAZARDOUS WASTE REPORT RELEASED
Release Date: 10/07/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, OCT. 7, 1999
1997 RCRA HAZARDOUS WASTE REPORT RELEASED
EPA recently released its National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report based on 1997 data regarding the generation, management and final disposition of hazardous waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). In this year’s report EPA streamlined the federal data collection forms for the 1997 reporting cycle and changed the reporting requirements for wastewaters, which are regulated under the Clean Water Act. Due to these changes, cursory comparisons of the 1997 National Biennial Report to earlier National Reports could produce misleading results. In 1997, 20,316 large quantity generators (LQGs) reported that they generated 40.7 million tons of RCRA hazardous waste. Compared with the 1995 National Report, the number of LQGs decreased by 551 and the quantity of hazardous waste generated decreased by 173 million tons or 81 percent. This decrease in national hazardous waste generation is due in a large part to the exclusion of wastewaters from the 1997 National Report. After excluding the same wastewaters from the 1995 National Report data, 36.3 million tons of non-wastewater waste was generated in 1995. Therefore, a more accurate picture of the change in national hazardous waste generation between 1995 and 1997 is an increase of 4.4 million tons or 11 percent. Much of this increase resulted from a change in a few generators’ wastewater management practices. States that contributed most to the national hazardous waste generation total in 1997 were Texas (19 million tons), Louisiana (4.6 million tons), Illinois (2.2 million tons), Ohio (1.7 million tons) and Mississippi (1.7 million tons). Together the LQGs in these states accounted for 72 percent of the national quantity generated. The “National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report: Based on 1997 Data” is available at: https://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/data/#brs. To order printed copies, contact the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) at 703-487-4650 after Nov. 15, 1999 with the order number listed below:
NTIS Order # TITLE AND PAGE COUNT
PB99-166 811 Complete Set of all 6 Volumes
PB99-166 829 List of Large Quantity Generators* [494 pages]
PB99-166 837 List of Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities* [95 pages]
PB99-166 845 National Analysis* [114 pages]
PB99-166 852 State Detail Analysis* [455 pages]
PB99-166 860 State Summary Analysis* [134 pages]
R-122 ###
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