Governing Rules and Regulations

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

Nearly everything we do leaves behind some kind of waste. Households create ordinary garbage. Industrial and manufacturing processes create both solid waste and hazardous waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates all this waste under RCRA. RCRA's goals are to: protect us from the hazards of waste disposal; conserve energy and natural resources by recycling and recovery; reduce or eliminate waste; and clean up waste which may have spilled, leaked, or been improperly disposed of. Hazardous waste comes in many shapes and forms, from unwanted laboratory material to used antifreeze to burned out fluorescent bulbs. RCRA tightly regulates all hazardous waste from cradle to grave. These regulations are found in 40 CFR Parts 260 - 299.

Laboratory Standard

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), recognizing the unique characteristics of the
laboratory workplace, tailored a standard for occupational exposure to unwanted materials in laboratories.
Under this standard each laboratory is required to produce a Chemical Hygiene Plan which addresses the specific
hazards found in its location, and its approach to each hazard. This regulation can be found in 29 CFR 1910.1450.

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER)

HAZWOPER regulates the safety and health of the employees working with hazardous wastes or those employees that respond to hazardous material spills. This regulation can be found in 29 CFR 1910.120.