When facing an inspection and possible enforcement actions from the US EPA or their state regulatory agency a hazardous waste generator may wonder, “Why me?  Why don’t they go after one of those big companies like BP, DuPont, or Goodyear

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 the US Department of Transportation mandated Enhanced Security Requirements for companies that transport (i.e. Carriers) and/or offer for transport (i.e. Shippers) hazardous materials – including hazardous waste - in commerce. The Enhanced Security Requirements include:

“Other than hazardous waste, we don’t ship hazardous materials, so we don’t need the DOT HazMat Employeetraining for our Shipping Department personnel.”   The preceding statement may be true when its ‘business as usual’, but there are a few situations that arise

A question from an attendee of one of my recent training events forced me to re-think my strongly-held belief in the correct formatting of the proper shipping description for a hazardous materials shipment.  The question asked was, “Is a comma

USEPA Regulations for the Management of Medical Waste: It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point when news broke in July of 1988 about needles and other medical

One of the things I enjoy about providing training to so many people are the questions I receive from participants that force me to think more deeply about the regulations than I would otherwise.  For example, at my training event in

No matter how many times I read about it, I never fail to be surprised by two things: The severity of penalties faced by regulated facilities that violate US EPA hazardous waste (RCRA) regulations; and, How easily avoidable those violations

Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980.  This law was designed to create a mechanism and funding source for the cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances.  In many cases,

In 1984 US EPA created the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest. An improvement on its predecessor, it nonetheless allowed States to customize the forms to meet their state-specific needs. Twenty three states adapted the Federal form to include a state letterhead and