Policy Analysis and Discussion: Environmental Acts - RCRA and Regulatory Framework
Overview
This paper analyzes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976) and its amendments through the policy analysis framework of problem identification, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation. It examines how RCRA addresses hazardous waste management and environmental pollution while discussing emerging concerns around environmental justice and systemic inequality in waste exposure.
What this coursework covers
- Problem Identification and Agenda Setting - evolution from Solid Waste Disposal Act through amendments to RCRA
- Policy Formulation and Adoption - congressional measures and EPA regulatory mandate for hazardous waste management
- Policy Implementation - EPA enforcement mechanisms including civil, administrative, and criminal actions
- Policy Evaluation - 2002 EPA evaluation framework and subsequent amendments including HSWA and Federal Facility Compliance Act
- Policy Conclusion - tensions between economic development and environmental protection
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Policy Analysis and Discussion: Environmental Acts
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Policy Analysis and Discussion: Environmental Acts
Section I: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976)
Problem Identification and Agenda Setting
The increased mass production as a result of the industrial revolution resulted in tones of wastes, which would, in turn, affect the livelihood of the very people economic development was supposed to elevate from poverty. In response to the seriousness of the environmental concerns, the United States Congress passed the Solid Waste Disposal Act (1965). The Act was unable to effectively and efficiently meet the concerns and was later amended by the Resource Recovery Act (Holst, 2006). The complex nature of the intersection between the environment and economic development proved that amendments were inadequate, culminating in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976.
Policy Formulation and Adoption
Through this Act, the U.S. Congress had taken strong measures against the disposal of wastes and the subsequent pollution. In 1984, the Act was further amended, opening avenues for investments in recycling programs. According to the Act's stipulation, the Environmental Protection Agency's responsibility is to regulate the management of hazardous waste from the point of generation, through treatment & storage and at point of disposal (AllegriSr, 1986). The Act gives EPA a mandate to enforce various environmental requirements related to waste and chemical disposal pollution.
Policy Implementation
EPA's responsibilities to this end include, but limited to, civil judicial, administrative, and criminal action against those who break environmental laws and regulations.