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The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). RCRA classified solid waste management facilities and practices, required states to develop comprehensive state plans for solid waste management (Dufour, op. cit., p. 99). RCRA also emphasized the growing landfill capacity problem and the need to develop approaches to handling wastes. In the preamble of RCRA, attention was called to the vast quantity of recoverable materials that are placed in landfills and to the fact that the recovery or conservation of many of these materials would benefit the United States by reducing projected landfill capacity require­ments, retaining and expanding our national resources, and reducing the country’s depen­dence on foreign resources.

In reference to recycled materials, Section 6002 of RCRA requires...

Given the vast amount of building materials required to construct and maintain the trans­portation infrastructure in the United States, the country’s highway system represents a tremendous opportunity for the beneficial use of reclaimed and recycled resources. However, the reclamation and reuse of waste material must be done in an environmentally responsible manner.

The handling, disposal, and reuse of solid waste is regulated by a number of environ­mental statutes. Increased cost of complying with these requirements has increased the appeal of recycling and resource management. Because solid waste material is not as uni­form as raw materials, the characteristics, performance, cost of preparing, and application of solid waste vary with the source and type of the material...

The following steps have been developed for managing lead-based paint removal projects based on procedures in Trimbler’s Industrial Lead Paint Removal Handbook.

Initial Project Evaluation. In the initial project evaluation, the owner or specifier must determine whether the coating contains lead-based paint either by reviewing earlier plans and specifications for the structure or by sampling and analysis.

Prebid Assessment of Paint Removal Methods and Debris Generated. The owner or specifiers should estimate how much waste will be generated by methods evaluated to be appropriate to the size and circumstances of the project. Designing a testing program to evaluate the toxicity of waste generated may be appropriate for large paint removal projects.

Understanding the Regulations before Prepa...

Specifications for scraping or blasting lead-based paint from structures should be written with worker safety and environmental issues in mind, so that qualified contractors who can adhere to a high level of quality and compliance are selected for the project. These specifi­cations should

• Describe the extent of surface preparation and the degree of containment required and let the contractor propose how to accomplish this.

• Identify key health and safety and environmental regulations to ensure that the con­tractor is aware of these regulations and plans compliance strategies in the bid.

• Clearly state that the paint to be removed is lead based. The highway department should have had the paint tested prior to contract bid if there is any doubt whether the paint is lead based...