Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) corrective action program manages the cleanups at operating facilities that pose significant risks to human health or the environment. In 1997, GAO reported that three key requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) were successful at ensuring that waste processing is managed safely. GAO evaluated the corrective action program and reported that facilities had made limited progress in conducting cleanups. Because of Congress's continuing concerns about the pace of hazardous waste cleanups, GAO reviewed the steps that EPA has taken since 1997 and assessed its effects on cleanups of remediation waste at sites subject to the three RCRA requirements and the management factors that had slowed the pace of cleanups. Several steps EPA has taken to revise its regulatory requirements for handling remediation waste have removed some barriers to cleanups. In February 2000, EPA agreed to amend its 1993 rule providing flexibility under the RCRA requirements for certain on-site storage and disposal units for remediation waste. EPA is trying to monitor the implementation of reforms and is addressing the resource shortfall that prevented it from completing more cleanups. GAO recommends that EPA focus more attention on achieving final cleanups under the its corrective action program.
