42 U.S.C. § 6902 : US Code - Section 6902: Objectives and national policy

Search 42 U.S.C. § 6902 : US Code - Section 6902: Objectives and national policy

(a) Objectives
The objectives of this chapter are to promote the protection of
health and the environment and to conserve valuable material and
energy resources by -
(1) providing technical and financial assistance to State and
local governments and interstate agencies for the development of
solid waste management plans (including resource recovery and
resource conservation systems) which will promote improved solid
waste management techniques (including more effective
organizational arrangements), new and improved methods of
collection, separation, and recovery of solid waste, and the
environmentally safe disposal of nonrecoverable residues;
(2) providing training grants in occupations involving the
design, operation, and maintenance of solid waste disposal
systems;
(3) prohibiting future open dumping on the land and requiring
the conversion of existing open dumps to facilities which do not
pose a danger to the environment or to health;
(4) assuring that hazardous waste management practices are
conducted in a manner which protects human health and the
environment;
(5) requiring that hazardous waste be properly managed in the
first instance thereby reducing the need for corrective action at
a future date;
(6) minimizing the generation of hazardous waste and the land
disposal of hazardous waste by encouraging process substitution,
materials recovery, properly conducted recycling and reuse, and
treatment;
(7) establishing a viable Federal-State partnership to carry
out the purposes of this chapter and insuring that the
Administrator will, in carrying out the provisions of subchapter
III of this chapter, give a high priority to assisting and
cooperating with States in obtaining full authorization of State
programs under subchapter III of this chapter;
(8) providing for the promulgation of guidelines for solid
waste collection, transport, separation, recovery, and disposal
practices and systems;
(9) promoting a national research and development program for
improved solid waste management and resource conservation
techniques, more effective organizational arrangements, and new
and improved methods of collection, separation, and recovery, and
recycling of solid wastes and environmentally safe disposal of
nonrecoverable residues;
(10) promoting the demonstration, construction, and application
of solid waste management, resource recovery, and resource
conservation systems which preserve and enhance the quality of
air, water, and land resources; and
(11) establishing a cooperative effort among the Federal,
State, and local governments and private enterprise in order to
recover valuable materials and energy from solid waste.
(b) National policy
The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the
United States that, wherever feasible, the generation of hazardous
waste is to be reduced or eliminated as expeditiously as possible.
Waste that is nevertheless generated should be treated, stored, or
disposed of so as to minimize the present and future threat to
human health and the environment.