42 U.S.C. § 6985: Special study and…

Summary

The Administrator must study and make recommendations on 10 topics about getting useful materials and energy from solid waste. These include ways to recover and use materials and energy and possible markets for them; actions that reduce waste now and in the future and their economic, social, and environmental effects; better ways to collect, separate, and containerize waste; using federal buying to create demand for recovered resources; incentives and penalties to speed recycling (with special focus on old motor vehicles); how current public policies and tax rules affect recycling; the idea of charging for disposal or making makers pay for end-of-life costs; legal and institutional barriers to getting land for waste facilities; farm waste issues (worked on with the Secretary of Agriculture); and mining waste issues (worked on with the Secretary of the Interior). The Administrator can also run demonstration projects to test the methods from these studies. Other existing rules that cover investigations, studies, and projects also apply.

Title 42, §6985

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Studies

The Administrator shall conduct studies and develop recommendations for administrative or legislative action on—

(1)means of recovering materials and energy from solid waste, recommended uses of such materials and energy for national or international welfare, including identification of potential markets for such recovered resources, the impact of distribution of such resources on existing markets, and potentials for energy conservation through resource conservation and resource recovery;

(2)actions to reduce waste generation which have been taken voluntarily or in response to governmental action, and those which practically could be taken in the future, and the economic, social, and environmental consequences of such actions;

(3)methods of collection, separation, and containerization which will encourage efficient utilization of facilities and contribute to more effective programs of reduction, reuse, or disposal of wastes;

(4)the use of Federal procurement to develop market demand for recovered resources;

(5)recommended incentives (including Federal grants, loans, and other assistance) and disincentives to accelerate the reclamation or recycling of materials from solid wastes, with special emphasis on motor vehicle hulks;

(6)the effect of existing public policies, including subsidies and economic incentives and disincentives, percentage depletion allowances, capital gains treatment and other tax incentives and disincentives, upon the recycling and reuse of materials, and the likely effect of the modification or elimination of such incentives and disincentives upon the reuse, recycling and conservation of such materials;

(7)the necessity and method of imposing disposal or other charges on packaging, containers, vehicles, and other manufactured goods, which charges would reflect the cost of final disposal, the value of recoverable components of the item, and any social costs associated with nonrecycling or uncontrolled disposal of such items; and

(8)the legal constraints and institutional barriers to the acquisition of land needed for solid waste management, including land for facilities and disposal sites;

(9)in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, agricultural waste management problems and practices, the extent of reuse and recovery of resources in such wastes, the prospects for improvement, Federal, State, and local regulations governing such practices, and the economic, social, and environmental consequences of such practices; and

(10)in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, mining waste management problems, and practices, including an assessment of existing authorities, technologies, and economics, and the environmental and public health consequences of such practices.

(b)Demonstration

The Administrator is also authorized to carry out demonstration projects to test and demonstrate methods and techniques developed pursuant to subsection (a).

(c)Application of other sections

section 6981(b) and (c) of this title shall be applicable to investigations, studies, and projects carried out under this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 3253a of this title, prior to the general amendment of the Solid Waste Disposal Act by Pub. L. 94–580.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of certain

Enforcement

functions of Administrator or other official of Environmental Protection Agency under this chapter to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, then to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, see note set out under section 6903 of this title.

§6985 Special Study and Demonstration Projects on Recovery of Useful Energy and Materials