vc/EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OS-305) EPA/530-SW-91-080 June 1992 Environmental Fact Sheet A STOREHOUSE OF INFORMATION Profile of the RCRA Information Center (RIC) The Office of Solid Waste (OSW) established the RCRA Information Center (RIC) to provide EPA staff, environmental organizations, the regulated community, and the general public access to rulemaking dockets and to create a central location for policy and guidance docu- ments. The RIC offers telephone, walk-in, and written reference services and disseminates information about hazardous and solid waste. Regulatory Docket Four divisions within the Office of Solid Waste (OSW) write regulations relating to the implementation of the Resource Conserva- tion and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 and its amendments: the Characterization and Assessment Division, the Permits and State Programs Division, the Waste Management Division, and the Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division. A docket consists of the technical materials used when developing a regulation. It can include EPA and contractor technical reports, economic analyses, regulatory impact analy- ses, technical resource documents, guidance documents, surveys, meeting summaries, trip reports, summaries of telephone conversa- tions, correspondence, and transcripts of public hearings. Also, the regulatory docket may include EPA responses to public com- ments. Generally, the docket materials that are most heavily used are the newly proposed rules that are open for public comment. Typi- cally, the RIC has between five or six dockets open for comment at any given time. Each docket is usually open for comment for 30 to 60 days after regulation proposal. Everyday the RIC staff logs in and files all the public comments submitted in response to rules proposed by OSW. The RIC staff encourages docket users to make an ap- pointment before visiting, although they do assist walk-in clients without appointments as well. They ask that clients schedule their visits in advance because much of the mate- i Printed on recycled paper. ------- rial can be used by only one person at a time, Cincinnati, the EPA Library Network, the and there is a limit to the number of clients that RCRA/Superfund Hotline, and Infoterra staff at the staff can assist at any one time. the Headquarters Library. In addition to the regulatory dockets, the RIC collection includes notebooks of all RCRA Fed- eral Register notices, certified administrative records (rulemaking dockets that have under- gone litigation), policy directives, guidance documents, delisting petitions, rulemaking pe- titions, regulatory interpretation letters, health and environmental effects profiles, health and environmental effects documents, OSW memos, and a historical collection of older OSW publications. The RIC maintains an automated data base of the documents in its collection. From this data base of more than 41,000 titles, the staff produces indexes of each rulemaking docket and lists of some special collections. They also can produce customized lists of materials for specific requests from patrons. Last fall the RIC began converting its records to microfilm. All administrative records have been filmed, and the filming of closed regulatory dockets is in progress. This effort will ensure the integrity of docket files and allow better use of space. Information Dissemination The RIC has an important role in disseminating current hazardous and solid waste information to the public. Not only does it provide access to the rulemaking materials, it also serves as a focal point for distributing numerous OSW pub- lications. RIC staff work closely with the Public Information Center, the OSW Clearinghouse in Over the past two years, the staff of the RIC has virtually tripled in size. In FY1991, the RIC responded to over 245,000 requests from 82,500 people. The majority of requests re- ceived were for information on recycling. These requests came from EPA Headquarters and Regional staff and the public (which includes the regulated community, environmental groups, state and local government officials, the media, and students of all ages). One way the public learns what is available in the RIC is by reading the Federal Register. Proposed and final rules are published in the Federal Register, along with lists of back- ground documents. Another way is by reading EPA press releases, which are circulated by the Office of Public Affairs to announce pro- posed and final regulations and publications. The RIC compiles a Catalogue of Hazardous and Solid Waste Publications, which serves as another tool for promoting public access. In addition to these sources, OSW prepares spe- cial mailings as part of its communication plans and produces a newsletter, Reusable News, to share information about nonhazardous solid waste. The RIC is managed by OSW's Communica- tions, Analysis, and Budget Division. It is lo- cated in Room 2427 of Waterside Mall and is open to the public during the week from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and to EPA staff from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you are interested in finding out more about the RCRA Information Center, contact Kathy Bruneske at FTS 260-3231; Dmail Bruneske. Kathy. ------- |