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••i , ~/\ his Act, built on the founda-
tion of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of
1965 and the Resource Recovery Act of
1970, is the  evolutionary product  of
years of deliberations and hearings.
The Congress intended RCRA to ad-
dress the following problems:
            ever-increasing  amounts
       of waste material being gen-
       erated as a result of National
       economic  and  population
       growth.
   ^>*Serious financial, manage-
       ment, intergovernmental,
       and technical  problems  in
       solid waste collection, treat-
       ment and disposal  in urban
       areas resulting from popula-
       tion concentration.
   ry*Open dumping of solid waste
       which needlessly pollutes val-
       uable land resources as well as
       air and water resources.
    y*Human health  and environ-
       mental  dangers  resulting
       from improper disposal  of
       solid waste  and especially
       hazardous waste.
   ^~ + Increasing amounts of pollu-
       tion control residuals (sludges,
       etc.) destined for land disposal
       as a result of the Clean Air Act,
       Water Pollution  Control  Act,
       and  other Federal and State
       laws.
      *The wasteful burial of  re-
       coverable resources with at-
       tendant increases in depend-
       ence on  foreign energy  and
       material  sources, and in  bal-

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       ance of payment deficits.
            need to continue the
       development of sol id waste as
       an energy source to conserve
       and  reduce dependence on
       alternate energy sources such
       as petroleum, natural gas, nu-
       clear and hydroelectric gener-
       ation.
       he stated objectives of RCRA
are to promote the protection  of
health and the  environment and  to
conserve  valuable material and en-
ergy resources. The Act intends that
these objectives be achieved by:
   / * Providing technical and finan-
       cial assistance  to  State and
       local governments for  devel-
       opment  and implementation
       of solid  waste management
       plans.
   ±> i*Providing training grants in
       solid waste occupations.
  fy ^-Prohibiting  future   open
       dumping on land and requir-
       ing upgrading or  closing  of
       existing open dumps.
   jit Regulating  the treatment,
       storage,  transportation, and
       disposal  of hazardous wastes.
   
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       solid waste management and
       resource conservation and re-
       covery systems.
   J> ir Establishing a cooperative ef-
       fort among Federal, State,
       and local governments and
       private enterprises.

•^B, /he Act statutorily establishes
the Office of Solid Waste within EPA to
guide the implementation of the law
and  establishes a Federal/State/local
government partnership to share the
implementation. The major thrusts of
the efforts that will be required by this
partnership are:
   / * Land protection through reg-
       ulation and control of wastes
       and waste disposal opera-
       tions.
    ^^Regulations and  control of
       the hazardous waste stream
       "cradle to grave."
   f y * Improvements in all aspects of
       waste management at the
       State, regional  and  local
       levels.
    /itReduction  of the waste
       stream through increased re-
       source recovery and waste re-
       duction efforts
   f) It Broad public education pro-
       grams with rapid dissemina-
       tion of all types of solid waste
       management information
       materials.
   A ^ Broad public participation in
       the development  and im-
       provement of solid waste
       management throughout the
       Nation.
 U.S. Environmental Protection A
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