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Minerals/Mining/Processing
In 1984, EPA was sued for failing to submit a report to congress making the required regulatory determination by the statutory deadline (Concerned Citizens of Adamstown v. EPA No. 84-3041, D.D.C., August 21, 1985). In responding to this lawsuit, the Agency explained that it planned to propose a narrower interpretation of the scope of the Mining Waste Exclusion. On December 31, 1985, EPA published the required 1985 Report to Congress on solid wastes from mineral extraction and beneficiation, and on July 3, 1986 (51 FR 24496) published a determination that regulation of such wastes under subtitle C of RCRA was not warranted.
As a result of the 1989 court case Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA, 852 F.2d 1316 (D. C. Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 109 S. Ct. 1120, EPA was directed to issue a series of Bevill rulemaking. The Court also ordered EPA to issue a Report to Congress (please unlink) addressing the 20 special mineral processing wastes. The 1990 Report to Congress was issued in compliance with the Court-ordered deadline.
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Mineral Processing Waste Report to Congress 1985
- On December 31, 1985, EPA published the required 1985 Report to Congress on solid wastes from mineral extraction and beneficiation.
- On December 31, 1985, EPA published the required 1985 Report to Congress on solid wastes from mineral extraction and beneficiation. The Introduction contains the following sections:
1.1 Scope
1.2 Contents
- The Overview of the Nonfuel Mining Industry portion of this document contains the following sections:
2.1 Non fuel Mining Segments
2.2 Geographic Distribution
2.3 Mining and Beneficiation Wastes
2.4 Waste Quantities
2.5 Summary
- The Management Practices for Mining Wastes portion of this document contains the following sections:
3.1 Overview of the Mining Waste Management Process
3.2 Waste Management Practices
3.3 Waste Siting and Disposal Methods
3.4 Mitigative Measures for Land Disposal Sites
3.5 Summary
- The Potential Danger to Human Health and the Environment portion of this document contains the following sections:
4.1 Waste Characteristics Considered
4.2 Estimated Amounts of Potentially Hazardous Mining Waste
4.3 Effectiveness of Waste Containment at Mining Waste Sites
4.4 Structural Instability of Impoundments
4.5 Damage Cases
4.6 Risk Analysis
4.7 Summary
- The Economic Cost of Potential Hazardous Waste Managment portion of this document contains the following sections:
5.1 Cost Methodology
5.2 Potential Costs of RCRA Subtitle C Waste Management
- The Conclusion and Recommendation portion of this document contains the following sections:
6.1 Scope
6.2 Summary of Conclusions
6.3 Recommendations
- Selected Bibliography
- The appendices portion of this document contains the following:
Appendix A. Summary of Major Wastes from the Mining and Processing of Oil Shales
Appendix B. Methodology
Appendix C. Selected Criteria Analyzed for Toxic Effects
Appendix D. Glossary
Mineral Processing Waste Report to Congress 1990