The disposal of solid waste is rapidly becoming one of the most important environmental issues for the construction industry. Annually, builders in the United States generate approximately 31.5 million tons of construction waste. This debris, which is composed of many types of materials including some that are hazardous, represents almost 24 percent of the total municipal solid waste stream in this country.

In the past, disposing of any type of waste was relatively simple: materials were buried or burned at the site, or conveniently disposed at the local city dump, without consideration of the potential environmental consequences. However, in the 1970s, it was discovered that unregulated disposal of solid and hazardous wastes led to serious contamination of surface and groundwater supplies. This situation led to the enactment of laws that closely govern the disposal of both hazardous and non-hazardous solid wastes.

Construction and demolition (C&D) wastes are increasingly regulated because of the bulky nature of such wastes, the dwindling space in existing landfills, and the difficulties inherent in siting new landfills. Many local governments are moving to simply ban C&D wastes from landfills or to impose disproportionately heavy fees on the reception of such wastes as a means of encouraging other types of disposal.

Because of regulation and increased disposal fees, the expense involved in construction waste disposal has risen sharply, from a national average of $4.90 per-ton in 1976 to a current rate of almost $32.00 per-ton. In a 1995 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) survey, builders reported paying an average of just over $500 per home for waste removal and disposal. However, because tipping fees (the cost to dispose of waste) are set locally, the cost varies tremendously.

In 1976, Congress enacted the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) to provide "cradle-to-grave" control of hazardous waste by imposing management requirements on generators and transporters of hazardous wastes and upon owners and operators of treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) facilities. While RCRA mandates comprehensive federal regulation of "hazardous wastes," it maintained substantial state responsibility for solid waste.

RCRA requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop criteria for the treatment of solid and hazardous wastes. The RCRA program is a combination of the statute passed by Congress and the regulations EPA adopted under the authority of the statute. EPA's regulations are legal mechanisms that define how RCRA's broad policy directives are to be implemented.

EPA administers RCRA through a two-tiered regulatory system. Subtitle D governs non-hazardous solid wastes and requires EPA to set minimum federal standards for state solid waste management programs, as well as guidelines for states that wish to develop stricter standards than those adopted by EPA. State regulations often govern location, design, pre-dumping treatment of wastes destined for landfills, groundwater monitoring, and post-closure requirements.

Subtitle C regulates hazardous waste generators and transporters, as well as the facilities that treat, store, and dispose of hazardous wastes. Individual states may exercise jurisdiction over their hazardous waste management programs, provided that the states apply and are approved by EPA.

Waste may be classified as hazardous if it is either listed by EPA (specifically named as a hazardous waste), or if it exhibits one of four hazard characteristics.

Ignitability — materials that are easily combustible or flammable such as paints or solvents

Corrosiveness — materials that corrode metal or burn the skin, such as rust removers or alkaline and acidic cleaners

Reactivity — unstable materials that undergo violent reaction with air or water, such as bleaches and other oxidizers

Extraction Procedure (EP) toxicity — if a sample of a waste material is tested and shows EP toxicity, then the waste material in question is considered to be hazardous. As an example, if an extract from a waste material being tested is found to contain high levels of heavy metals or specific pesticides, then the waste material itself must be considered hazardous.

It is the responsibility of the individual contractor to apply the above criteria to waste materials to determine if they are hazardous. Examples of potentially hazardous construction materials include adhesives, sealers, paint stripper, asphalt, paint/lacquer, resins/epoxies, waterproofing agents, coatings, antifreeze, shellac, solvents and caulking.

Under RCRA, small generators of waste, such as builders, are considered to be "conditionally exempt" if less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste is generated in one calendar month and less than 2,200 pounds of hazardous waste is stored on site. Waste assessments conducted by the NAHB Research Center in 1994 and elsewhere suggest that most builders could be categorized as conditionally exempt small quantity generators (CESQG) under RCRA depending upon the amount and type of waste they generate. Consequently, builders mostly need to be concerned about the solid waste regulations adopted by their state.

RCRA may be enforced by federal or state authorities for both present and past violations. Civil penalties include fines of up to $25,000 per violation, for each day of non-compliance. RCRA is also enforced through criminal prosecution. RCRA authorizes the prosecution of generators, transporters, and facilities that operate without permits, or otherwise improperly dispose of hazardous wastes. If convicted of a RCRA offense, generators are subject to a fine of $50,000 for each day in violation, and imprisonment of up to two years. Transporters, and facilities that operate without permits, or otherwise improperly dispose of hazardous wastes are subject to fines of not more than $50,000 for each day in violation, and five years imprisonment.

Finally, RCRA authorizes private citizens to initiate suits against anyone who violates RCRA regulations or permits, or contributes to past or present violations that may present an imminent threat to human health and environment. Citizens have access to information obtained by EPA or the states during a facility inspection.

RCRA governs the present and future activities involving solid wastes. RCRA does not address the problems of hazardous waste encountered at inactive or abandoned sites or those that require emergency response. These problems are addressed by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), otherwise known as Superfund, which is primarily concerned with past hazardous waste activities (hazardous waste spills, clean ups, etc.).

CERCLA is designed as a response program to deal with hazardous waste sites that have already been created. As a result, CERCLA imposes liability for hazardous waste clean-up costs on current or past owners or operators of a site. A builder who buys a site that contains hazardous waste could be liable for the clean-up costs of the site, even if the builder had nothing to do with the contamination in the first place.

As the expense involved in waste disposal rises, many builders are responding by implementing construction waste management plans. This may be the only viable way to offset the increasing regulation and exorbitant fees connected with solid waste disposal. The initial step in such a program, a "waste audit," is designed to show the builder exactly where in the building process waste is created. This in turn will indicate steps that may be taken to reduce waste through better building design and improved construction techniques and materials. The audit will also indicate whatever possibilities might exist for the reuse and/or recycling of certain types of waste materials.

Recent research into C&D waste generation and management has shown that with minimal effort builders and remodelers can reduce the amount of debris they would normally send to the landfill by 60 to 90 percent In addition, the public is becoming increasingly concerned with the environmental impacts of the homes they buy. Builders, therefore, can use sound waste management practices to create a marketing advantage for themselves.