Toxics and Waste Management

• Pages: 211-236
• Author: Michael P. Vandenbergh,Sarah E. Light,James Salzman

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Chapter 10

TOXICS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT

In Chapter 10 we discuss how PEG initiatives respond to the

environmental and human health risks arising from toxic substances

and hazardous wastes. The toxic substances in the household

products you use, the steps environmental lawyers, managers, and

advocates take to reduce the risks of toxics, and the tools available to

protect fenceline communities from hazardous wastes are driven as

much by PEG initiatives as government regulations, and in some

cases even more so. The PEG initiatives that target toxic substances

deploy many of the same types of tools—including informational

regulation, prescriptive requirements, and payments and penalties—

as the PEG climate initiatives we reviewed in the last several

chapters.

Along the way, we detail the specific difficulties of addressing

toxic substances and hazardous wastes, how PEG toxics initiatives

interact with public environmental governance, and how these

initiatives reflect environmental justice concerns. PEG initiatives

that address toxics and hazardous waste management problems were

among the first private governance initiatives to emerge—often long

before the PEG climate change mitigation initiatives that we

discussed in the last several chapters. PEG tools that address toxics

are woven into the daily work of many environmental lawyers,

managers, and advocates, so we have a lot of ground to cover, but a

full understanding of these issues is well worth the investment.

I.The Toxics Problem

The governance challenge for toxics and hazardous wastes

begins with the massive volumes and wide variation of chemicals

produced every year. It is difficult to know how many types of

chemicals are in circulation, but the best estimate is that the total

exceeds 100,000, with new substances being produced at a rate of

nearly 700 per year. The chemical manufacturing industry is

massive, employing over 800,000 people and contributing over 20%

of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States. Major

producers include the agricultural, industrial manufacturing, and

household product sectors. Toxic substances are used for a wide range

of purposes, from familiar substances found in many households—

shampoo, food preservatives, and finishings for furniture—to

industrial substances—agricultural pesticides, gasoline additives,

and substances used in manufacturing processes.

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PEG IN ACTION: TOXICS, WASTE, WATER,

AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Pt. III

Toxic chemical releases have been slowing in recent years. Since

2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, toxic

chemical releases in the U.S. have decreased by 27%, led by a 34%

reduction in air releases. This reduction has occurred while economic

activity (as measured by GDP) increased by over 40%. According to

the EPA, the reduction has been driven by new technologies that

limit the need for toxic substances, and the development of improved

toxic chemical management methods such as recycling, energy

recovery, and treatment. Despite these promising trends, chemical

production and consumption remain high; toxic substances are

integrated into many of our everyday products; new risks are being

identified, such as from PFAS; and many of us live in a “toxic cloud”

of emissions arising from the products we use in our daily activities.

When toxic substances are disposed of they are often considered

to be hazardous wastes under federal and state environmental laws.

Hazardous waste generation has declined in parallel with the

declines in toxic chemical releases: according to the EPA, hazar dous

waste generation has declined by roughly 30% since 1980. The

enactment of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

(RCRA) in 1976 and the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980 created

incentives to reduce hazardous waste generation and resulted in the

cleanup of many major disposal sites (called “Superfund sites”) over

the last several decades. Many smaller disposal sites are still being

discovered and cleaned up, though, including lightly contaminated

industrial properties often called “brownfields.” Disposal sites and

brownfields are often located near low income communities and

communities of color, and studies show that these communities also

bear a disproportionate share of the exposures to hazardous wastes.

The extent of human exposure to toxic substances arising from

disposal sites has been the subject of extensive and sometimes

conflicting research, but a recent meta-analysis found a strong

positive correlation.

1

The substantial amounts of toxic substances produced each year

highlight an important difference between toxics and conventional

pollutants: toxic substances are sometimes produced because they

are valuable products, not just unintended byproducts. As a result,

public and private regulators face difficult decisions not only about

how to reduce emissions, but also over the tradeoffs that arise from

restricting the production, use, and release of toxic substances. The

core governance challenges include assessing the risks, determining

what levels of risk are tolerable, and selecting the best regulatory

1

Kathleen Gruschow, “Effect of Residential Proximity and Exposure to

Municipal, Industrial, and Hazardous Waste Sites on Cancer Risk: A Literature

Review,” Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh (2023).