Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 2.djvu/729

 PUBLIC LAW 101-508—NOV. 5, 1990 104 STAT. 1388-321 charges are collected. Such funds shall remain available until expended. SEC. 6601. SHORT TITLE. Pollution Prevention Act This subtitle may be cited as the "Pollution Prevention Act of of 1990. 1990". 42 USC 13101 note. SEC. 6602. FINDINGS AND POLICY. 42 USC 13101. (a) FINDINGS.— The Congress finds that: (1) The United States of America annually produces millions of tons of pollution and spends tens of billions of dollars per year controlling this pollution. (2) There are significant opportunities for industry to reduce or prevent pollution at the source through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Such changes offer industry substantial savings in reduced raw material, pollution control, and liability costs as well as help protect the environment and reduce risks to worker health and safety. (3) The opportunities for source reduction are often not realized because existing regulations, and the industrial resources they require for compliance, focus upon treatment and disposal, rather than source reduction; existing regulations do not emphasize multi-media management of pollution; and businesses need information and technical assistance to overcome institutional barriers to the adoption of source reduction practices. (4) Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management and pollution control. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to address the historical lack of attention to source reduction. (5) As a first step in preventing pollution through source reduction, the Environmental Protection Agency must establish a source reduction program which collects and disseminates information, provides financial assistance to States, and implements the other activities provided for in this subtitle. (b) POLICY.— The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the United States that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible; pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner, whenever feasible; pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally safe manner whenever feasible; and disposal or other release into the environment should be employed only as a last resort and should be conducted in an environmentally safe manner. SEC. 6603. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this subtitle— (1) The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. (2) The term "Agency" means the Environmental Protection Agency. (3) The term "toxic chemical" means any substance on the list described in section 313(c) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986. (4) The term "release" has the same meaning as provided by section 329(8) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986. 42 USC 13102.

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