The military munitions rule

Abstract

The Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCA) of 1992 expanded the waiver of sovereign immunity to allow imposition of fines and penalties against federal facilities for violating federal, state, and local solid and hazardous waste management requirements. Section 107 of the FFCA required the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and appropriate state officials, to propose and promulgate regulations identifying when conventional or chemical military munitions become hazardous waste subject to regulation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The authors discuss the development of the EPA Munitions Rule and how environmental and military requirements are addressed in the rule.