The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) is a cornerstone of environmental policy in the United States. The law regulates the generation, transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous chemicals. Although regulated, hazardous releases can still occur at RCRA sites due to flawed equipment, human error, and dated historical practices. Releases are investigated and remediated through what is known as a Corrective Action (CA). Using Census data and a novel dataset of RCRA facilities across the contiguous U.S., we examine the possibility of systematic inequities with regards to the (i) siting of RCRA facilities, (ii) occurrence of releases and CAs, (iii) duration of CAs, and (iv) permanence of remediation methods. We find evidence of disproportionate impacts across racial, ethnic, and income dimensions. The results vary, however, depending on the different aspects of the siting and cleanup process, thus highlighting the need for multi-layered analyses to identify and fully understand potential inequities associated with environmental programs.
Keyphrases
- crispr cas
- human health
- healthcare
- genome editing
- public health
- risk assessment
- endothelial cells
- mental health
- primary care
- physical activity
- transcription factor
- electronic health record
- gold nanoparticles
- heavy metals
- machine learning
- atomic force microscopy
- municipal solid waste
- deep learning
- artificial intelligence
- liquid chromatography