CLEANER Act of 2015

CLEANER Act of 2015 or the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2015

This bill amends the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to eliminate the exemption for waste derived from the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy from regulations governing the disposal of hazardous waste.

Within a year of this bill's enactment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must:

• determine whether waste associated with oil, gas, or geothermal energy activities meet the criteria promulgated for the identification or listing of hazardous waste;
• identify or list as hazardous waste any of those wastes if they meet the identification or listing criteria; and
• promulgate regulations regarding standards applicable to generators, transporters, and owners and operators of facilities for the treatment, storage, or disposal of those wastes.

The EPA may modify the regulation of those standards to consider the special characteristics of those wastes so long as the modified regulations protect human health and the environment.

Within a year of this bill's enactment, the EPA must promulgate revisions of certain criteria concerning landfills and waste management practices of open dumping for facilities that may receive wastes that are: (1) associated with those activities, and (2) not identified or listed as hazardous waste. Those revisions must:

• protect human health and the environment, while allowing consideration of the practicable capability of such facilities; and
• require groundwater monitoring as necessary to detect contamination;
• establish criteria for the acceptable location of new or existing facilities; and
• provide for corrective action and financial assurance as appropriate.