Glossary of Environmental and Regulatory Acronyms

What Do All Those Abbreviations Mean?

Most of the abbreviations in this compliance manual are acronyms for legal requirements - just a shorter way to refer to these requirements. So, for example, we say CAA in place of the Clean Air Act. It helps to get used to these acronyms - since you’ll see them everywhere inside and outside this manual!

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Click on a letter to jump down the acronym list

ACC American Chemistry Council: The American Chemistry Council is a trade association representing chemical manufacturing industries. It is the lead organization in the US for promoting Responsible Care. Responsible Care is a global chemical industry performance initiative that is implemented in the United States through the American Chemistry Council. Participation in Responsible Care is mandatory for ACC member companies.
See Also:NACD, SOCMA, SOCMI
ARAR Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirement: An environmental requirement that a CERCLA cleanup process must meet. ARARs include federal, state, and local requirements. For example, standards from the CAA would be used as ARARs to govern air emissions released during a cleanup.
See Also:CERCLA
AST Above Ground Storage Tank: Storage tanks used for materials above ground - used to distinguish from underground storage tanks.
See Also:UST
BACT Best Available Control Technology (Clean Air Act): Type of control technology required for new sources of criteria pollutants under the Clean Air Act's Prevention of Significant Deterioration Program. BACT is defined as the "maximum degree of reduction..achievable," taking into account economic, energy, and environmental factors.
See Also:CAA
BDAT Best Demonstrated Available Technology: Treatment standards required for hazardous waste prior to being land disposed. In some cases, EPA prescribes a specific technology for a given waste type. More commonly, these standards are expressed in terms of concentration of the constituent of concern in the treated waste. Any technology that can treat to this level would be considered to satisfy the BDAT standard.
See Also:RCRA, LDR
BMR Baseline Monitoring Report: Initial monitoring report required of facilities discharging to a POTW, either because they are new sources, or when EPA promulgates new categorical standards.
See Also:CWA, POTW, DMR
CAA Clean Air Act: The Clean Air Act establishes national requirements for airborne emissions, including both stack emissions and "fugitive" emissions from leaks and other sources. EPA, state, and regional air quality agencies are all likely to be involved in CAA implementation.
See Also:BACT, CAP, CEMS, HAP, MACT, NAAQS, NESHAP, NSPS, NSR, PSD, RMP, SIP
CAP Compliance Audit Program: The EPA Compliance Audit Program allows companies to provide information under TSCA about potential health and safety risks of their products while being given certain protections, such as opportunities for confidentiality and penalty limits.
See Also:TSCA
CEMS Continuous Emission Monitoring System: A continuous emissions monitoring system is one of the requirements under the CAA.
See Also:CAA
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act: CERCLA - also known as "Superfund" - provides a national system for identifying and cleaning up contaminated sites. The Superfund program is administered by EPA. Several states also have associated state-level Superfund programs.
See Also:ARAR, ECRA, EPCRA, NCP, NPL, PRP, RI/FS, ROD, SARA
CFR Code of Federal Regulations: The official compilation of finalized federal regulations revised annually.
See Also:FR, Reg, REGs
COE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has responsibility for regulating the dredging and filling of wetlands. The COE is an office within the U.S. Army.
See Also:DOT, EPA, OSHA
CWA Clean Water Act: The primary purpose of the CWA is to restore and protect the quality of the nations surface waters. Four major types of CWA requirements that affect the chemical industry are "point source" direct discharge limitations, pre-treatment requirements for indirect discharges, storm water standards, and spill prevention and response.
See Also:BMR, DMR, FWPCA, NPDES, OPA, POTW, SPCC
DMR Discharge Monitoring Report: Monthly report of wastewater discharge under the terms of the NPDES permit.
See Also:CWA, NPDES, BMR
DOT Department of Transportation: The U.S. Department of Transportation is a cabinet level office that, among other responsibilities, regulates the transportation of hazardous materials under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.
See Also:COE, EPA, HMTA, OSHA
ECRA Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act: The N.J. Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act requires an owner to demonstrate prior to sale of a property that it is free from contamination. If hazardous substances are found to remain on the site, the company must cleanup the site based on a closure plan approved by the state. This act is an example of the state-level environmental regulation that may affect a facility's operations.
See Also:CERCLA
EMS Environmental Management System: Term to describe a general type of management system intended to help a company plan for and meet its environmental responsibilities.
See Also:P2
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States Government with direct responsibility for managing the nation's environmental health. EPA was established in 1970 by executive order of the President. EPA is headed by an Administrator who reports directly to the President.
See Also:COE, DOT, OSHA
EPCRA Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act: Also know as SARA Title III, this law is intended to improve local community access to information about chemical hazards and to improve state and local emergency response capabilities. Some features of EPCRA include community Right-to-Know provisions and the TRI reporting requirement.
See Also:CERCLA, SARA, LEPC, MSDS, SERC, TRI
ESA Endangered Species Act: The ESA was established to protect species in danger of extinction. Under the ESA, it is unlawful for any person to "take" an endangered or threatened species of fish or wildlife. A "taking" can include habitat modification which injures or kills members of an endangered species.
FIFRA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act: FIFRA governs commercially produced pesticides, and provides premanufacturing regulations similar to TSCA. The requirements are largely federal, with little delegation of authority to the states.
See Also:TSCA
FR Federal Register: The official document published daily that publishes notices of intend to develop regulations, proposed regulations, and final regulations.
See Also:CFR, Reg, REGs
FWPCA Federal Water Pollution Control Act: The FWPCA was passed in 1972 and provided the basic framework for federal water pollution control. FWPCA was amended in 1977 by the Clean Water Act. Since then, although the Clean Water Act is strictly only a part of the FWPCA, the combined body of law is often referred to as the "Clean Water Act".
See Also:CWA
HAP Hazardous Air Pollutant: The legal term for the 189 air toxics identified under the terms of the Clean Air Act.
See Also:CAA, NESHAP
HCS Hazard Communication Standard: The OSHA Hazard Communication Standard - also know as "Worker Right-to-Know" is intended to insure that workers have access to information on workplace chemical hazards.
See Also:MSDS
HMTA Hazardous Materials Transportation Act: The HMTA provides for the safe transportation of hazardous materials. Regulations developed from the HMTA cover shipment preparation and labeling, handling, routing, emergency and security planning, incident notifications, and liability insurance.
See Also:DOT, RCRA
HPV High Production Volume: High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals are those which are manufactured in, or imported into, the United States in amounts equal to or greater than one million pounds per year. The term is often used to refer to the HPV Challenge Program.
See Also:OPPTS
HSWA Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984: The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 amended RCRA by establishing additional waste management requirements under RCRA, and adding Subtitle I, which imposes management requirements for underground storage tanks (USTs) that contain petroleum or hazardous substances.
See Also:RCRA
IUR Inventory Update Rule: The Inventory Update Rule provides for the partial updating of the Toxic Substances Control Act Chemical Inventory data base. The rule requires manufacturers and importers of certain chemical substances to report current data on the production volume, plant site, and site-limited status of these substances. Reporting under the Inventory Update Rule takes place at four-year intervals which began in 1986.
See Also:OPPTS, TSCA
LDAR Leak Detection and Repair: Leak detection and repair (LDAR) regulations affect almost all U.S. industry processes in which volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are used or manufactured.
See Also:CAA, MON
LDR Land Disposal Restriction: The RCRA Land Disposal Restrictions are a series of provisions that prohibit the disposal of hazardous waste onto land (e.g., into a leach field) prior to specific treatment. Some hazardous wastes are completely banned from land disposal under any circumstances; other wastes must be treated to "Best Demonstrated Available Technology" (BDAT) standards before land disposal.
See Also:RCRA, BDAT
LEPC Local Emergency Planning Committee: One of the public agencies that must be notified under the terms of EPCRA regarding the presence of certain hazardous substances on a facility property. The LEPC must also be notified if there is a release of a hazardous substance into the environment.
See Also:EPCRA, SERC
LTU Land Treatment Unit: A type of hazardous waste treatment facility regulated under RCRA.
See Also:RCRA, TSD
MACT Maximum Achievable Control Technology: The treatment standard used for hazardous air pollutants (air toxics) under the Clean Air Act. MACT is defined as a technology that will result in the "maximum degree of reductions achievable," subject to economic, energy and environmental considerations.
See Also:CAA, HAP
MCL Maximum Contaminant Level: The concentration level allowed for contaminants in drinking water under the terms of the Safe Drinking Water Act. MCLs related to another important term - MCLGs - as follows: MCLGs are non-enforceable "ideal" goals intended to address adverse health effects; MCLs are enforceable limits that are set as close to MCLGs as possible, considering cost and feasibility of attainment.
See Also:SDWA, MCLG
MCLG Maximum Contaminant Level Goal: Non-enforceable "ideal" goals send under the terms of the Safe Drinking Water Act and intended to address adverse health effects from drinking water. MCLGs are used as the basis for MCLs. MCLs are enforceable limits that are set as close to MCLGs as possible, considering cost and feasibility of attainment.
See Also:SDWA, MCL
MON Miscellaneous Organic NESHAPS: The Miscellaneous Organic National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (MON) is intended to cover all organic chemical processes not covered by other standards such as the Hazardous Organic NESHAP or "HON". It was established under the aegis of the Clean Air Act Amendments, and establishes emissions standards for a variety of processes relevant to the chemical industry.
See Also:CAA, MACT, NESHAP
MPRSA Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act: Often known as the Ocean Dumping Act, the MPRSA regulates the ocean dumping of waste, provides for a research program on ocean dumping, and provides for the designation and regulation of marine sanctuaries.
MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets: These are data sheets that follow a standard format that provide information on the composition and physical, chemical, and human health properties of chemical compounds.
See Also:OSHA, EPCRA, HCS
NA Not Available: Used in cases where information is not available.
NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards: Set under the terms of the Clean Air Act, these standards cover a set of 6 "criteria" pollutants: SO2, particulate matter, NO2, carbon monoxide, ozone, and lead. The NAAQS specify ambient levels of these pollutants that will protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. NAAQS are used by states as the basis for individual source emission limitations in state implementation plans.
See Also:CAA, SIP
NACD National Association of Chemical Distributors: The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) is an international association of chemical distributor companies that purchase and take title of chemical products from manufacturers. Member companies process, formulate, blend, re-package, warehouse, transport, and market these chemical products exclusively for an industrial customer base of approximately 750,000. All NACD members are required to participate in the NACD Responsible Distribution Process (RDP).
See Also:ACC, RDP, SOCMA
NAICS North American Industry Classification System: The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system as the official means of classifying industrial activity in the US. NAICS industries are identified by a 6-digit code, in contrast to the 4-digit SIC code. The chemical manufacturing sector codes typically begin with the digits "325"
See Also:SIC
NCP National Contingency Plan: The National Contingency Plan contains requirements for cleanup action under the terms of CERCLA.
See Also:CERCLA
NEPT National Environmental Performance Track: The National Environmental Performance Track (NEPT) program is a voluntary partnership program that recognizes and rewards private and public facilities that demonstrate strong environmental performance beyond current requirements.
See Also:RC, RDP
NESHAP National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants: NESHAPs are the standards governing the emissions of 189 air toxics. EPA has issued a list of source categories and subcategories that will be regulated under the NESHAPs program. These regulations include technology-based standards, work practice standards, and residual risk-based standards.
See Also:CAA, HAP
NJTAP New Jersey Technical Assistance Program: The New Jersey TAP provides environmental opportunity assessments; functions as an information clearinghouse for literature and videotapes related to pollution prevention; delivers education and training; and adopts and develops novel pollution prevention technologies.
See Also:EPCRA
NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System: The NPDES program under the Clean Water Act is designed to regulate the direct discharge of pollutants into surface waterways. Under NPDES, you will have to register with appropriate authorities (EPA or the state), procure a permit, and do regular monitoring and reporting of your wastewater discharges.
See Also:CWA, DMR
NPL National Priorities List: A list of the Nation's most contaminated sites requiring cleanup under the terms of CERCLA.
See Also:CERCLA
NSPS New Source Performance Standards: A set of requirements under the Clean Air Act that apply to new and modified facilities in one of over 70 source categories. NSPS include performance and reporting requirements, including such things as continuous emissions monitoring. The requirements are incorporated into a facility's operating permit.
See Also:CAA
NSR New Source Review: A review that is required under the Clean Air Act of new and modified facilities to insure they will meet the requirements for ambient air quality in their region. There are two kinds of NSRs: one for facilities located in areas that do not meet ambient air quality standards (i.e., "non-attainment" reviews), and the other for facilities located in areas that meet the standards (i.e., "prevention of significant deterioration" reviews).
See Also:CAA, SIP, PSD, NAAQS
OAR Office of Air and Radiation: An office within EPA that provides agency-wide policy, guidance, and regulation of air quality. The laws that OAR oversees includes: the CAA.
See Also:EPA, CAA
OPA Oil Pollution Act: This act provides broad regulation of oil production, transportation, and distribution, with an overall goal of preventing oil pollution, particularly oil spills. Among other provisions, the OPA amends the Clean Water Act to require more extensive Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) planning.
See Also:CWA, SPCC
OPPTS Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxic Substances: An office within EPA that provides agency-wide policy, guidance, and regulation of toxic materials and that also focuses on opportunities for preventing pollution. The laws that OPPTS oversees include: TSCA, FIFRA, and PPA.
See Also:EPA, TSCA, FIFRA, PPA
OSH Act Occupational Safety and Health Act: Also referred to as OSHA, this act is intended to provide for safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women. The OSH Act focuses on three things: 1) the development of health and safety standards, 2) enforcement of these standards, and 3) general education through research, information, education, and training.
See Also:COE, DOT, EPA, MSDS, PSM
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Agency within the U.S. Department of Labor that is responsible for the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
See Also:EPA, COE, DOT
OSWER Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response: An office within EPA that provides agency-wide policy, guidance, and regulation of hazardous wastes, underground storage tanks, solid waste, emergency response, cleanup, and source reduction of wastes. The laws that OSWER oversees include: RCRA, EPCRA, and CERCLA.
See Also:EPA, RCRA, EPCRA, CERCLA
OW Office of Water: An office within EPA that provides agency-wide policy, guidance, and regulation of surface water and groundwater quality. The laws that OW oversees include: CWA and SDWA.
See Also:EPA, CWA, SDWA
P2 Pollution Prevention: Pollution prevention, commonly referred to as "P2," is an approach to environmental management that focuses attention on preventing waste at its source. Often, employing pollution prevention strategies can lead to significant cost savings in operation.
See Also:EMS, PPA
PMN Premanufacture Notice: Under the terms of TSCA, chemical manufacturers must submit information on virtually all new or newly imported chemicals to EPA for its review 90 days prior to manufacturing or importing the chemicals. These "Premanufacture Notices" must include information on the manufacturing process, disposal method, and health and environmental effects of the substance.
See Also:TSCA
POTW Publicly Owned Treatment Works: A technical name for local sewer authorities.
See Also:RCRA, CWA
PPA Pollution Prevention Act: A law that establishes a national policy favoring source reduction and recycling over treatment and disposal of pollutants. The PPA focuses mostly on encouraging voluntary pollution prevention.
See Also:P2
PPRC Pollution Prevention Resource Center: The Pacific Northwest PPRC is an independent organization dedicated to the identification and dissemination of information on pollution prevention opportunities to business and government.
PRP Potentially Responsible Party: Parties liable for a CERCLA contamination. PRPs can include: current owners or operators of the site, previous owners or operators at the time of the disposal activities, all facilities that provided waste for disposal at the site, and all transporters that delivered waste to the site.
See Also:CERCLA
PSD Prevention of Significant Deterioration: PSD permits cover the criteria pollutants under the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and are required of new or modified facilities that are located in an area that currently meets ambient air quality.
See Also:CAA, SIP, NSR, NAAQS
PSM Process Safety Management: A standard under the OSH Act that is designed to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable and explosive chemicals. The PSM rule requires employers subject to the rule to have an emergency action plan which specifies the procedures for reporting fires and emergencies.
See Also:OSH Act, OSHA
RC Responsible Care: Responsible Care is a global chemical industry performance initiative that is implemented in the United States through the American Chemistry Council. Participation in Responsible Care is mandatory for ACC member companies.
See Also:ACC, RDP
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act: An act that regulates the handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also covers solid, non-hazardous waste as well as underground storage tanks.
See Also:BDAT, HMTA, HSWA, LDR, LTU, POTW, UIC, OSWER
RDP Responsible Distribution Process: Responsible Distribution Process (RDP) is a registered service mark of the National Association of Chemical Distributors, which requires members to continuously improve performance in protecting health, safety, and the environment. It is modeled after the Responsible Care program.
See Also:NACD, RC
Reg Regulation or Regulatory: The set of requirements developed by federal or state agencies to implement the (usually more general) policy established by a given law. Once a law is passed by Congress and signed by the president, the relevant agency then develops regulations to implement the law.
See Also:CFR, FR
RI/FS Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study: A part of the general remediation process for clean up of CERCLA sites. The RI/FS reviews the extent and type of contamination and provides an examination of possible clean up approaches.
See Also:CERCLA, ROD
RMP Risk Management Planning: Planning that is required under the Air Toxics regulations of the Clean Air Act. Risk Management Plans - due by June 21, 1999 - are intended to detect and prevent or minimize accidental airborne release of a set of "extremely hazardous substances" and to provide a prompt emergency response to any such release.
See Also:CAA, NESHAP, HAP
ROD Record of Decision: A part of the general remediation process for clean up of CERCLA sites. The ROD documents the specific clean up approach to be used and other details of the clean up process.
See Also:CERCLA, RI/FS
SARA Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act: This act, passed in 1986, added significant new scope and complexity to the CERCLA program. In addition, it created a free-standing law, SARA Title III, also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
See Also:CERCLA, EPCRA, LEPC, MSDS, OSWER, SERC, TRI
SBAP Small Business Assistance Program: Established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, this program is designed to assist small businesses in compliance with new air toxics regulations as well as other environmental regulation.
See Also:CAA
SBDC Small Business Development Center(s): TBD
SDWA Safe Drinking Water Act: This act was established by Congress in 1974 to protect human health from contaminants in drinking water, and to prevent contamination of existing groundwater supplies.
See Also:MCL, MCLG, UIC, OW
SERC State Emergency Response Commission: One of the public agencies that must be notified under the term of EPCRA regarding the presence of certain hazardous substances on a facility property. The LEPC must also be notified if there is a release of a hazardous substance into the environment
See Also:EPCRA, LEPC
SIC Standard Industrial Classification: The Standard Industrial Classification system was replaced by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the official means of classifying industrial activities in the US. Nonetheless, SIC codes are often found in many regulatory definitions. Most chemical manufacturing processes fall under the 28xx series of SIC codes (NAICS 325xxx)
See Also:NAICS
SIP State Implementation Plan: A plan developed by states under the terms of the Clean Air Act that directs state progress towards meeting ambient air quality. The state, in turn, will use the SIP as a standard for regulating private facility air emissions.
See Also:CAA, NAAQS
SOCMA Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association: The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) is the leading trade association serving the specialty, batch and custom chemical industry. SOCMA members encompass every segment of the industry - from small specialty producers to large multinational corporations - and manufacture 50,000 products annually valued at $60 billion dollars. SOCMA provides compliance training via short courses and technical conferences, as well as regulatory advocacy for the industry.
See Also:ACC, NACD, SOCMI
SOCMI Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry: Term commonly used by EPA (and other regulatory agencies) to describe the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry, subsector 325 in the NAICS classification scheme
See Also:NAICS, SOCMA
SPCC Plan Spill Prevention Control and CountermeasurePlan: Required by the CWA (and various amending laws) for any facility that has oil or hazardous materials storage with the potential for releases into waterways. This plan details the steps a facility must follow to prevent and control a spill.
See Also:CWA, OPA
TRI Toxic Release Inventory: An an annual inventory that must be reported to EPA and the state of releases of listed "toxic chemicals" and transfers of toxic chemicals that exceed specified threshold amounts. This submittal must also include information about the environmental media where releases take place.
See Also:EPCRA
TSCA Toxic Substances Control Act: This act gives EPA broad authority to regulate the manufacture, use, distribution in commerce, and disposal of chemical substances.
See Also:FIFRA, PMN
TSD Treatment, Storage, and Disposal: Refers to the management of hazardous wastes. A facility's TSD permit will establish a whole host of detailed operating requirements for the treatment process, including technical specifications; monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting; and so forth.
See Also:RCRA
UIC Underground Injection Control: A program under the SDWA designed to insure that any underground injection does not threaten the quality of groundwater. The UIC program is usually administered by the state, and requires a permit to "place" fluids into a bored, drilled, driven, or dug well.
See Also:RCRA, SDWA
UST Underground Storage Tank: A tank and any underground piping connected to the tank that has at least 10% of its combined volume underground. USTs containing petroleum or certain hazardous substances are federally regulated under RCRA.
See Also:AST, RCRA