This week, the Environmental Daily Advisor discussed RCRA's Academic Laboratory Rule, Romney's stances on environmental issues, and EPA's response to citizen tips.
Here’s the Environmental Daily Advisor week in review.

Academic Laboratory Rule 101: Container Management-- RCRA's “Academic Laboratory Rul,” gives eligible academic laboratories flexibility in making hazardous waste determinations and in accumulating the typically small volumes of many different types of hazardous waste that they generate.

Removing Containers Under the Academic Laboratory Rule-- EPA’s Academic Laboratory Rule allows for more flexible regulations on hazardous waste management. Those eligible are colleges, universities, teaching hospitals, and nonprofit research institutes that are either owned by or formally affiliated with a college or university.

President Romney: A Trick or a Treat for the Environment?-- There are clear pitfalls in comparing President Obama’s record of actions affecting the environment, energy, and public lands with the aspirational statements of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Any comparison of those aspirations with Romney’s environmental activities while he was governor of Massachusetts may be similarly questionable.

Romney, the Environment, and Massachusetts-- While Romney will not be referring to his history on climate change when under attack from environmentalists, he can certainly point to other pro-environment actions he undertook as governor of Massachusetts. For example, after a barge spilled oil in Buzzards Bay in 2003, Romney signed the Massachusetts Oil Spill Act the following year.

Does EPA Listen to Citizen Tips?--The answer, of course, is “Yes.” But how vigorously it responds to tips is another matter. Each year, the EPA receives thousands of tips about possible violations, and the combination of state agencies receives many more. But there is little evidence to suggest that citizen tips are a major component of enforcement programs. Here's why.