Legal Information

 

More than a dozen federal environmental laws govern colleges and universities, including the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1994. Compliance with all of the laws that impose ministerial duties on a campus increasingly calls for a centralized environmental safety office. A typical Environmental Health and Safety Office generally oversees a wide variety of concerns on campus, including hazardous waste pickup, biological safety testing and certification, lab safety training, radioactive material inventory, asbestos management, and bloodborne pathogen training, among other concerns.

 

As the United States Environmental Protection Agency engaged in a series of audits of colleges and universities for environmental compliance, colleges hoping to stay one step ahead often hired private consulting firms to audit their campus and point out areas of deficiencies.

 

MIT has built an Environmental Virtual Campus where users are able to tour the virtual campus and obtain "best practices" for the following eight areas: a laboratory; a central hazardous waste storage area; a power/heating plan; an automobile and grounds maintenance area; a residential area; a cafeteria; a graphic arts/theatre department; and drains and sewers.




links updated 6/10/08 rab