__Environmental law is a complex system of science and regulation.  It is made more difficult to follow for the uninitiated because of the many acronyms used to abbreviate long names and phrases. 

These are used for many laws such as, for example, the federal Superfund law, CERCLA (the “Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act”), the federal cradle to grave hazardous waste management law, RCRA (the “Resource Conservation and Recovery Act”), the specialized law governing management of PCBs and asbestos, TSCA (the “Toxic Substances Control Act”), and FIFRA (the “Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act”).

Acronyms for chemicals abound, as well, from PCBs (for the pervasive, persistent and bio-accumulative man-made class of chemicals known as “polychlorinated bi-phenyls”) to VOCs (“volatile organic compounds”), ACM (“asbestos containing material”), and many more. 

Acronyms are also used for many common terms and phrases that recur in environmental laws and regulations, like USTs (“underground storage tanks”), GRCC (“generic residential cleanup criteria) and the like.