What is one of the goals of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)?

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is primarily focused on the management of solid and hazardous waste to protect human health and the environment. One of its key goals is to ensure that waste disposal practices do not pose risks to people or ecosystems. This is achieved through regulations that promote the safe treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste, thereby minimizing potential hazards that could arise from improper waste management.

The act emphasizes a comprehensive waste management strategy that includes not just end-of-pipe disposal but also waste reduction, recycling, and environmentally responsible waste disposal methods. By enforcing these practices, RCRA contributes to the protection of public health and the preservation of natural resources.

The other options present objectives that are contrary to the foundational purpose of RCRA. For instance, increasing industrial waste production would undermine waste management efforts by adding more pollutants to the environment. Allowing open dumping of hazardous waste would directly contradict the act's intent to regulate and minimize hazardous waste disposal risks. Supporting the import of foreign waste materials would pose additional challenges in managing and regulating waste, again conflicting with RCRA's goals of protecting health and the environment.