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The NAM challenged two final regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that define hazardous solid waste and would impose stringent regulatory obligations governing waste generation, treatment, storage, disposal and permitting. The EPA asserted jurisdiction to regulate solid and hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which defined “hazardous waste” as “solid waste” that may pose a danger to human health or the environment. The definition is important to manufacturers that reuse materials in the manufacturing process, as well as for disposal and recycling procedures. The NAM sued the EPA to resolve concerns related to new affirmative duties and conditions on in-process materials that are not discarded. The NAM argued that EPA’s attempt to regulate materials that are not yet waste exceeds the agency’s authority. In a win for manufacturers, the court held that that some of the requirements imposed on companies using third-party recyclers exceeded the EPA's statutory authority and improperly presumed that recycled materials were discarded simply because the recyclers did not meet various paperwork requirements.