The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act (e-Manifest Act) was signed into law by President Obama on October 5, 2012.  It authorized the EPA to develop an electronic system for the tracking of hazardous waste manifests and create a system to collect fees to cover its operating costs.  The EPA was given one year to promulgate regulations to turn the Act into a reality and three years to have an e-Manifest system fully operational.  EPA announced a Final Rule in the February 7, 2014 Federal Register implementing the first portion of the e-Manifest Act.

The new rule, which created two new sections in Part 262 of Title 40 of the CFR (40 CFR 262.24 & 40 CFR 262.25) and modified others, is effective August 6, 2014.  That doesn’t mean you can start emailing your manifests now, however; EPA has until October of 2015 to have a fully operational e-Manifest Tracking System and indicates it will issue a separate Final Rule in 2015 implementing the complete system.

A full review of how the e-Manifest Tracking System will work will have to wait for a later article.  The purpose of this article is to explain the new regulations created in the CFR pertaining to the e-Manifest Tracking System. (more…)

Even though it expired in June of 2010, you may be interested in learning about this conditional exclusion from regulation as a hazardous waste that occupies 40 CFR 261.4(b)(17) to this day.

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The definition of a solid waste at 40 CFR 261.2(a)(1) includes any discarded material that is not excluded from regulation by:

• The conditional exclusions for certain solid waste at §261.4(a).
• A variance granted under §260.30 and §260.31.
• A non-waste determination under §260.30 and §260.34

Unless you can find an exclusion from regulation, everything you “throw away” (ie. discard) is a solid waste.  So, what then does it mean to “discard” something?

Pursuant to 40 CFR 261.2(a)(2)(i), a discarded material is anything that is:

• Abandoned
• Recycled
• Considered inherently waste-like.
• A military munition identified as a solid waste.

If you generate a solid waste – and you know that you do – it may be excluded from regulation if it is recycled in a manner prescribed by USEPA regulation.  Table 1 of 40 CFR 261.2 identifies five categories of solid wastes (two categories – Sludges and By-Products – are further subdivided into two sub-categories each, making a total of seven entries in Table 1) and identifies their regulatory status (solid waste or no solid waste) based on how they are recycled.  Not included in Table 1, but essential to its complete understanding is a Co-Product, which is referenced in the explanation of a By-Product.

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If you discard anything from your home, business, or government office you are a generator of a solid waste.  As a generator of solid waste you are required to conduct a Hazardous Waste Determination to determine if your solid waste is subject to regulation – perhaps it is conditionally excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste if it is a Household Hazardous Waste – and what kind of hazardous waste it is (Listed, Characteristic, or both).

Once you have identified the hazardous waste you generate you are required to determine your hazardous waste generator status.  This is important since compliance with the RCRA regulations of the USEPA and your state will depend on your hazardous waste generator status.  It’s no surprise that the higher your hazardous waste generator status, the greater your regulatory burden.  The purpose of this article is to provide guidance in determining what wastes to consider and count when you are determining your hazardous waste generator status for the purpose of compliance with the RCRA regulations. (more…)

After completing the Annual RCRA Refresher Training for a client in St. Louis, I had some time to drive around before heading to the airport to continue journey for the week.  I stumbled upon a site that all St. Louis residents should be aware of and hopefully take advantage of.  It’s the St. Louis Household Hazardous Waste Collection site, located on the grounds of the Lemay Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Lemay HHW Facility
291 E. Hoffmeister
St Louis MO 63125

Its hours of operation are Thurs-Sat 9am-5pm.

The young man operating the site that day was kind enough to answer my questions and let me take some pictures.

Since I’m not eligible to bring my household hazardous waste here for disposal (the site is open to residences, not businesses, in St. Louis and Jefferson counties and the City of St. Louis), my interest was purely professional.

I do know that the waste generated by homeowners – not just homes, but some commercial and governmental site as well – is conditionally excluded from the definition of hazardous waste at 40 CFR 261.4(b)(1).  This USEPA exclusion for HHW extends beyond its collection at a state-approved collection site such as this one.  In other words, the waste collected at this program does not need to be managed as a hazardous waste, even after its collection.  Of course, the Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility that is responsible for final disposal of the HHW may prefer to manage it as a hazardous waste for the sake of its RCRA permit.  In addition, a state may require HHW to be managed as a hazardous waste once it leaves a collection site like this and goes to the TSDF for final disposal.

Unfortunately, the HHWSTL does not accept waste from a business.  If you generate a hazardous waste, then you must have some form of training for your Hazardous Waste Personnel.

When you look around your facility it’s important for you to know when you are looking at a product – and therefore not subject to RCRA – and when you are looking at a waste – and therefore subject to RCRA.  Unfortunately, not everything comes with a label reading, “Waste for Disposal” or “Product to be Used”.  But as the generator of any solid waste you are responsible to make this determination and be able to defend it to a State or Federal inspector.  Let’s say for example that during an on-site inspection an inspector for the USEPA’s hazardous waste enforcement division looks in one of your storage areas and proclaims, “those old drums of solvent over there look like waste to me.”  “They’re not,” you retort and then quickly add, “As a matter of fact we hope to put those solvents into use sometime soon.”  Right there you’ve got a problem on your hands and the challenge before you is to convince the inspector that the drums of solvent you are both looking at are not a waste but rather are a valuable product.  How are you going to do that?  Below are some questions you should ask yourself about the “products” you see throughout your facility.  The answers to these questions will help you to determine if what you see is a product or a waste.  Source:  Missouri Department of Natural Resources guidance. (more…)

The regulations of the USEPA at 40 CFR 264 and 265 are applicable primarily to Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) that are required to operate under the conditions of a RCRA subpart C permit due to their handling of hazardous waste.  Some of these regulations, however, are also applicable to generators of hazardous waste; such as 40 CFR 264/265, Subpart C Preparedness and Prevention to which both a Small Quantity Generator of hazardous waste and a Large Quantity Generator of hazardous waste are subject.  Conversely, 40 CFR 264/265, Subpart D Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures is not applicable to an SQG though it remains applicable to an LQG.

Though States with an authorized hazardous waste program under RCRA are capable of making these regulations more strict and more broad, I have found that most States simply adopt both Subparts C & D by reference into their regulations.  In these States compliance with the USEPA Federal rule ensures compliance with State regulations as well.  Sometimes, however, a State can surprise you by throwing in some state-specific requirements after it has adopted the Federal rule.  One example of this is in Missouri where the MO Department of Natural Resources operates the hazardous waste program. (more…)

Anyone who reads the regulations applicable to generators of hazardous waste, either the Federal USEPA or those of your state (if it has an authorized hazardous waste program), will notice frequent references to Parts 264 and 265 to Title 40.  The full names for these two parts are:

PART 264—STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES

And…

PART 265—INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES

What’s confusing is that if you read these two Parts, they are pretty much the same.  So why the distinction?  The reason for having two sets of similar standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste TSDFs in the CFR goes back to the initial promulgation of the hazardous waste regulations by the USEPA based upon the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Through RCRA the US Congress mandated that the USEPA develop regulations for TSDFs that were in operation at the time the statute was enacted – and therefore were subject to the regulations immediately – and for TSDFs that would come into operation after the enactment of the regulations.  Congress wanted the standards for these two types of facilities (those of the present and those of the future) to differ only where absolutely necessary, hence the similar content of these two Parts.  The reason for two sets of regulations and for the few differences between them lies in the understanding that a facility in existence at the time the regulations went into affect could not be expected to be immediately in compliance, thus the “Interim Status” standards for TSDFs at Part 265 were designed to give these existing TSDFs time to come into compliance.

TSDFs that would be constructed after RCRA regulations were enacted were expected to be designed and built to meet those standards.  Therefore, these new facilities – or TSDFs of the future – were subject to the more strict regulations of 40 CFR 264.

Why does any of this matter to a generator of hazardous waste?  Throughout the USEPA regulations applicable to generators of hazardous waste you’ll find references to Part 265, like this one at 40 CFR 262.34(a)(1) which references the Use and Management of Containers and the RCRA Air Emission Standards, respectively:

(i) In containers and the generator complies with the applicable requirements of subparts I, AA, BB, and CC of 40 CFR part 265; and/or

Or, this at 40 CFR 262.34(a) which refers to – in order – the regulations for Preparedness and Prevention, Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures, and the training requirements (initial and annual) for all Facility Personnel:

(4) The generator complies with the requirements for owners or operators in subparts C and D in 40 CFR part 265, with §265.16, and with all applicable requirements under 40 CFR part 268.

And in some state regulations applicable to generators of hazardous waste you’ll find a reference to 40 CFR 264, like this one in Title 10, Division 25 of the Missouri Code of State Regulations which refers to the Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures:

(D) Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures.  This subsection sets forth requirements which modify or add to those requirements in 40 CFR part 264 Subpart D.

In my experience, it really doesn’t matter to a generator of hazardous waste whether the reference is to Part 264 or 265.  What matters is that the generator researches the regulation and ensures that they are in compliance with it.

I can’t recommend enough the annual Environmental Trade Fair and Conference (ETFC) presented by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).  These two days are a conference, convention, expo, network-building, customer/client interaction, relationship building, skill improving, knowledge enhancing…great time, deep in the heart of Texas!

Though I missed the ETFC in 2014, I attended my first in 2013 and found it very helpful in improving the breadth and depth of my knowledge of the TCEQ regulations.  While I’m there entirely for issues related to waste management, there are exhibits and educational seminars on a variety of environmental regulatory topics.  Representatives of the TCEQ are there to answer your questions, so you know you are getting it right from the source.

With all the time spent learning from the TCEQ staff, I had to speed through the exhibit floor as fast as I could and an entire day wasn’t enough to see all the exhibitors – let alone speak with them.  The exhibitors I did speak with were from throughout the environmental industry and I came away with many good contacts  In several cases I was finally able to meet people face-to-face that I had done business with over the phone for years.

If you go, and I advise that you do, be prepared for two full days of networking and learning.

Mark your calendars for the 2015 Environmental Trade Fair & Conference (ETFC), May 5-6 2015, at the Austin Convention Center.

Exhibit booth sales will be opening soon:

*Pre-set double booths – Designated booths will be available on Oct 23^rd.

If you would like to purchase double booths not on sale on Oct. 23^rd, you may purchase any available booths on October 27^th.

Attendee Registration will open Monday, November 3rd at 9:00 am.

For more information on the ETFC, go to:

2015 Environmental Trade Fair and Conference

One more thing – If your Texas business generates a hazardous waste, universal waste, used oil, or a non-hazardous industrial solid waste, I advise you to attend my one-day (8 hour) training seminar held each year in Houston (January 2015, exact date TBD) and Dallas/Fort Worth (August 2015, exact date TBD).  Find me at the 2015 ETFC and I’ll give you a promotional code you can use for one of my training seminars in 2015!

Announcements from regulatory agencies of the US Government in the Federal Register can have a profound impact on your business.  Therefore it’s important for you to continuously monitor Federal Register publications for announcements applicable to your operations.  I can help you to do this.

Sometimes an announcement in the Federal Register calls for a more thorough explanation than just what is conveyed by the headline.  That is the point of this article.  Here I will briefly summarize, and provide access to more information, on a specific Federal Register announcement:  Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Proposed Exclusion.

What agency is making the announcement?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

When was this announced in the Federal Register?

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Any other dates I need to know?

Comments must be received on or before September 19, 2014.

Any person may request a hearing on the proposed decision by filing a request to EPA by September 4, 2014.

What type of action is this?

Proposed rule and request for comment.

What regulations may be impacted?

40 CFR Part 261

[EPA-R07-RCRA-2014-0452; FRL-9915-45-Region 7]

How is the announcement identified?

Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Proposed Exclusion

Pages 49252 – 49260 [FR DOC # 2014-19771]

I don’t have all day.  Can you sum it up for me and I’ll determine if I need to read the whole thing?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, also, “the Agency” or “we”) is proposing to grant a petition submitted by the John Deere Des Moines Works (John Deere) of Deere & Company, in Ankeny, Iowa to exclude or “delist” up to 600 tons per calendar year of F006/F019 wastewater treatment sludge filter cake generated by John Deere’s wastewater treatment system from the list of hazardous wastes.  The Agency has tentatively decided to grant the petition based on an evaluation of waste-specific information provided by John Deere. This proposed decision, if finalized, would conditionally exclude the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  This exclusion would be valid only when the wastewater treatment
sludge filter cake is disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill which is permitted, licensed, or otherwise authorized by a State to manage industrial solid waste.  If finalized, EPA would conclude that John Deere’s petitioned waste is nonhazardous with respect to the original listing criteria and that there are no other current factors which would cause the waste to be hazardous.

Where can I look for more information?

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