The regulations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act applicable to generators of hazardous waste, codified at 40 CFR 262-268 mandate the creation of a variety of reports, inspection logs, notifications, certifications, manifest, records, etc.  In order to demonstrate compliance with these regulations a generator of hazardous waste must maintain a copy of the applicable document as a record.  These records must be provided to an agent of the US EPA or their designee upon request.  You can read more about your responsibility to make these records available to an inspector here:  Making RCRA Records Available for Federal and State Inspectors.

The purpose of this article is to look closely at a single recordkeeping requirement of the US EPA for a generator of hazardous waste.  Since these are the Federal regulations, you will need to check with your State environmental agency in order to confirm compliance.

Previous article:  Recordkeeping Requirements for RCRA Training

This article:  Land Disposal Restriction (LDR or LandBan) paperwork (more…)

In an earlier article I identified and explained the regulations of 40 CFR 265.30 for the applicability of the Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Regulations.  As determined by those regulations, only the following are subject to the regulations of 40 CFR 265, subpart C:

• Permitted treatment, storage, & disposal facilities (TSDFs).
• Large quantity generators of hazardous waste (LQG).
• Small quantity generators of hazardous waste (SQG).

This article is the second in a series that will look closely at each section of 40 CFR 265, Subpart C and explain its requirements, how they apply to generators of hazardous waste, and what is required for compliance.  Keep in mind that the regulations of your State may differ from these Federal regulations.

The purpose of this article:  identify and explain the requirements of 40 CFR 265.31 – Maintenance and operation of the facility under the emergency preparedness and prevention regulations of 40 CFR 265, subpart C.

Hold on a minute!  These regulations were revised and moved to a new location within Title 40 of the CFR by the Generator Improvements Rule.  If your state has not yet adopted the Generator Improvements Rule, then this article is still applicable to you (but it won’t be for much longer).  If your state has adopted and been authorized to enforce the Generator Improvements Rule, then these regulations no longer apply to you.  Read: What is the status of the Generator Improvements Rule in my state?

To see an explanation of these regulations as revised by the Generator Improvements Rule you must refer to the following:

• Large quantity generator of hazardous waste (LQG)
• Small quantity generator of hazardous waste (SQG)

To see an explanation of the regulations prior to the revisions of the Generator Improvements Rule, please continue reading this article.

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The phrase “Commercial Chemical Product” is used in two critical positions in the hazardous waste regulations of the USEPA.  In either position it may play an important role in your Hazardous Waste Determination which is required by 40 CFR 262.11 for all waste you generate.  The purpose of this article will be to explain the difference in USEPA’s interpretation of this phrase in its two locations and how its interpretation might affect your hazardous waste determination. (more…)

The regulations of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act applicable to generators of hazardous waste, codified at 40 CFR 262-268 mandate the creation of a variety of reports, inspection logs, notifications, certifications, manifest, records, etc.  In order to demonstrate compliance with these regulations a generator of hazardous waste must maintain a copy of the applicable document as a record.  These records must be provided to an agent of the US EPA or their designee upon request.  You can read more about your responsibility to make these records available to an inspector here:  Making RCRA Records Available for Federal and State Inspectors.

The purpose of this article is to look closely at a single recordkeeping requirement of the US EPA for a generator of hazardous waste.  Since these are the Federal regulations, you will need to check with your State environmental agency in order to confirm compliance. (more…)

The requirements for generators of hazardous waste to create documents as a part of compliance with the hazardous waste regulations can be found throughout the RCRA regulations.  Similarly, the requirements to maintain a copy of those documents as a record are spread throughout the hazardous waste regulations, typically in proximity to the regulation that mandates the document.

The purpose of this article is not to explain the recordkeeping requirements for specific paperwork provisions of RCRA, that will be addressed later.  Instead this article will focus on answering a question I hear often in my public training seminars is something like, “I know I have to maintain records and make them available during an inspection, but how quickly must I provide them?  Is 15 minutes too long?  What about later that day, or the next if no one can locate the documents during the inspection?  Will I face fines if I am cooperative but simply cannot locate the documents during the inspection?”

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Most generators of hazardous waste must comply with the requirements of 40 CFR 265.30 through 265.37 (aka: Subpart C of Part 265).  However, they may not realize these regulations apply to their operations or lack a firm grasp of what they must do to ensure compliance with them.  All too often little effort is made to understand the hazardous waste regulations because they seem to complex to grasp.  “Better”, it is thought, “to continue on with current procedures and hope any mistakes don’t result in significant violations.”  I’m here to tell you that most of the RCRA regulations, either those of the US EPA or those of an authorized State, can be understood with a little time and effort.

This article is the first in a series that will look closely at each section of 40 CFR 265, Subpart C and explain its requirements, how they apply to generators of hazardous waste, and what is required for compliance.  Keep in mind that the regulations of your State may differ from these Federal regulations.

The purpose of this article: identify and explain the requirements of 40 CFR 265.30 – Applicability of the emergency preparedness and prevention regulations to generators of hazardous waste.

Hold on a minute!  These regulations were revised and moved to a new location within Title 40 of the CFR by the Generator Improvements Rule.  If your state has not yet adopted the Generator Improvements Rule, then this article is still applicable to you (but it won’t be for much longer).  If your state has adopted and been authorized to enforce the Generator Improvements Rule, then these regulations no longer apply to you.  Read: What is the status of the Generator Improvements Rule in my state?

To see an explanation of these regulations as revised by the Generator Improvements Rule you must refer to the following:

• Large quantity generator of hazardous waste (LQG)
• Small quantity generator of hazardous waste (SQG)

To see an explanation of the regulations prior to the revisions of the Generator Improvements Rule, please continue reading this article.

(more…)

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On its website the US Government Printing Office makes a wealth of Federal publications available for review and download; one of these is the Federal Register.

Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

The Federal Register is a great way to look down the road and see potential changes to the regulations long before they are put into effect (sometimes The Rulemaking Process takes years before a final rule is issued, if ever).  Knowledge of these potential changes provides you with several advantages:

• Additional time to modify your business operations to comply.
• Awareness of on what topics the regulatory agencies intend to focus their efforts.
• The ability to register your concerns, complaints, suggestions, etc. in order to modify the proposed rule before a final rule is issued.  It can be done, really!
• Make changes to your training program to account for changes that become effective before the next training cycle.
• Alert you to the need to re-train your employees prior to their next scheduled training cycle, if necessary.
• Keep you abreast of changes to the regulations that affect your business and/or your industry group.

A very good example of important news being announced in the Federal Register is the very recent announcement of the US DOT’s extension of the authorization for use of the ORM-D classification.

See below for a brief summary of announcements in the Federal Register by the US EPA on the subject of Hazardous Waste and the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the US DOT on the subject of Transportation of Hazardous Materials.  Please note that this is my best effort to identify the relevant announcements in the Federal Register that may be of interest to generators of hazardous waste and shippers of hazardous materials.  I encourage you to review the list of Federal Register publications yourself to ensure regulatory compliance.

February 2013

Transportation of Hazardous Materials:

Management of Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste (RCRA):

None

Information can be helpful but it’s useless if you are not able to make sense of it, determine how any changes to the rules and regulations (final or proposed) will affect your operations, and communicate the necessary information to your personnel.  I can help you do that.  Please contact me for a free consultation to determine your regulatory requirements and how training can help you to attain and maintain compliance.

A common misconception is that the RCRA closure standards (measures a company must take upon closure to remove existing hazardous waste contamination and eliminate the potential for future contamination caused by past activities) apply solely to Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDF’s) such as Subtitle C landfills or hazardous waste incinerators.  While it is true that a hazardous waste TSDF has a responsibility for long-term post-closure care that do not apply to a generator of hazardous waste; it is also true that some hazardous waste generators must comply with certain disposal and decontamination requirements if they cease operation of a hazardous waste accumulation unit.  This article will review the applicable closure standards for the three hazardous waste generator statuses and the four hazardous waste accumulation units.

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