40 CFR 261.2 defines a solid waste as any discarded material not excluded by regulation, variance, or non-waste determination.  A discarded material is any material which is:

1. Abandoned,
2. Recycled,
3. Considered inherently waste-like as described in paragraph (d), or
4. A military munition

What the US EPA defines as inherently waste-like is explained in detail at 40 CFR 261.2(d), the list is short and industry specific; it includes:

1. Listed hazardous wastes which are Dioxins:  F020, F021 (unless used as an ingredient to make a product at the site of generation), F022, F023, F026, & F028.  The table of F-listed hazardous waste can be found at 40 CFR 261.31
2.  Secondary materials fed to a halogen acid furnace that are a listed or characteristic hazardous waste, except for brominated material that meet criteria listed in 40 CFR 261.2(d)(2)(i-iii).  I won’t list those here, you can read the full regulations if you think this applies to you.

Paragraph (d) reads in part, “ The following materials are solid wastes when they are recycled in any manner”.  What if you have no intention of recycling the waste?  Is it still considered to be inherently waste-like?  The answer is yes.  If your waste meets the definition of inherently waste-like, it is considered by regulation to be a discarded material and therefore a solid waste unless it is excluded at 40 CFR 261.4(a).

A quick review of paragraph (d) should be enough to tell you if your waste is inherently waste-like.  The list is subject to change since the US EPA maintains its right to add wastes to the list if it deems it necessary.

The determination of inherently waste-like is just one step of a complete hazardous waste determination that you must make for all waste.  Proper training can help you to identify the steps you must take to maintain compliance.

If you are a generator of hazardous waste, one regulatory requirement you are no doubt familiar with are the limits on the number of days you may accumulate hazardous waste on-site without a permit.  These limits are:

1. Large Quantity Generator (LQG) – no more than 90 days.
2. Small Quantity Generator (SQG) – no more than 180 days.
3. Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG); aka: Very Small Quantity Generator (VSQG) in some states, no time limit.

Take this brief survey to determine your hazardous waste generator status if you are unsure.  There are exceptions to every rule, however, as there are exceptions to the 0n-site accumulation time limits for LQGs and SQGs.

Extensions available to LQGs found throughout 40 CFR 262.34:

1. 262.34(b) allows an LQG to accumulate hazardous waste on-site beyond 90 days if they have been granted an extension by the USEPA for “unforeseen, temporary, and uncontrollable circumstances”.  The extension may be for up to 30 days and is granted at the discretion of the Agency on a case-by-case basis.
2. 262.34(g) allows an LQG who also generates an F006 listed hazardous waste (wastewater treatment sludges from electroplating operations) to accumulate the F006 listed hazardous waste only on-site for up to 180 days.  No notification to the US EPA is necessary, however, the generator must comply with the requirements of 262.34(g)(1-4) to take advantage of this exception (read about the F006 waste extension).
3. 262.34(h) allows LQGs who take advantage of 262.34(g) to extend their on-site accumulation beyond 180 days to 270 days if its Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) is at least 200 miles away or greater from its facility.  The generator doesn’t need to gain the permission of the USEPA in order to take advantage of this extension, though be prepared to explain why you chose a TSDF 200 miles away instead of one closer.
4. 262.34(i), similar to 262.34(b), allows for a 30 day extension of the 180 or the 270 day limit for F006 waste if the generator is granted an extension from the USEPA due to, “unforeseen, temporary, and uncontrollable circumstances”.  As before, this extension is granted at the discretion of the Agency on a case-by-case basis.

Extensions available to SQG’s also found in 40 CFR 262.34:

1. 262.34(e) allows an SQG to accumulate hazardous waste on-site for up to 270 days if its TSDF is at least 200 miles away or greater from its facility.  The generator doesn’t need to gain the permission of the US EPA in order to take advantage of this extension.  Be prepared to justify your selection of a TSDF that is 200 miles away or more.
2. 262.34(f) allows an SQG to accumulate hazardous waste on-site beyond 180 or 270 days if they have been granted an extension by the USEPA for “unforeseen, temporary, and uncontrollable circumstances”.  The extension may be for up to 30 days and is granted at the discretion of the Agency on a case-by-case basis.

262.34(j-l) lists extensions available to Performance Track Members, but don’t waste time on these, the National Environmental Performance Track is kaput.

If your shipment of hazardous waste is rejected by the designated facility for some reason, 262.34(m) allows both LQGs and SQGs in this situation to manage their waste subject to the routine 90/180 day time limits, request an extension from the Agency for an additional 30 days, or – for SQGs only – keep the waste for up to 270 days if the TSDF is 200 miles away or greater.

There is one more extension to the 90/180 time limit allowed by regulation and that is for hazardous waste in Satellite Accumulation Areas pursuant to 40 CFR 262.34(c).  This exception allows unlimited time for on-site accumulation of hazardous waste (some states differ) without permit  or permission from the USEPA, it does however, come with some rather vague requirements that I will address in a later article.

The regulations can seem strict and unyielding, but built into them are exceptions that may make your life as a hazardous waste generator easier if you know where they are and how to use them.  Proper training can point you in the right direction.

You are no doubt aware that the US Environmental Protection Agency is serious about enforcing its regulations in order to live up to its mandate to protect the environment.  The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) within the US EPA is tasked with carrying out this enforcement through a variety of measures.  From its website, the OECA…  “aggressively goes after pollution problems that make a difference in communities through vigorous civil and criminal enforcement that targets the most serious water, air and chemical hazards. OECA also advances environmental justice by protecting vulnerable communities.”

How do they do this?  Again, from its website:  “Through improved transparency and community participation, we are enlisting the public’s assistance to ensure compliance nationwide, and that no entity enjoys an unfair economic advantage from noncompliance with the nation’s environmental laws.” It’s the reference to “…improved transparency and community participation…” that should be of concern to the regulated community.  I am in favor of transparency.  I think our businesses, government, and communities function better when we have equal access to public information.  As a business, however, you should be aware that to a greater degree than ever before, information about your company – especially the results of inspections, investigations, and enforcement actions – are made available to the public.

One example of this is the US EPA Compliance and Enforcement Annual Results for 2011 Fiscal Year.  This website contains a wealth of information about US EPA’s enforcement and compliance activities for the year just past.  It includes a lot of bare statistics of interest that you may wish to peruse, but of more interest to the regulated community is the Enforcement Cases Map.  Once opened, you may select or unselect the type of enforcement activities you are interested in, in my case “Waste”.  The map will then reveal the location of all US EPA investigations that resulted in enforcement for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  Click on a location and you may read information about the site.  Select “More Information” and you are taken to the US EPA’s website:  Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO).  Here you find a “Detailed Facility Report” which contains a snapshot of the facility’s compliance history with the US EPA, not just waste, but air, water, emergency reporting, and more.

It has been – and will continue to be – a priority of the Obama administration to make public information easily available to the public.  As a business, you need to be aware of this reality and be prepared to take the following steps:

1. Review any information about your company that is made public to ensure it is accurate.  Make corrections if it is not.
2. Communicate proactively with your neighbors, community, state, region, etc. to inform them of what you are doing to maintain your business within the limits of the regulations.  Also inform them of any efforts beyond the regulations to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
3. Avoid violations in the first place by ensuring compliance with the regulations.

For this last point, I suggest you attend one of my EPA & PHMSA/DOT open enrollment training events.  There, in one day, you will get a good understanding of the US EPA regulations for the management of hazardous waste and the PHMSA/DOT regulations for the transportation of hazardous materials.

If you have many employees to train, contact me for on-site training where for one flat fee of $1,749 for one day I can train as many as you need.

A person that generates any waste is required to determine if that waste is a hazardous waste pursuant to the method identified in 40 CFR 262.11.  The US EPA has identified two different categories of hazardous waste:  listed and characteristic.  To be listed a hazardous waste must meet the defined use or status documented at 40 CFR 261, Subpart D.  As there are no approved test methods for the determination of a listed waste; generators must rely on their knowledge of the wastes origins.  Listed wastes include the following:

• F-listed waste from non-specific manufacturing process sources –waste codes F001 to F039.
• K-listed waste from specific manufacturing process sources – waste codes K001 to K181.
• P & U-listed waste from discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, container residues, and spill clean-up materials – waste codes P001 to P205 and U001 to U411.

The other category of hazardous waste:  characteristic, must exhibit specific characteristic as defined at 40 CFR 261, Subpart C.  To determine the presence of hazardous waste characteristics, a hazardous waste generator may rely solely on their knowledge of the waste and the process of generation, but the better method is lab analysis by a US EPA-approved test method of a representative sample.  Characteristic hazardous waste includes the following:

• Ignitability – waste code D001
• Corrosivity – waste code D002
• Reactivity – waste code D003
• Toxicity – waste codes D004 to D043

Ignitable hazardous waste as defined at 40 CFR 261.21 may have one of four properties:

• A liquid with a flash point of <140˚F.
• A solid that can cause a fire and sustain combustion.
• An ignitable compressed gas.
• An oxidizer.

The above four bullet points only skim the surface of the properties that would cause a waste to be identified as an ignitable hazardous waste.  The purpose of this article is to dig deeper into these properties to gain a better understanding of ignitable hazardous waste and perhaps cause you to rethink how you are currently applying the D001 waste code to your hazardous waste.  We’ll look at each of the properties one at a time; I suggest you print a copy of the regulations – it’s only two pages – and follow along.

A liquid with a flash point of <140˚F:

How 40 CFR 261.21(a)(1) reads:  “It is a liquid, other than an aqueous solution containing less than 24 percent alcohol by volume and has a flash point less than 60˚C (140˚F)…”  It goes on to reference the two approved test methods for determining flash point of the liquid which must be used.

The first point of interest is the exception for aqueous solutions containing <24% alcohol.  This is interesting because though it was placed in the regulation solely to remove alcoholic beverages and certain latex paints from being categorized as an ignitable liquid, it has the affect of exempting from regulation as a D001 Ignitable all aqueous wastes which are ignitable solely because they contain alcohols (i.e. any chemical containing the hydroxyl [-OH] functional group) (RO 11060).

The second, and potentially much more important, point of interest is the requirement that the waste be a liquid in order to test for flash point.  So…no liquid, no test for flash point, no liquid flash <140˚F, no ignitable hazardous waste (RO 14669, RO 14405).  This is true even if the solid, with no liquid present, flashes at <140˚F.  To meet this requirement, the waste must contain a free liquid that fails the paint filter test.  The determining factor – the flash point – is run on that liquid only.  This property should be determined entirely by careful analysis of representative samples.  Be sure the lab conducting the analysis is aware of your needs.

A solid that can cause a fire and sustain combustion:

A solid without free liquids may still be an ignitable hazardous waste if it exhibits the properties of a solid that can cause a fire and sustain combustion.  40 CFR 261.21(a)(2) reads, “It is not a liquid and is capable, under standard temperature and pressure, of causing fire through friction, absorption of moisture or spontaneous chemical changes and, when ignited, burns so vigorously and persistently that it creates a hazard.”  Refer again to RO 14669 and you will read, “The Agency has not developed specific regulatory or guidance tests to implement this portion of the regulation.”  It is referring to its lack of a single approved test method to identify a solid ignitable hazardous waste in full.  RO 14405 references  SW-846 Method 1030, Ignitability of Solids as a means to assess a solids ability to burn vigorously, but not its mode of ignition; and so may not be used to make a complete determination.  Note that the requirement for this property is that it both cause a fire by itself and sustain combustion to the point that it causes a hazard.  You will have to use a combination of tests and generator knowledge to make a determination if this property is present in your waste.

An ignitable compressed gas:

I won’t reprint all of the regulation here, as it is long, technical, and my transcription won’t aid understanding.  Instead, I suggest you read it directly from 40 CFR 261.21(a)(3)(i) if you generate any waste that might be an ignitable compressed gas.  As you read, consider the two distinct descriptions in this subparagraph of…

1. A compressed gas in sub-subparagraph (i); and,
2. An ignitable compressed gas in sub-subparagraph (ii).

Note that the determination of a compressed gas’ ignitability relies on test methods approved by the Bureau of Explosives (how do I get a job with them?) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Technology of the Department of Transportation.

An oxidizer:

The hazard of an oxidizer is that it is capable of releasing oxygen during a chemical reaction and multiplying the danger of a fire.  40 CFR 261.21(a)(4) reads, “An oxidizer for the purpose of this subchapter is a substance such as a chlorate, permanganate, inorganic peroxide, or a nitrate, that yields oxygen readily to stimulate the combustion of organic matter.”  Sub-subparagraph (i) includes organic peroxides as an oxidizer unless other conditions in the subparagraph exclude it.  Like the ignitable compressed gas, the regulatory description is long and technical, so I won’t include it here.  And like the flammable solid, this property does not have a test method; instead the chemical structure of the material determines whether or not the waste is hazardous for ignitability as an oxidizer.  Be sure you have Material Safety Data Sheets or other sources of information with the chemical composition of your waste available as you read the regulations and determine if this property of ignitability applies to your waste.

Summary:

The ignitability hazardous waste characteristic identifies wastes that pose a significant fire risk due either to their low flash point, ability to self-combust and burn, or are able to combust or support combustion due to their physical properties.  If any one of the above properties is present, you must manage the waste as a D001 ignitable hazardous waste.  Keep in mind that other characteristic or listed waste codes may apply to the waste as well.  Conversely, take a second look at some of the wastes you’ve identified as ignitable, a close review of the above information and some careful analysis may reveal them to not meet the definition of ignitability.

Be sure to check with your state environmental regulatory agency or regional US EPA to determine their interpretation of the above, especially the determination of ignitability for solids that are contaminated with flammable liquids, such as wipers. The US EPA has been proposing regulation for solvent-contaminated wipers for years (perhaps 2012 is the year for a final rule, stay tuned) but in the meantime many states have gone ahead with US EPA’s blessing to create state-specific interpretations.

The above is only one small part of the hazardous waste determination process, which is something you must document for every waste that you generate.  The determination itself is only the first step in identifying your hazardous waste generator status and then the regulations you must follow based on your status.  It may seem overwhelming, but there is a way to make sense of US EPA’s hazardous waste regulations: attend one of my open enrollment training events.  Held nationwide and year round there is sure to be one in your area soon.  Or contact me to schedule on-site training for all of your employees for one flat fee.  If you liked this article, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter to receive more like it via email.  I look forward to hearing from you.

March 1^st is the due date for submittal of the 2011 Biennial Hazardous Waste Report (EPA Form 8700-12 A/B).  Its purpose:  reporting to the EPA about the generation, management and final disposition of hazardous waste regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  Though the US EPA requires the report be submitted every even-numbered year for the previous calendar year, some states have chosen to make it an annual requirement.

Each of the following regulated entities has a responsibility to submit the annual report:

• Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility’s (TSDF’s) that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste on-site during the reporting year must submit the entire report.
• Large Quantity Generators (LQG) of hazardous waste.  You are required to submit the entire report if you were an LQG for any calendar month in the reporting year.  If you wish, you need only report the waste you generated for the month you exceeded the LQG status threshold.
• Small Quantity Generator (SQG) of hazardous waste.  An SQG may receive a notice to complete the report.  In this case you need only indicate on the form that you were an SQG for the reporting year, sign, and submit the report.

If you are unaware of your hazardous waste generator status, this survey will assist you.

The US EPA allows states to manage the RCRA Hazardous Waste Program themselves as long as their program is authorized by the Federal Agency.  To be authorized, state regulations must be at least as strict and as broad as the Federal regulations, they are allowed to be more strict and more broad.  A perfect example of this is that while the US EPA requires a Biennial Hazardous Waste Report, many states have made it an annual requirement, due each and every March 1^st for the previous calendar year.  Another difference between the state and Federal level for this report is the requirement of some states, but not the US EPA, to submit the Off-Site Identification Form (Form OI).  In addition some states require separate annual reports – sometimes with fees – from companies within their borders, some examples:

• Illinois has an annual Non-Hazardous Waste Report due February 1st.
• Iowa (a state without an authorized RCRA Hazardous Waste Program) has an annual Hazardous Waste Activities Form due April 15^th for LQG’s and SQG’s.
• North Carolina has a Small Quantity Generator Waste Minimization Questionnaire due July 31^st.

Check with your state environmental agency to determine what, if any, reporting requirements or fees they might have in addition to the US EPA.

There have been some changes to the report for 2011 in regards to definitions, source codes, form codes, and the instructions.  Minor changes were also made to the Site ID Form and the Form GM.  Read carefully the 2011 Hazardous Waste Report Instructions and Form for changes that may apply to you.

If you find yourself sitting at a desk with the report form and instructions and a stack of the previous year’s Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifests on February 29^th, I urge you to consider a system to track your waste generation and off-site disposal.  Maintaining records throughout the year pays off big dividends when the Biennial (Annual in some states) Hazardous Waste Report is due.

To learn more about other regulatory requirements for hazardous waste generators including the training requirements of 40 CFR 265.16, attend one of my open enrollment training events.  This one day of training also meets the requirements of the PHMSA/US DOT for HazMat Employees involved in the transportation of hazardous materials.

Contact me to schedule on-site training!

Review my open enrollment training schedule and register now!

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Batteries are one of those items that we are so used to seeing in our home life, that we sometimes forget that these can be generated as a waste at our place of work.  In the course of a day you may unknowingly come into contact with many different types of batteries in a variety of applications:

• Rechargeable lithium batteries in your laptop or cellphone.
• Dry cell lead acid batteries as back-up electricity sources for emergency signs and lighting.
• Liquid-filled lead acid batteries in your car or your company’s fork-truck.
• Disposable dry-cell alkaline batteries in your flashlight.

My goal for this article is to provide guidance on the US EPA and US DOT requirements for dry-cell alkaline batteries, but I will briefly address the regulatory requirements for other batteries as well.

When spent, you’re responsible to determine if your batteries are a  hazardous or non-hazardous waste.  In other words:  make a hazardous waste determination for your batteries per the US EPA hazardous waste regulations of40 CFR 262.11.  This is something you must do on a case-by-case basis, but you can presume the following:

Hazardous waste:

• Lead acid (liquid or dry) – D008 for lead.
• Nickel/cadmium (or NiCad) – D006 for cadmium.
• Lithium – D003 for reactivity.
• Silver ion – D011 for silver.

Non-hazardous waste:

• Dry cell alkaline batteries (D, C, AA, AAA, 6 volt, & 9 volt).

If your spent batteries are a hazardous waste you have three options for on-site handling and off-site disposal:

• Hazardous waste
• Universal waste
• For lead acid batteries to be reclaimed only – 40 CFR 266.80

But I said this article would be about dry-cell alkaline batteries so let’s get back to them.  Your options for disposal of these batteries as a non-hazardous, solid waste are:

Throw in trash: if non-hazardous and not generated as a by-product of an industrial process, you may be able to dispose of alkaline batteries in the trash the same as you do the trash from your front office, break rooms and other non-production areas.  I don’t recommend this, and your state, municipality or county, and the landfill operator may not like it either.  I suggest you speak with all of them before you choose this option.

Handle as universal waste:  this is OK, but technically incorrect since the regulations at 40 CFR 273.2(b)(3) limits the universal waste option only to batteries that are a hazardous waste.  Alkaline batteries do not meet the US EPA definition of a D002 corrosive waste since they are solid.  Your state may differ from the US EPA in the definition of a corrosive hazardous waste and in that case, an alkaline battery might be a hazardous waste and therefore eligible for handling as a universal waste.  I have not heard of the US EPA or any authorized state environmental agency complaining if alkaline batteries are disposed of as universal waste.

Other off-site recycling:  if the universal waste option does not work, then I suggest you find a company able to recycle your batteries.  There are many companies out there and they provide accumulation containers and shipping instructions as well.

This brings us to the final hurdle and that is the US DOT requirements for off-site shipments of alkaline batteries.  As recently as 2008 the PHMSA within the US DOT indicated that alkaline batteries (AA, D, and C cell) though not subject to the Hazardous Materials Regulations for transportation were required to be, “securely packaged and offered for transportation in a manner that prevents the dangerous evolution of heat (for example, by effective insulation of exposed terminals)” (49 CFR 172.102, special provision 130).  This meant (note past tense) that the terminals of alkaline batteries had to be covered with non-conductive tape or each battery individually bagged.

But hold on, in separate tests in the summer of 2009 petitioners to the US DOT proved that even in the most extreme circumstances, the batteries in question could not generate enough heat to be a hazard in transportation.  US DOT agreed and indicated that no alkaline batteries of 9 volt or lower – which includes (AA, AAA, C, D, 6-volt, & 9-volt) arenot subject to the hazardous material regulations.  I could not find the petitions and DOT response on-line, but these two agency interpretations refer to the original documents and confirm the US DOT’s position (09-0150R &09-0090R).

The hazardous batteries are, of course, subject to the HMR and some such as lithium batteries have very restrictive regulations for transportation.  You will have to research this further or wait for me to write an article on them too.

Alkaline batteries are not a hazardous waste per the regulations of the US EPA and they’re not a hazardous material (HazMat) per the regulations of the US DOT.  You could throw them in the trash if you want and no one could stop you, but I strongly suggest you don’t.  Find a reputable recycler, arrange for on-site collection of your batteries, and educate your employees to ensure their proper accumulation, transportation, and disposal.

Contact me to schedule on-site training for only $1,749!

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The US EPA has identified two different categories of hazardous waste:  characteristic and listed.  Characteristic hazardous waste must exhibit specific characteristic as defined at 40 CFR 261, Subpart C.  Usually lab analysis by a US EPA-approved test method plays an important part in characteristic hazardous waste determination, though not necessarily the only part.  Characteristic hazardous waste includes the following:

• Ignitability – waste code D001
• Corrosivity – waste code D002
• Reactivity – waste code D003
• Toxicity – waste codes D004 to D043

A listed hazardous waste must meet the defined use or status as listed at 40 CFR 261, Subpart D.  Analysis usually plays a minor role in determining if a waste is listed; safety data sheets (SDS) and generator knowledge are much more important in making this determination.  Listed wastes include the following:

• F-listed waste from non-specific sources of a manufacturing process –waste codes F001 to F039.
• K-listed waste from specific sources of a manufacturing process – waste codes K001 to K181.
• P & U-listed waste from discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, container residues, and spill clean-up materials – waste codes P001 to P205 and U001 to U411.

The F-listed hazardous wastes can be further broken down into the following groups:

• Spent solvent wastes (F001 – F005).
• Wastes from electroplating and other metal finishing operations (F006 – F012, F019).
• Dioxin-bearing wastes (F020 – F023 and F026 – F028).
• Wastes from the production of certain chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (F024, F025).
• Wastes from wood preserving (F032, F034, and F035).
• Petroleum refinery wastewater treatment sludges (F037 and F038).
• Multi-source leachate (F039).

Spent solvent wastes are the most commonly generated listed hazardous wastes because of their frequent use in manufacturing processes such as painting, degreasing, and cleaning.  Just because you utilize a process similar to these or use a solvent in some other way, does not necessarily mean you must apply an F-code, instead the correct application of an F-code depends on how the solvent is used, the percentage of its constituents before use, and – for F003 only – whether or not the characteristic of Ignitability is present.

Keep in mind that more than one waste code (listed and characteristic) may apply to any waste.  A D001 for Ignitability is common in many solvents.  Depending on how it was used, a solvent may contain metals above the regulatory threshold and require a D-code for Toxicity.

Also, as I’ll note later, some of these determinations can be very tricky and the states have taken slightly different interpretations than the US EPA; be sure to check with your state environmental agency to assist you in your waste determination.

The first criteria in your waste determination is if the solvent in question is listed.  The list of thirty solvents (40 CFR 261.31) includes many common ones such as:  xylene, toluene, acetone, methylene chloride (aka: dichloromethane), and many others.  It doesn’t include common solvents such as:  mineral spirits or Stoddard solvent.  If its technical name does not appear on the list, than that F-code would not apply, though other waste codes may.

The F-listed solvents are:

Second, the waste must have been used as a solvent for its solvent properties, that is, to solubilize (dissolve) or mobilize other constituents.  This includes:  degreasing, cleaning, fabric scouring, extractions, reactions, and synthesis media.  “Used as a solvent” does not include solvents used as ingredients in the formulation of a product.  The best example of this is a solvent used to thin paint; solvent used in this manner, even if listed and spent, would not be an F-listed hazardous waste.

Next, the solvent must be spent.  If it is virgin material, than an F-code would not apply, however it may have the characteristic of Ignitability (D001) and/or may be a U-listed waste (eg. acetone – U002, Benzene – U019, Toluene – U220).  A solvent is considered “spent” when it has been used and is no longer fit for use without being regenerated, reclaimed, or otherwise reprocessed (see 50 FR 53316, 12/31/85).

If being reclaimed by distillation or some other method, the solvent would not be spent and the F-code would not apply.  A material may be treated and reused in this manner until such time it is no longer useful to you and is therefore spent.  Note however, that the byproducts of the distillation process (still bottoms, pancakes, pugs, solids) are a listed hazardous waste if the above criteria are met.

A spent solvent that appears on the F-list still must meet some specific criteria before you can determine which waste code(s) – if any – will apply.

F001, F002, F004, & F005:

First, note the absence of F003, more on it later.  If a spent solvent mixture contains 10% or more of any one solvent listed in F001, F002, F004, & F005 or a combination of any of them at an aggregate of 10% or more, than all appropriate F-codes would apply.  The determination of the concentration must be made before use of the solvent, not once it has become spent and therefore requires the use of a MSDS.

F001:

The F001 waste code is only applied to a spent solvent “used in degreasing” which means a “large-scale industrial degreasing operation”.  The F001 waste code would not apply to a solvent used for some purpose other than degreasing.  Some – but not all – solvents are listed in both F001 & F002 (e.g. methylene chloride).  If listed in both you must determine which of the two waste codes to apply, you will not use both (RO 13469).

F003:

This one is really tricky.  There are two ways that a spent solvent may be F003 listed:

1. The solvent mixture contains only an F003 listed solvent.  A technical grade concentration with small impurities is acceptable as well (RO 13675).  Or…
2. The solvent mixture contains any F003 listed solvent at any concentration and any combination of other F-listed solvents (F001, F002, F004, F005) at a concentration of 10% or greater.

A final requirement for the application of the F003 waste code hinges on the spent solvent’s characteristic of Ignitability at the point of generation.  The F003 waste code is listed solely because of its characteristic of Ignitability, thus the ‘I’ in the “Hazard Code” column of the F-list table in 40 CFR 261.31.  What this means is that even if one of the two above criteria are met but the spent solvent does not have a flash point of <60 °C (140 ˚F) – and is therefore not a D001 ignitable hazardous waste – then the F003 waste code would not apply.  In other words, no D001…no F003.  Read: What are ICR-Only Listed Hazardous Waste?

Where the application of the F003 code gets even trickier is if you throw F003 solvent contaminated shop towels into the argument.  This will have to be a topic for a later article.  Also problematic is the determination of the flash point of the solvent at the point of generation.  In some cases, a waste may be an ignitable D001 hazardous waste at the point of generation but later lose this characteristic.  In that case, the D001 waste code may no longer apply but the land disposal restrictions of 40 CFR 268 might.  Also, some states don’t accept the whole, “the D001 used to apply, but now it doesn’t”.  Be sure to check with your state environmental agency to see how their interpretation of these regulations applies to your operations.

• Read how changes in a waste after its point of generation may affect your hazardous waste determination
• Read about the Solvent Contaminated Wipe Rule, an exclusion to regulation offered by USEPA.

The above is only one small part of the hazardous waste determination process, which is something you must do and document for every waste you generate.  The determination is only the first step in determining your hazardous waste generator status and then the applicable requirements.  Contact me if you have any questions about F-Listed solvents, hazardous waste, the hazardous waste determination or any of the USEPA (and state) regulations for the cradle-to-grave management of hazardous waste.

From the start I thought it a good idea for my training seminars to combine the requirements of the US DOT for HazMat Employees and the US EPA for facility personnel of hazardous waste generators into one day.  A generator of hazardous waste and a shipper of hazardous materials both engage in many activities regulated by the US EPA and the US DOT respectively.  Many of these activities are regulated solely by one Agency or the other, but some – such as the off-site shipment of hazardous waste – are regulated by both.  A critical step in the transportation of hazardous waste – and one regulated by both the US EPA and the US DOT – is the completion of the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest (manifest).  Anyone who has seen a manifest knows it includes a section for the “Generator’s/Offeror’s Certification” where the generator of the hazardous waste or their designee must sign.  A question then:  Does a person who signs a manifest require training as facility personnel of a hazardous waste generator?  As a shipper of hazardous materials?  Both? The answer:  Likely both (RO14687).

The training requirements for hazardous waste generators depends on your generator status (how much hazardous waste you generate) and not on specific activities like whether or not you ship hazardous waste off-site or sign a manifest.  However, if you are required to use a manifest for off-site shipments of hazardous waste it is likely that you are required to have some form of hazardous waste training.  If you don’t know already, take this survey to determine your hazardous waste generator status.  With your status known you can review the applicable regulations pertaining to training:

• Large Quantity Generator (LQG) – 40 CFR 262.34(a)(4) & 40 CFR 265.16
• Small Quantity Generator (SQG) – 40 CFR 262.34(d)(5)(iii)
• Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG) – 40 CFR  261.5

An LQG must annually train its facility personnel who handle hazardous waste or respond to hazardous waste emergencies.  This training must teach employees to perform their duties in compliance with the applicable regulations and how to respond to an emergency.  An SQG does not have a formal training requirement, but it must, “ensure that all employees are thoroughly familiar with proper waste handling and emergency procedures, relevant to their responsibilities during normal facility operations and emergencies.” While not required by regulation, it is understood that training will play some role in meeting this requirement for an SQG.  A CESQG has no training requirement – and indeed – very little regulatory compliance at all to be concerned with, including the manifest which a CESQG need not use.  You may read more about the hazardous waste generator training requirements here.

The training requirements of the US DOT are not tiered as they are for hazardous waste generators under US EPA.  Nor is the need for training based on a threshold amount of material processed/generated.  Instead the need for training is determined by whether or not the activities engaged in meet the definition of a HazMat Employee which then require training.  A person who signs a manifest, and anyone else involved in the off-site shipment of hazardous waste, is a HazMat Employee as defined by US DOT. Pursuant to 49 CFR 172, Subpart H, a HazMat Employee must be trained and tested triennially on the following:

• General Awareness/Familiarization
• Function Specific
• Emergency Response/Safety
• Security General Awareness
• In-Depth Security (if applicable)

Read this article for more information about the HazMat Employee training requirements.

The Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest is a document created to meet the regulatory requirements of both the US EPA (and authorized state hazardous waste programs) and the US DOT.  As such any person involved with the completion, review, or signing of the manifest is subject to the training requirements of both the US EPA and the US DOT.  Any person involved with the off-site shipment of hazardous waste requires the training as well.  It has been my experience that even if not required by regulation, every manufacturer benefits from high quality training on the proper identification, handling, and disposal of hazardous waste and hazardous materials.

Contact me to schedule your training.

Or, register now for one of my

HazMat Employee and RCRA Training Seminars near you

No matter the job, most professionals agree that good training is an effective way to communicate the proper procedure to perform a task.  If you generate any hazardous waste at all, you should have a method to communicate the appropriate information to affected employees; training may be the method you use.  Depending on the amount of hazardous waste you generate – take this survey to determine your generator status – you may be required to provide training of a specific format at a set frequency in order to maintain compliance.

• A Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG) of hazardous waste is not required by regulation to conduct any training for its facility personnel, though awareness of the applicable regulations and safe work practices is a good idea.
• A Small Quantity Generator (SQG) of hazardous waste is required to “ensure that all employees are thoroughly familiar with proper waste handling and emergency procedures, relevant to their responsibilities during normal facility operations and emergencies” [40 CFR 262.34(d)(5)(iii)].  While it does not explicitly require formal training, completion of some form of documented training of your employees is recommended to ensure compliance.
• A Large Quantity Generator (LQG) of hazardous waste must provide and document annual training for facility personnel as required by 40 CFR 265.16.

“But wait a minute”, you say; 40 CFR 265.16 –indeed all of 40 CFR 265 – is written for owners of hazardous waste Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDF’s) and doesn’t apply to a generator of hazardous waste like me.  True, but the regulations for LQG’s found at 40 CFR 262.34(a)(4) mandate compliance with 40 CFR 265.16.  As an LQG you therefore have the same training requirement for your facility personnel as a TSDF.

Those who must receive training i.e., facility personnel are defined as “all persons who work at, or oversee the operations of, a hazardous waste facility, and whose actions or failure to act may result in noncompliance with the requirements of part 264 or 265 of this chapter” (40 CFR 260.10).  In other words, any employee – including temps, contractors, part or full-time, consultants, off-site managers, and others – whose lack of knowledge about the hazardous waste regulations could result in a violation of same must receive training.

One exception is employees who work only with hazardous waste in a satellite accumulation area (SAA).  This is because the regulations for SAA’s at 40 CFR 262.34(c)(1)(i) do not include a reference to the training requirements of 40 CFR 265.16 or any other.

It is up to you as the generator to determine the content of your training, US EPA only provides two performance standards:  the training must teach facility personnel…

• “…to perform their duties in a way that ensures the facility’s compliance with the requirements of this part.”  And;
• “…hazardous waste management procedures (including contingency plan implementation) relevant to the positions in which they are employed.”

So, you must identify what RCRA regulations are applicable to your facility and then instruct employees on what they must do to maintain compliance.  Training must also include procedures your facility has developed to manage its hazardous waste.

US EPA is clearer about what it expects the training to include regarding emergency response:  “At a minimum, the training program must be designed to ensure that facility personnel are able to respond effectively to emergencies by familiarizing them with emergency procedures, emergency equipment, and emergency systems, including where applicable:

• Procedures for using, inspecting, repairing, and replacing facility emergency and monitoring equipment;
• Key parameters for automatic waste feed cut-off systems;
• Communications or alarm systems;
• Response to fires or explosions;
• Response to ground-water contamination incidents; and
• Shutdown of operations.

Speaking of emergency response training, you may use this opportunity to meet other regulatory requirements, such as:

• The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200).
• The OSHA Hazardous Waste Operations Standard or HAZWOPER (29 CFR 1910.120).
• The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the US DOT requires safety and emergency response training for HazMat Employees [49 CFR 172.704(a)(3)].

However, please note that these are the distinct training requirements of different agencies.  While it may be possible to combine them into one session, the responsibility to ensure all of the individual regulations are met is yours alone.

Some other useful information about RCRA facility personnel training:

• An annual review of the initial training is required.  Read a US EPA interpretation letter for a more nuanced understanding of this requirement (RO 14286).
• It may be classroom instruction or on-the-job training.
• No duration for the training is set; it must take as long as necessary to convey the applicable information.
• The training program must be directed by a person who has received training per the requirements of 40 CFR 265.16.
• The requirement to properly document the training should be read carefully as it is very specific [40 CFR 265.16(d)].
• Employees must be trained within 6 months of employment or new job assignment.

If you are an LQG, annual RCRA training is required for your facility personnel.  As noted just above, the person responsible for directing the training program must receive annual training as well.  Anyone who prepares a hazardous waste for off-site shipment or signs a manifest must also have the triennial HazMat Employee training required by PHMSA at 49 CFR 172, Subpart H.  My training – either open enrollment, or on-site – fulfills both of these training requirements in one day. I travel all over the country all year round, so check out my schedule to find a date and location convenient to you.  Or, contact me to schedule on-site training where I can train all of your HazMat Employees and facility personnel for one flat fee.

Some companies, some industries, some locations just seem to be of greater interest to  one or more of the regulatory agencies:  the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) of the US Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), or the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the US Department of Transportation.  It may be that one of these agencies is a common visitor to your property, but others you see less frequent or not at all.  While being inspected by one agency – let’s say OSHA – you may think you need not worry about compliance with the hazardous waste regulations enforced by the US EPA;  this is not so.  In this US EPA press release, the owner of a New Hampshire foundry faces criminal charges for the storage of hazardous waste for greater than 90 days without a permit.  There is nothing significant about the violation or the charge, what is significant is the fact that the chain of events was started when the violation was noted during OSHA inspections in April and August of 2009.  This is no accident, since 1991 the US EPA and OSHA have assisted each other in identifying and reporting potential violations of their respective regulations under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The purpose of the MOU is to establish and improve the working relationship between the US EPA & OSHA in order to improve their ability to detect potential violations and enforce their respective regulations.  The agencies agree to the fullest possible coordination between them at all levels which includes “referrals of alleged violations, and related matters concerning compliance and law enforcement…”  To do this US EPA and OSHA will exchange names and phone numbers of appropriate offices and personnel and keep such information up to date.  They will also conduct periodic training programs for each other’s personnel on the requirements of their respective regulations.  In short, US EPA will train OSHA personnel on what potential environmental violations they should look for when inspecting your company.  OSHA will do the same for US EPA personnel.

Under the MOU, an OSHA inspector must inform the US EPA if a potential environmental violation comes to their attention.  In turn, the US EPA must respond to such referrals:  “EPA shall respond to referrals from OSHA, and OSHA shall respond to referrals from EPA…” The agencies will have periodic meetings to track the progress of actions taken on these referrals.  You can expect US EPA to follow-up if OSHA informs them of a potential violation.

The MOU goes on to indicate that US EPA and OSHA may conduct joint inspections or separate.  If an alleged violation is found during a separate inspection, a referral shall be made.  Inspections may be part of an annual workplan developed by the agencies or ad hoc following an accident, injury, or reported violation.

No one wants a regulatory violation found during an inspection.  Even less do we want an unsafe or unwise situation to result in someone getting hurt or damaging the environment.  Better to know the regulations, comply with them, and keep everyone safe and the grass green.  My open enrollment training events will help you to do just that.  If you prefer, I can come to your site and train all of your employees in one day for a flat fee of $1,749.  Please contact me to discuss your training options further.