In response to COVID-19, the Wisconsin DNR is aware that facilities may need additional time to complete and submit their annual reports.
The 2019 hazardous waste annual report was due March 1, 2020, per ss. NR 662.041(1) Wis. Adm. Code. While this regulatory requirement does not specifically allow for extensions to this deadline, it is understood that between the delayed launch of the report and current workforce limitations due to COVID-19, facilities may need additional time to complete the report. We do encourage generators to complete and submit the report as soon as possible, to allow for the department to submit the required reporting data to the U.S. EPA in a timely fashion.
A large quantity generator of hazardous waste (LQG) must provide intial training for all hazardous waste personnel with an annual review of the inital training. I can provide this training. If Onsite Training is not possible right now, how about a webinar? Advantages to web-based training:
Same content as my Onsite Training.
Webinar is live, interactive, and – with your assistance – can be made site-specific.
I provide all the necessary documents for training, testing, and recordkeeping. All documents emailed to you prior to the webinar.
Low cost and easy to schedule.
Up to 25 separate log-ins (no need to gather trainees in one place). Unlimited number of trainees.
In response to COVID-19, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has developed an online method for requesting an extension to generator accumulation time limits.
Wisconsin’s hazardous waste regulations allow both large quantity generators (LQG) and small quantity generators (SQG) to request an accumulation (storage) time limit extension in the event of unforeseen, temporary or uncontrollable circumstances that prevent shipment of hazardous waste off-site within the 90-day time frame (LQGs) and or 180-day time frame (SQGs). An extension of up to 30 days may be granted at the discretion of the department on a case-by-case basis pursuant to s. NR 662.034(3) and NR 662.192(3), Wis. Adm. Code.
A request for an extension must be made prior to the expiration of the required time limit. Potential reasons for requesting an extension must be identified to submit a request (i.e., transporter unable to meet schedule shipping date, or scheduled facility unable to accept wastes due to facility backlog or closure). To request an extension, follow the link below to submit your information to the DNR electronically. You can also contact a regional hazardous waste specialist, or Hazardous Waste Program Coordinator Mike Ellenbecker, to submit a request directly to program staff.
If a 30-day extension request is granted but the hazardous waste shipment the extension was requested for cannot occur within the extended period, contact Hazardous Waste Program Coordinator Mike Ellenbecker to discuss the regulatory requirements.
Annual Hazardous Waste Personnel training for large quantity generators of hazardous waste must still be completed. Contact me to schedule a webinar during the shelter-in-place.
The purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency is to “protect and enhance our environment today and for future generations to the fullest extent possible under the laws enacted by Congress. The Agency’s mission is to control and abate pollution in the areas of air, water, solid waste, pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances. Its man date is to mount an integrated, coordinated attack on environmental pollution in cooperation with State and local governments.”
Contact me with any questions you may have about the generation, identification, management, and disposal of hazardous waste
A question from a frequent customer of mine (06.19.18):
Hi Daniel.
I have a question regarding Universal Waste Lamps that I’m wondering if you have an experience with, and that is light-emitting diodes or LED bulbs. From the reading I have done, it sounds like the EPA wants me to run a TCLP on a bulb to see if it is hazardous, before determining if it can be handled as a Universal Waste lamp.
Would you agree with that assessment or have any input on the subject from your experience?
Thanks for your help.
Contact me with any questions you may have about the generation, identification, management, and disposal of hazardous waste
Thank you for contacting me. I will answer your question below.
You are correct that the universal waste regulations are an option to managing a waste as a hazardous waste. Therefore, in order to be a universal waste it must first meet the definition of a hazardous waste.
USEPA (and state) regulations allow for the generator of a waste to determine if it is a hazardous waste based either on generator knowledge (no testing but other forms of information) or analysis of a representative sample by a lab using the approved test methods. Either method is acceptable. Read: The Hazardous Waste Determination
the Toxicity Characteristic Leachate Procedure (TCLP) is an analytical method used to determine the leachable concentration of toxins in a representative sample of a waste.
In the case of a manufactured article like an LED bulb it is highly unlikely it will be possible to collect a representative sample. Therefore, analysis may not be possible.
Instead, I suggest you refer to the Safety Data Sheet or technical data sheet or some other manufacturer information for the bulb. It may indicate that the LED is a hazardous waste.
USEPA regulations at 40 CFR 273.9 define a lamp as:
Lamp, also referred to as “universal waste lamp” is defined as the bulb or tube portion of an electric lighting device. A lamp is specifically designed to produce radiant energy, most often in the ultraviolet, visible, and infra-red regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Examples of common universal waste electric lamps include, but are not limited to, fluorescent, high intensity discharge, neon, mercury vapor, high pressure sodium, and metal halide lamps.
Though not cited in the, “…include, but are not limited to,…” it is reasonable to think an LED is included in the definition of a universal waste lamp.
My suggestion: Manage your LED bulbs as a universal waste. Base the determination on generator knowledge. Analysis is not required. Maintain documentation of your determination.
I hope this helps. Please contact me with any other questions.
And that did it!
With technology changing as fast as it does, there may be another type of lamp or bulb in use by the time you read this article. USEPA defines a universal waste lamp broadly enough, “…include but are not limited to,…” to include pretty much any bulb or tube, “designed to produce radiant energy,…” I will add that I have never had experience with a generator being told they can’t manage a type of lamp – even incandescent – as a universal waste. I have had experience with generators facing real penalties for not providing the required initial and annual training for their hazardous waste personnel.
From a USEPA guidance document (EPA OSWER Directive 9523.00-10), the following are examples of items that can be considered for inclusion in a typical tank inspection checklist or record:
Appropriate tank and piping labeling / marking.
Leaks from tanks, pumps, and inlet/ outlet nozzles or flanges.
Leaks from or damage to ancillary equipment.
Seal integrity on manholes, gauge hatches, weather shields, and level gauges.
High liquid level / overflow.
Structurally intact with no damage to tank walls.
Evidence of corrosion, excessive rusting, or damage.
Overfilling controls operative.
Secondary containment free of waste, chips, cracks, holes, etc.
Any sump pump operations.
Contact me with any questions you may have about the generation, identification, management, and disposal of hazardous waste
Electro-Plating Services Inc. (EPS), located in Madison Heights, Michigan, was sentenced in federal court in Detroit on November 6, 2019 to five years of probation, and was ordered to pay restitution of $1,449,963.94 joint and several with Gary Sayers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sayers, EPS’s owner, was sentenced to one year in prison followed by three years of supervised release. EPS and Sayers pleaded guilty on Feb. 14, 2018 to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Not sure of your hazardous waste generator status?
Gary Sayers, owner of Electro-Plating Services, Inc.
Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan
Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Lynn of the EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Michigan
What:
Pit used to illegally store hazardous waste
The crime related to Sayers’s operation of EPS, which used chemicals such as cyanide, chromium, nickel, chloride, trichloroethylene, and various acids and bases, as part of the plating process. After these chemicals no longer served their intended purpose, they became hazardous wastes, which required handling in compliance with RCRA.
Rather than having EPS’s hazardous wastes legally transported to a licensed hazardous waste facility, Sayers stored the hazardous waste in numerous drums and other containers, including a pit dug into the ground in the lower level of the EPS building in Madison Heights. For years, Sayers stonewalled state efforts to get him to legally manage the hazardous wastes. Ultimately, the EPA’s Superfund program spent $1,449,963.94 to clean up and dispose of the hazardous wastes.
According to court records, Sayers—who owned and was the President of EPS—knew that such storage was illegal and had managed the company’s former Detroit facility where he kept hazardous wastes illegally.
Contact me with any questions you may have about the generation, identification, management, and disposal of hazardous waste
Starting in 1996, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) repeatedly sent Mr. Sayers warnings about his illegal handling of hazardous waste.
In 2005, Sayers was charged with and pleaded guilty to illegally transporting hazardous wastes in state court.
During the ensuing years, the MDEQ attempted to get Sayers and EPS to properly manage the amounts of hazardous wastes piling up at the Madison Heights location. The MDEQ issued numerous letters of warning and violation notices to the company regarding its hazardous wastes.
In 2016, the MDEQ identified over 5,000 containers of liquid and solid wastes at the Madison Heights location. That same year, the city of Madison Heights revoked the company’s occupancy permit.
In January 2017, the EPA initiated a Superfund removal action, after determining that nature and threats posed by the stored hazardous waste required a time-critical response.
The cleanup was completed in January 2018.
Sentencing November 6, 2019.
Where:
Electro-Plating Services Inc. (EPS), located in Madison Heights, Michigan
Illegal storage of hazardous waste
Why:
“This case shows that anyone who chooses to do business with dangerous materials must obey federal laws that protect our fellow Americans and the environment. These defendants’ knowing, illegal storage of waste cyanide, highly corrosive wastes, toxic chromium waste, and reactive wastes posed a significant danger and threat to nearby communities and the environment,”
“They disregarded the law and numerous warnings and requests by state authorities to comply with their legal obligations. The Department of Justice will act to protect public health and safety.”
How:
The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources-Environmental Investigation Section, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE, formerly the MDEQ) and the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
The conclusion I draw from this is that you can avoid compliance with the hazardous waste regulations for a long time. From its beginning in 1996 (and I would not be surprised if it started long before that) until sentencing in 2019 is 25 years! Twenty five years of being in business, making a profit, and violating federal and state regulations. I’d like to see a case like this settled long before twenty-five years had passed. I think that persons who deliberately violate the law are few. Many more are those who through ignorance violate a regulation and pay a civil penalty instead of criminal prosecution as in this case.
My training won’t keep you out of jail if you break the law but it can help you learn more about the regulations to which you are subject, and with some effort on your part, keep you in compliance. RCRA training webinars are held regularly and Onsite Training is available.
Effective February 07, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is adding hazardous waste aerosol cans to the universal waste program. The Final Rule includes the following:
Defines an aerosol can.
Includes aerosol cans with existing management standards for other universal wastes.
Specific regulations for the puncturing and draining of aerosol cans.
The new rule allows for the accumulation, transportation, and on-site management – including puncturing and draining – of hazardous waste aerosol cans as a universal waste.
The purpose of this article is to identify and explain these new regulations and what you must do as a universal waste handler to comply with them. (more…)
Aerosol cans are widely used for dispensing a broad range of products including paints, solvents, pesticides, food and personal care products, and many others. the Household and Commercial Products Association estimates that 3.75 billion aerosol cans were filled in the U.S. in 2016 for use by commercial and industrial facilities as well as by households.
A typical aerosol can consists of several components, including (but not limited to) the following:
The can or container storing both propellant and the product.
An actuator or button at the top of the can that is pressed to deliver the product.
A valve, which controls delivery or flow of the product.
The propellant (a compressed gas or liquefied gas), which provides the pressure in the container to expel or release the product when the actuator is pressed to open the valve.
The product itself.
A dip tube, which is connected to the valve to bring the product up through the can to be released
The can itself is typically a small steel or aluminum container, designed to be hand-held, which is sealed with its contents under pressure. The can’s design is intended to prevent unwanted release of the contents to the environment under normal handling and storage conditions.
Effective February 07, 2020, USEPA allows for the management of hazardous waste aerosol cans as a universal waste. Management of aerosol cans as a universal waste can significantly reduce the burden of any person (business or government agency) that generates, transports, treats, recycles, or disposes of them.
Both large quantity generators (LQG) and small quantity generators (SQG) of hazardous waste are required by federal regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to take certain measures and have available certain equipment in order to prevent hazardous waste emergencies from occurring and to be prepared to respond to them if they do. In the past the Preparedness and Prevention regulations for both LQG and SQG were the same and were found at 40 CFR 265, subpart C.
Moved them from their former location for both LQG and SQG to distinct locations for each generator.
Made several revisions to the regulations applicable to both LQG and SQG.
In an earlier series of articles I identified and explained the requirements of 40 CFR 265, subpart C Preparedness and prevention for a LQG and SQG prior to the Generator Improvements Rule. All of those articles are summarized here. You may also research the requirements of 40 CFR 265, subpart D Contingency plan and emergency procedures (applicable solely to a LQG) here. If your state has not yet adopted the Generator Improvements Rule, then these regulations are still applicable to your facility.
The purpose of this article is to provide one source for the series of articles I will write identifying and explaining the requirements of 40 CFR 262, subpart M for preparedness, prevention, and emergency procedures of a hazardous waste emergency at a large quantity generator of hazardous waste.
Federal regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) at 40 CFR 262.17(a)(6) require a large quantity generator of hazardous waste (LQG) to comply with the preparedness, prevention, and emergency procedure standards of 40 CFR 262, subpart M. This article is the seventh in a series that looks closely at each of the sections in subpart M to clearly describe the responsibilities of a LQG.
The purpose of this article is to address the requirements of 40 CFR 262.256 Arrangements with local authorities. (more…)
