New York Department of Environmental Conservation Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Amendments to Hazardous Waste Management Regulations

RCRA Hazardous Waste Regulations, State RCRA Regulations

New York Department of Environmental Conservation Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Amendments to Hazardous Waste Management Regulations

Daniel Stoehr
February 19, 2015

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is providing a Draft for Public Consideration of revised Hazardous Waste Management Regulations for comment by stakeholders.

This rulemaking by DEC will incorporate new Federal rules of the USEPA and changes initiated by New York that affect the hazardous waste regulations in the state.  It will also clarify language and correct errors throughout the state regulations.  A draft of the amendments is being made available on the DEC website.  Stakeholders are to review a draft of the amendments available on the DEC website and provide comment before the draft regulations are formally proposed in 2015.

Thirty-seven (37) Federal rules are proposed to be included in this rule making. These rules were adopted by the USEPA from January 2002 through April 2012. The June 26, 2014 Cathode Ray Tube Export rule is also included in this rule making:  A list of the 37 Federal rules with a brief description.

As a state with an authorized hazardous waste program, New York regulations must be as strict and as broad as those of the USEPA.  The NY DEC may choose not to adopt Federal regulations if their own are more strict.

The proposed amendments to the New York hazardous waste program includes major changes to the Federal Rule adopted by the USEPA since 2012.  In this “initial public outreach,” DEC is seeking comments on the proposal to adopt the following EPA rules:

  • Solvent Contaminated Wipes Rule – EPA’s July 31, 2013 rule revises the definition of solid waste to conditionally exclude solvent-contaminated wipes that are cleaned and reused and revises the definition of hazardous waste to conditionally exclude solvent-contaminated wipes that are disposed.
  • Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Rule – EPA’s January 3, 2014 Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Rule provides a conditional exclusion for carbon dioxide (CO2) streams in geological sequestration activities. This rule would conditionally exclude CO2 streams that are hazardous waste from the definition of hazardous waste, if they are captured from emission sources and are injected into Class VI Underground Injection Control wells for geological sequestration, provided that certain requirements are met.
  • Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest (e-Manifest) Rule – EPA’s e-Manifest Rule provides the legal and policy framework to authorize the use of electronic manifests. The e-Manifest system will go into effect through out the United States at the same time, whether or not authorized states have amended their regulations.
  • EPA’s 2008 Definition of Solid Waste Rule – As amended in January 2015 redefines “hazardous secondary materials.” It streamlines regulation of hazardous secondary material to encourage beneficial recycling and help conserve resources. By removing unnecessary regulatory controls, it is expected to make it easier and more cost-effective to safely recycle hazardous secondary materials. EPA published substantial revisions to this rule on January 13, 2015. As amended, the rule provides greater safeguards from mismanagement. Certain parts of the 2015 Final Rule are more stringent than current DEC regulations. DEC must adopt these provisions, which include a revised definition of “legitimate recycling,” a prohibition on sham recycling, and new recordkeeping requirements related to speculative accumulation provisions.
  • Amendments to DEC’s Used Oil Management Regulations (6 NYCRR Subpart 374-2). DEC is considering whether or not to continue to require Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) registration for certain small used oil tanks for which PBS registration is not otherwise required; whether to amend the used oil collection center requirements to allow entities collecting used oil in small volumes to obtain a Part 360 registration and more closely follow EPA requirements in lieu of obtaining a Part 360 permit; and whether to replace the current vehicle-to-vehicle exemption and 10-day exemption with a Part 360 registration requirement. Changes in time requirements for record retentions to more closely follow EPA requirements are also being considered.

The draft express terms; lists of federal and state changes; information on an upcoming webinar and public meeting; and how to submit comments are available on DEC’s website:  Hazardous Waste Management, Draft Regulations for Consideration.

Interested in the regulations of the USEPA, NYDEC, and the USDOT for the management of hazardous waste and/or hazardous materials in transportation?  Do you need the training that is required for personnel who work with hazardous waste or hazardous materials in transportation?