USEPA regulations at 40 CFR 261.4(a)(20) provide for a conditional exclusion from management as a solid waste – and therefore as a hazardous waste as well – for hazardous secondary materials used to make zinc fertilizers. You can learn more about the full conditional exclusion here: 40 CFR 261.4(a)(20) Hazardous Secondary Materials Used to Make Zinc Fertilizers.
The purpose of this article is to detail one requirement of the conditional exclusion: the requirement at 40 CFR 261.4(a)(20)(ii)(D) for generators or intermediate handlers of a hazardous secondary material used to make zinc fertilizers to maintain at their facility records of all shipments of hazardous secondary materials. Records must be kept for no less than three years. (more…)
40 CFR 261.4(a)(23) is a conditional exclusion from regulation as a solid waste for a hazardous secondary material if its generator complies with the requirements of the exclusion and is generated and reclaimed under one of the following arrangements:
Generated and reclaimed at the generating facility.
Reclaimed at an off-site facility that is owned/controlled by the generator or one under the same ownership/control as the generator.
Generated pursuant to a written contract between a tolling contractor and a toll manufacturer and is reclaimed by the tolling contractor.
While their is no recordkeeping requirement under option #1, the use of options #2 or #3 will require the maintenance of certain records by subject facilities. Those recordkeeping requirements are described below. (more…)
Hello Daniel,
I reviewed the material from our training and see that recordkeeping for Haz Waste is to maintain record for 3 years from last effective date.
I have inherited the file cabinet for our facility and have records going back to 1991. Is there some other requirement for NY that I may be missing or am I due for a file clean up?
My reply that same day (I must have been in the office):
That is a good question. New York may have recordkeeping requirements that are more strict than those of USEPA. It is possible that they may require a longer retention period for RCRA records, though I have not seen any indication of this.
Since the recordkeeping requirements are not in one location in the regs but are spread throughout, finding an answer I can offer with confidence will not be easy (i.e. it will take me time that you will have to pay me for). One quick way to get a good answer is to contact the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation:
OK. Not my best response. But look! I invested a little time in some research of the hazardous waste regulations of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and came up with this reply on March 18th:
I was curious about your question and decided to pursue it further. I confirmed with a representative of the NYSDEC (and by referencing the regulations) that the RCRA recordkeeping requirements in New York are the same as those of the USEPA (i.e. three years from its effective date).
However, NYSDEC has an addtional requirement at NYCRR Part 372.2(c)(1)(iv):
All records required under this subdivision must be furnished to the Department upon request, postmarked within five business days of receipt of a written request.
So, you must be prepared to mail copies of your records (3 years worth) to NYSDEC if they request them in writing.
Keeping records beyond the time required by regulations is a business decision that I suggest you decide with the involvement of other parties in your company (maybe even lawyers!). There are pros and cons to keeping records beyond the specified time frame.
See NYCRR Part 372.2(c)(1(iv) for yourself:
(c) Reporting and record keeping requirements.
(1) Record keeping.
(i) A generator must keep a copy of each complete manifest document as a record for at least three years from the date the waste was accepted by the initial transporter.
(ii) A generator must keep a copy of each Annual Report (paragraph (2) of this subdivision) and Exception Report (paragraph (3)) for a period of at least three years from the due date of the report.
(iii) A generator must keep records of any test results, waste analyses, or other determinations made in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of this section for at least three years from the date that the waste was last sent to on-site or off-site treatment, storage or disposal.
(iv) All records required under this subdivision must be furnished to the Department upon request, postmarked within five business days of receipt of a written request. A generator must make such records available at all reasonable times for inspection by any officer, employee, or representative of the Department who is duly designated by the commissioner.
(v) The record keeping periods referred to in this section are extended automatically beyond the three-year period during the course of any unresolved enforcement action regarding the regulated activity, or as requested by the commissioner.
Thank you and please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.
I’m not aware of any state with an authorized hazardous waste program that has a requirement to keep records related to hazardous waste management longer than three years, do you?
The RCRA contingency plan is a requirement for large quantity generators of hazardous waste (LQGs) and hazardous waste treatment storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) pursuant to 40 CFR 265, Subpart D [now 40 CFR 262, subpart M due to the Generator Improvements Rule]. It is a document that describes specific actions a facility must take in the event of a fire, explosion, or release of hazardous waste. Learn more about the RCRA Contingency Plan.
The purpose of this article: identify and explain the requirements of 40 CFR 262, subpart D to maintain records of the contingency plan.
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?
Fortunately, the changes made by the Generator Improvements Rule did not affect the recordkeeping requirements for the contingency plan (the subject of this article) except to change the regulatory citation. This article has been revised to include reference to the regulations both prior to and after the Generator Improvements Rule.
Please refer to this series of articles if you’re interested in all of the requirements of 40 CFR 262, subpart M to create and maintain a contingency plan.
In earlier articles I wrote of the regulatory requirement for a facility that generates any solid waste to conduct a hazardous waste determination: The Hazardous Waste Determination and the basis for making the hazardous waste determination. To summarize both articles, a generator of a solid waste must determine if the waste is a hazardous waste and if any applicable exemptions or exclusions exist. This determination may be based on the analysis of a representative sample of the waste by an approved lab and test method (analysis-based), or it may be based on the generator’s knowledge of the raw materials and processes involved (knowledge-based). Either way, the generator must document not only the results of the determination (ie. hazardous or non-hazardous) but also the basis for that determination. The purpose of this article is to make known the USEPA requirements for maintaining records of the hazardous waste determination. (more…)
The RCRA regulations @ 40 CFR 265, Subpart C – Preparedness and Prevention apply to both Large Quantity Generators and Small Quantity Generators of hazardous waste [via §262.34(a)(4) & §262.34(d)(4), respectively]. A close review of the entire Subpart reveals little in the way of a requirement for documentation or recordkeeping. The one place where a document is mentioned, “…the operating record…” is in §265.37(b), more on that later. You may, however, wish to create documents and keep records of certain activities required by the Subpart in order to demonstrate compliance with the regulations and to fulfill the wishes of the USEPA. This will include Testing and Maintenance of Equipment (§265.33) and Arrangements With Local Authorities (§265.37). (more…)
40 CFR 262.20(a)(1) mandates the use of a manifest (EPA form 8700-22) for a generator who transports or offers for transport a hazardous waste for offsite treatment, storage, or disposal. §262.40(a) requires a generator to keep a copy of the signed manifest as a record for three (3) years. (more…)
The hazardous waste regulations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) require Large Quantity Generators (LQG) and Small Quantity Generators (SQG) of hazardous waste to retain a copy of certain documents as a record of compliance. While there are slight variations in where and how the records are to be maintained (refer to this article on RCRA’s recordkeeping requirements), there are two points on which the regulations agree:
Records must be maintained for three (3) years from the effective date of the compliance document.
This article will identify the effective date for record retention of documents generated per the the hazardous waste regulations of the USEPA. Keep in mind that your State may add additional recordkeeping requirements on top of those identified below. (more…)
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.
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?”
