If you generate a waste oil as a by-product of your operations (ie. a Generator of Used Oil) you may be able to take advantage of the relaxed regulatory requirements of the US EPA and the Wisconsin DNR for the management of this waste as a Used Oil.  In addition to less restrictions for on-site handling, the used oil regulations of the US EPA at 40 CFR 279 and the Wisconsin DNR at ch. NR 679, Wisconsin Administrative Code provide used oil generators with additional options for transportation and recycling.

Definition of Used Oil:

A used oil is defined by regulation as, “Any oil that has been refined from crude oil, or any synthetic oil, that has been used and as a result of such use is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities.”  It is worth some repetition in order to emphasize the most important conditions of this definition, a used oil must be…

1. Refined from crude oil or any synthetic oil; it cannot be a vegetable or animal oil/grease,
2. Used; it cannot be virgin or unused, and;
3. Contaminated as a result of its use by physical or chemical impurities (ie. is too spent or too dirty for continued use).

Refer to Table 1 for further description of what can and cannot be regulated as a used oil.

Table 1:

A Used Oil may be…	A Used Oil Cannot be…
Motor oils	Fuel product storage tank bottoms
Greases	Fuel product spill cleanup material
Emulsions	Unused or virgin oil
Coolants	Animal and vegetable oils and grease
Heating media	Antifreeze
Brake fluids	Materials used as cleaning agents
Transmission fluids	Materials used only for their solvent properties
Other hydraulic fluids	An oil containing >1,000 ppm total halogens
Electrical insulating oils
Metalworking fluids
Refrigeration oils

If your used oil meets the above definition, then it may be managed per the used oil regulations even if it meets the definition of a characteristic hazardous waste.  You may not use the used oil option if it contains a listed hazardous waste.  Table 2 contains a summary of characteristic and listed hazardous waste.

Table 2:

Characteristic Hazardous Waste		Listed Hazardous Waste
Description	Waste Codes	Description	Waste Codes
Ignitable	D001	Non-Specific Sources	F001 – F039
Corrosive	D002	Specific Sources	K001 – K181
Reactive	D003	Discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, container residues, and spill residues thereof (Acute).	P001 – P205
Toxic	D004 – D043	Discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, container residues, and spill residues thereof (Toxic).	U001 – U411

Applicability of Used Oil Regulations:

Even if the above definition is met, there are some instances where you may not be able to manage your waste according to the used oil regulations.  The used oil regulations are designed to encourage recycling but also protect the environment; this requires the exclusion of some waste from management as a used oil.

First, it is assumed that all used oil generated will be recycled instead of disposed as a waste.  This allows you as the generator to comply with the used oil regulations regardless if a transporter, processor, or other handler down the line decides to dispose of it as a waste instead of recycle.  In that case the burden of complying with the applicable hazardous waste regulations lies with the handler who decides on disposal over recycling and does not impact your handling of it as a used oil.

One way your oil may be ineligible for management as a used oil is because of something known as the “Rebuttable Presumption”.  It works like this:  at some point prior to recycling your used oil must be sampled and analyzed to determine its total halogen content (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, or astatine) by the transporter, processor, re-refiner,transfer facility, or other handler – a generator may perform the analysis but it is not required.  If the results of this test indicate the total halogen content is >1,000 ppm, then the used oil is presumed to contain a spent chlorinated solvent and to be a listed hazardous waste from a non-specific source with the waste codes of either F001 or F002 (see Table 2).  This presumption, known as the “Rebuttable Presumption”, precludes the waste’s management as a used oil unless you as the generator are able to do one of the following:

1. Find an exemption/exclusion from the “Rebuttable Presumption”.
2. Rebut the presumption by demonstrating the oil does not contain a listed hazardous waste.

A second way your oil may be ineligible for the used oil option is if it has been mixed with a characteristic hazardous waste and the resulting mixture exhibits any of the characteristics of a hazardous waste; an exception to this exists for a waste that is hazardous solely for the characteristic of ignitability.  If an ignitable hazardous waste is mixed with a used oil the resulting mixture may be managed as a used oil as long as it doesn’t display the characteristic of ignitability.

And, of course, the mixture of an oil with any listed hazardous waste precludes its management as a used oil.

See Table 2 for a summary of characteristic and listed hazardous waste.

Requirements for Management of Used Oil:

The used oil regulations contain specific requirements for generators, they include:

• Label containers, above-ground tanks, and underground tank fill pipes as “Used Oil”.  This is very important, labeling as “Waste Oil”, “Bad Oil”, “Oil for Recycling”, etc. is frequently cited as a violation by the US EPA and the WDNR.
• Maintain used oil containers and tanks in good condition with no leaking.
• If a leak or spill occurs, promptly clean it up with dry methods and dispose of any waste properly.
• Also, you should…
• Comply with the applicable WI Department of Commerce Flammable, Combustible and Hazardous Liquids requirements in ch. Comm 10, Wis. Adm. Code.
• Comply with the US EPA Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations of the Clean Water Act if your on-site storage of all oil is above threshold amounts.

Transportation of Used Oil:

The used oil transporter you select must comply with the following:

• Have a US EPA identification number and a WDNR solid waste transportation license.
• Meet all applicable regulations of the US DOT for the transportation of hazardous materials.
• Comply with the used oil regulations (Federal and State) applicable to used oil transporters.

There is a special arrangement you may be able to make with your transporter known as the tolling arrangement that removes the requirement for the transporter to have a US EPA identification number; the requirement for a WDNR solid waste transportation license remains however.   To be eligible for the tolling arrangement the used oil must be reclaimed under a contractual agreement where the reclaimed oil is returned by the processor or re-refiner to the generator for use as a lubricant, cutting oil or coolant.

Management Options for Used Oil:

A used oil generator also has some options available that make the management and disposal of used oil even easier and possibly a net benefit:

1. You may self-transport up to 55 gallons of your own used oil to a registered used oil collection center or between your facilities to a central aggregation point.  You may also transport used oil collected from household do-it-yourselfers or small farmers (those who generate an average of <25 gal/month of used oil in a calendar year) to your facility or an aggregation point.  In either case, the transportation must be in a company or employee-owned vehicle.
2. You may filter, clean, or otherwise recondition used oil for reuse on-site.
3. You may burn used oil on-site in a space heater if all of the following conditions are met:
• Maximum design capacity of the heater is ≤500,000 BTU”s/hour.
• Combustion gases are vented to the outside.
• Sources of used oil are limited to:  on-site generation or other locations owned by the company (you can use self-transportation to aggregate volumes) or receive directly (without a middle-man or used oil marketer) from household do-it-yourselfers or small farmers.

Prohibitions on the Management of Used Oil:

Used oil may not be…

• Managed in surface impoundments or waste piles unless permitted.
• Used as a dust suppressant.
• Burned in a non-exempt boiler or space heater (see above).

Conclusion:

Used oil is a type of waste that both the US EPA and the WDNR believe can be managed in a way that protects human health and the environment without resorting to full regulation as a hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  For this reason the used oil regulations were created.  Make certain that you comply with the relaxed regulatory requirements and take advantage of the options available to you as a generator of used oil.