EPA’s RCRA Priorities and Highlights of Recently Finalized

Rules and Proposed Rules

Frank Ney RCRA Division

Recently Finalized Rules and Proposed Rules

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Coal Fly Ash Disaster in Tennessee

December 2008

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TVA Kingston Plant Located on Watts Bar Reservoir

(Emory River), 3 miles upstream of confluence of Clinch River and Tennessee River.

14,000 tons coal consumed per day.

1,000 cubic yards of fly ash generated per day.

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Dredge

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December 22, 2008 Incident Catastrophic failure of Dredge Cell 2 and Dike C began at

approximately 01:00 hrs EST.

Approximately 5.4M cubic yards (CYs) of ash released.– Covered about 300 acres– Damage to 40 homes– Displaced 22 residents– Gas line and power line rupture– Road and rail line damage

Estimated 3M cubic yards of total entered Emory River and its tributaries.

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Looking south across failed dredge cell toward power plant.

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Looking west from vicinity of failed dikeup choked tributary

Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)Rule: 

After the Kingston incident, EPA, in June 2010, co-proposed 2 regulatory options under RCRA for regulating Coal Combustion Residuals (CCRs):

-one under Subtitle C (hazardous waste regulations) and;

-one under Subtitle D (state solid waste regulations).

Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)Rule: 

Under both regulatory options, the proposed engineering requirements for landfills and surface impoundments are virtually identical, such as, composite liner and leachate collection systems, ground water monitoring, structural stability requirements, and fugitive dust controls. The options differ primarily in enforcement and implementation.

EPA also discussed a variant of the D Option, called “D-Prime” allowing surface impoundments to operate, even if unlined, until the end of their useful life.

Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)Rule:Under any of the Options, EPA proposed to

maintain the Bevill exemption for CCRs that are beneficially used, although the Agency solicited comment on this, particularly with respect to those CCRs that are beneficially used in an un-encapsulsated form.

Over 1,400 individuals testified during eight public hearings. Over 450,000 comments were received, with a significant number of these coming from mass mailing campaigns.

Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)Rule:We have received nearly 13,000 submissions

(over 2 million pages) that have “unique content” requiring analysis.

In October of 2011, and August 2013, the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) issued a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to solicit comments on additional information received that could inform approaches taken to enhance the risk assessment and regulatory impact analysis (RIA) that would support the final rule.

Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)Rule:

On April 12, 2012, a lawsuit was filed by environmental groups, later joined by coal ash recyclers.

On January 29, 2014, the EPA agreed to issue the final CCR Rule by December 19, 2014.

Definition of Solid Waste Rule:

After many years, in 2008 EPA issued the DSW final rule, which excluded from hazardous waste regulations certain hazardous secondary materials being reclaimed if the generator met certain conditions that were tailored to show the recycling was legitimate and safe.

Definition of Solid Waste Rule: On January 29, 2009, the Sierra Club submitted a petition

under RCRA section 7004(a), 42 U.S.C. § 6974(a) to the Administrator of EPA requesting that the Agency repeal the October 2008 revisions to the definition of solid waste rule and stay implementation of the rule. The petition raised several issues, including concerns that the 2008 DSW rule may pose disproportionate impacts on minority and low-income communities and concerns about the effectiveness and protectiveness of the rule.

After reviewing the petition, and holding a public meeting and requesting written comments on the petition, the Agency decided to respond to the petition with a proposal to revise the DSW rule to address issues raised by the Sierra Club.

Definition of Solid Waste Rule:

The rule’s purpose is to increase safe recycling and to comport with court decisions that stated that materials reclaimed in a continuous process within the same generating industry are not discarded and are not a solid waste and therefore not a hazardous waste.

Definition of Solid Waste Rule: Under the rule, for hazardous secondary

materials to be exempt from the definition of solid waste several requirements must be met that ensure the material is a valuable commodity and is managed in a safe manner. The requirements differ depending on whether the recycling is "Under the Control of the Generator" (aka the "under control of the generator" exclusion) or whether the hazardous secondary materials are transferred to another facility for reclamation (aka the "transfer based" exclusion).

Definition of Solid Waste Rule: EPA published its proposed rule on July 22, 2011 (76

FR 44094), which proposed to replace the transfer-based exclusion with alternative hazardous waste requirements and also proposed modifications to the generator-controlled exclusion.

EPA also proposed to codify a definition of legitimate recycling and make modifications to variances and non-waste determinations under 40 CFR 260.30. EPA also sought comment on an exclusion for certain solvents being remanufactured and for adding certain requirements (legitimacy, contained, and notification) to a list of existing (pre-2008) exclusions.

Definition of Solid Waste Rule:

The signature deadline was originally, December 31, 2012, based on a court approved settlement agreement with the Sierra Club. EPA did not meet this deadline but we hope to have the rule finalized this year.

Solvent-Contaminated Industrial Wipes

In November 2003, EPA proposed to modify the RCRA Regulations for management of solvent-contaminated industrial wipes.

The Wipes Rule conditionally exempts from the definition of hazardous waste solvent-contaminated wipes being sent to both landfills and non-landfills (e.g., laundries and combustion) facilities.

The Rule also proposed to conditionally exclude laundered wipes from the definition of solid waste.

The Contaminated Wipes Rule was finalized July 31, 2013.

E-Manifest RevisionsThe Hazardous Waste Electronic Establishment Act

was signed into law on 10/5/2012.

It established the authority to collect fees, as well as the development of an electronic submission fee.

The Act requires that EPA issue regulations by October 5, 2013, that authorize the use of electronic manifests in lieu of the current manifest form.

On February, 2014, the EPA published the final rule.

Pharmaceuticals Proposed RuleThis rule was originally an amendment to the universal

waste rule.

The rule will facilitate pharmaceutical take-back programs. With the new rule, the concerns raised by the public comments regarding notification and tracking issues can be more fully addressed as well as other hazardous waste pharmaceutical management issues that are more specific to healthcare facilities.

This new proposed rulemaking will only pertain to those pharmaceutical wastes that meet the current definition of a RCRA hazardous waste and that are generated by healthcare-related facilities.

Episodic Generators Rule

Currently under development;

The rule is intended to eliminate confusion over the definition of episodic generation. (like lab cleanouts)

UST(Underground Storage Tank) Regulations Revisions

The 1988 UST regulations are being revised to incorporate the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The revisions will update outdated portions of the regulations due to changes in technology since 1988.

The revisions will also be updated and to make targeted changes to improve implementation of the regulations and to prevent UST releases.

UST Regulations Revisions

Some of the revision will include adding secondary containment requirements for new and replaced tanks and piping; operating training requirements, adding periodic operation and maintenance requirements for UST systems; adding new release prevention and detection technologies, removing certain deferrals, and updating state program approval requirements to incorporate these changes.

The EPA plans to promulgate these revisions this year.

National and Region 4’s RCRA Priorites

National Priority for Mining and Mineral Processing2005-2014

 

• This National Initiative has a special emphasis on mineral processing facilities that produce phosphoric acid and phosphate compounds because a growing body of evidence shows they cause widespread environmental damage.

• The object of the strategy is to reduce risk to human health and the environment by achieving increased compliance rates throughout the mineral processing and mining sectors and by ensuring that existing and potential harm are being appropriately addressed through enforcement and compliance assistance.

Export/E-Waste

Universal Waste Management

Centralized Waste Treatment Facilities

and

Zinc Hazardous Waste used by Fertilizer Recycling Facilities

Centralized Waste Treatment Facilities: These facilities conduct treatment of industrial solid waste from third-parties. Through recent inspections, EPA has identified several such facilities that were grossly mismanaging hazardous wastes, and treating and discharging these wastes without permits. This area of concern will include a focus on wastewater treatment units.

Zinc Hazardous Waste used by Fertilizer Recycling Facilities: EPA supports the environmentally beneficial recycling of hazardous wastes and secondary materials. However, sham recycling and recycling not done in compliance with RCRA requirements can result in significant adverse impacts to human health and the environment. This area of concern will include a focus on zinc fertilizer manufacturing that uses hazardous waste in the production process.

Coordination with OSHA

EPA Region 4 and OSHA have been harnessing efforts to better identify noncompliance at facilities across the southeast. In FY2014, this effort will be expanded to examine additional potential targets from the OSHA national and regional initiatives.