EPA regulates hazardous waste
“These are the most complex regulations EPA has ever gone forward with,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Eckardt C. Beck in describing the May 19, 1980 regulations which set forth the first of several phases to control hazardous wastes from “cradle to grave.” The regulations, promulgated two years after the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) deadline, are accompanied by approximately 6000 pages of background documents and are, by EPA’s admission, “the bare outline of those regulations that will be coming.” The burdens on industry are substantial. The paperwork aspects alone will consume 1.5 million hours annually, more than double the amount for all other EPA programs, the Office of Management and Budget estimates. The May 19 regulations will apply to 67 000 facilities as compared to the 56 000 point sources permitted under the Clean Water Act. However, it is estimated that there are as many as 750 000 facilities in the U S . which produce hazardous waste and which could ultimately be subject to RCRA regulation. Identification and notification These regulations establish that those who generate, transport, treat, store, or dispose of solid waste have the onus to determine whether the waste
is “hazardous” and to notify EPA if it is. This identification process is not simple. It is contingent on whether the waste is one of 85 waste streams or 416 chemicals listed in the regulations or whether it has the “characteristics” of “ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity.” In many cases extensive testing will be required to make that determination. Small generators, or those which produce or accumulate less than 1000 kg/month (or less than 100 kg/month of one of 118 acutely hazardous wastes) are generally exempted. They must nonetheless dispose of their waste in approved federal, state, or municipal facilities. The regulations require that the agency receive formal notification of a hazardous waste by no later than Aug. 18,1980 and EPA is now mailing forms to 400 000 potential sources. EPA will then issue an identification number to each notifier. After Nov. 19, 1980, the effective date of the regulations, it will be illegal to transport, treat, store, or dispose of hazardous wastes without this identification number. Permitting procedures The heart of the hazardous-waste regulatory scheme is the permit program, which applies to anyone who owns or operates a hazardous-waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility. “Part A” of the application solicits only very general information and must be submitted by Nov. 19, 1980. In addition, a facility must comply with “Interim Status Standards” (ISS), which are largely administrative and include such requirements as detailed record keeping, the preparation of contingency plans, and personnel training, but in general don’t require retrofitting of the facility. Assuming a facility has an identification number. has filed its “Part A”
0013-936X/80/0914-0777$01.0010 @ 1980 American Chemical Society
application, and is in compliance with the ISS, it will be given “interim status,” enabling it to continue operation until the Phase I1 regulations are promulgated and it can apply for a final permit. The Phase I1 regulations, scheduled for promulgation in November 1980, will contain the “Part B” application guidelines and specify the requirements for the final permit program. It is already clear that rather than providing a uniform set of rules which can be nationally applied, the regulations will rely heavily on “best engineering judgment.” Despite the thousands of pages of background documents, the first round of RCRA permits, which will remain in effect for up to 10 years, will be drafted by subjective case-by-case analysis. Over the next five years, work will continue to develop more detailed standards. These will be incorporated into Phase.111 regulations which will “supplant the Phase I1 factors in the permitting program and provide more certainty to the permitting process.” Complexity and controversy The first phase of the RCRA regulations are the most comprehensive and complex rule making in EPA’s history. Nonetheless, many of the most potentially controversial aspects are not addressed, For example, the regulations contain no affirmative siting authority. Therefore, extensive dialogue and compromise between industry, the public, and all levels of government will be needed if adequate disposal sites are to be found. The manner in which EPA and industry reach accommodation during the next several months over the implementation of Phase I and the planning for Phase I1 will preview just how protracted the ultimate solution to our hazardouswaste problem will be. Volume 14, Number 7, July 1980
777
