Wmte management regulations Waste estimates that 1200-1500 faciities will be requid to certify, and onehalf of these are predicted to close rather than continue operations. In some states, the only aeceptable means of meeting the f m c i a l responsibility requirements is to obtain an insurance policy that protects against lia-
On July 15, 1985, EPA promulgated a
fdrule amending existing hazardous waste regulations to reflect the major changes introduced by the Hazardow and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, which amended the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 (Fed. Regist. 1985, 50, 28702). Readiig the revised regulations brings to mind the old saw about the three laws of thermodynamics: The f m t says you can’t win, the second says you can’t break even, and the third says you can’t get out of the game. The. new rules, most of which take e m immediately, identify 25 majo changes. They effectively eliminate th “grandfathering” of numerous facilities. The rules also require all interimstatus facilities to submit Part B applications-to finalize their facility permits under RCRA-by Nov. 8, 1985. Even if a Part B permit has been applied for, facity owners and operators must still certify that they are meeting certain c o m p l i i requirements (e.g., ftnancal responsibility) by No\ 8, 1985. Anyone who wants to get out of the game must also meet certain closure require.ments. Those who decide not to maintain interim status (therefore closing a facility) must submit closure plans by Nov. 8, 1985.
Certifkationrepuiments The.certification requirements for facilitiesplanning either to continue operations or to close after Nov. 8 include showing that groundwater monitoring has been adequately implemented at eacb hazardous waste storage or disposal facility. EPA‘s office of Solid
..le amendments’ tougher provisions The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to RCRA include the following changes. Placement of bulk liquid hazardous waste and nonhazardous waste liquids in landfills will be banned. New permitting and interim-status requirements will go into effect for double liners and leachate collection systems at surface impoundments and landfills. There is a new definition of reg lated unit for purposes of the groun water monitoring and response pi gram. Corrective actions for solid was management units at permitted faL.. .. ities have been specified. Doubleliner and other variances from groundwater monitoring requirements are no longer allowed. New reporting requirements for small-quantity generators and exporters of hazardous wastes are in effect. Facility permits are now limited to 10 years. EPA’s authority to add conditions to a permit beyond those provided for in the regulations and to foster innovative research and development has been extended. * There are now additional criteria for removing a waste from the RCRA list of hazardous wastes. Facilities that fail to submit Part B applications within specified deadlines or that fail to self-certify compliance with groundwater monitoring and financial responsibility requirments will no longer be allowed terim status and will have to close
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bility for groundwater contamination or personal injury after site closure. Facility owners and operators will be f a d with the additional problem of obtaining coverage from the rapidly dwindliig number of insnrance companies that provide such protection. In a a t i o n , all applicants who have completed Part B of the permit applications must have provided EPA with data to assess potential human health or environmentally related exposures to regulated wastes. Only now is EPA developing guidelies on how to collect ne~essarydata or to conduct such an assessment. Those facilities applying for a Part B permit before the deadline and those planning to close must also meet this reqnirement.
Enforcement will be strict EPA intends to enforce the new deadlines strictly. Gene Lucero, director of the Office of Waste Programs Enforcement, has described the agency’s enforcemeut pnorities: “EPA is very serious about the end game. Those owners and operators not certifying either financial responsibility or groundwater monitoring and therefore closing will have a high priority for enforcement action. We intend to assure that they are closed, we intend to assure that they do not receive any additional hazardous materials. Also, we intend to look very carehlly at those owners and operators who have no momtonng wells in place or who are subject to uncontested EPA compliance orders and those who have contested orders but have not yet remedied their deficiencies.” The agency is currently preparing technical and enforcement guidance documents related to implementlng the new regulations; these materials are. likely to receive intense scr~tinyfrom both the scientific and the regulated communities, given the infant state of many hazardous waste management practices. Richard M. Do&, Ph.D., is a W i n ington, D.C.,consultant to Environmental Research & Technology, Inc. Envlmn. Sci.Technoi.. Vd. IS. No.9, 1%
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