United States             Solid Waste and
                     Environmental Protection      Emergency Response          EPA530-F-94-024
                     Agency                (5305)                   August 1994

                     Office of Solid Waste
x°/EPA         Environmental
                     Fact  Sheet
                     Certain Hazardous Waste Slag
                     Uses Now Subject to Regulation


        Background
          The regulations under 40 CFR 266.20 conditionally exempt
        hazardous waste that is used in a manner constituting disposal
        (applied to or placed on land), as well as waste-derived products that
        are produced (in whole or in part) from hazardous waste, and used in a
        manner constituting disposal, from the Environmental Protection
        Agency's (EPA's) hazardous waste disposal regulations. Under a
        generic exclusion promulgated for high-temperature metal recovery
        (HTMR) slags derived from hazardous waste (K061,  K062, and F006),
        these slags are nonhazardous if generic exclusion levels for  13 metals
        are met, and if the slags  are disposed of in nonhazardous waste
        landfills. EPA was challenged legally over the regulatory anomaly that
        effectively allowed slags used in an uncontrolled manner to be subject
        to lesser standards than  slags disposed of in controlled landfills. To
        respond to the legal challenge, EPA agreed to establish appropriate
        generic exclusion levels or to prohibit nonencapsulated uses of K061
        slags.

        Action
          This rule effectively prohibits anti-skid/de-icing uses of HTMR slag
        residues derived from hazardous wastes K061, K062, and F006, as
        waste-derived products placed on the land. This use is not prohibited
        when these wastes comply with all federal requirements for the land
        disposal of hazardous waste.
          This rule does not prohibit other uses of HTMR slags that comply
        with Section 266.20 requirements. The HTMR slags also may continue
        to be disposed of in nonhazardous waste landfills if the residuals can
        meet the risk-based exclusion levels specified in Section 261.3(c)(2).

        Contact
          For more information  or to order a copy of the Federal Register
        notice, contact the RCRA Hotline, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30
        p.m. EST. The national, toll-free number is (800) 424-9346;  TDD (800)
        553-7672 (hearing impaired); in Washington, D.C., the number is (703)
        412-9810, TDD (703) 412-3323.
                                                                Printed on Recycled Paper

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