EPA
United States Solid Waste and
Environmental Protection Emergency Response EPA530-F-94-031
Agency (5305) November 1994
Regulation of Fuel
Blending and Related
Treatment and Storage
Activities Memo
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ,
WASHINGTON, O.C. 20460
OCT 17 1994
SOLID WASTI AND f Mf flOf NCV MfS'OMSfr
MKMOftAUDTTM
STJBJBCTi Regulation of Fuel Blending and Related Treatment and
Director
Solid Waste
TOi Hazardous Waste Management Division Directors
Regions X-X
The purpose of this memorandum is to address a number of
questions under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA")
regarding the regulatory status of hazardous waste fuel blending
activities. The memorandum is concerned primarily with.
facilities that are commonly known as "fuel blenders,' although
the waste management activities of these facilities most often
include a set of integrated waste processing operations more
diverse and complex than just the fuel blending activities
themselves. A number of issues have been raised regarding the
applicability of the RCRA permitting requirements and the land
disposal restriction (LDR) requirements to these facilities. The
guidance provided below discusses these issues generally.
However, since many fuel blending operations are complex, there
may be some facility/-specific regulatory concerns that are best
addressed on a case-by-case basis.
The RCRA program regulates hazardous waste storage,
treatment and disposal activities with the permitting
requirements of 40 CPR Part 270, and with unit-specific standards
and other substantive requirements of Parts 264-268. Hazardous
waste fuel blending facilities have activities that constitute
storage and/or treatment of hazardous wastes. Consequently, they
are subject to full RCRA regulation, including permitting/with
few exceptions as discussed below.
Fuel blending operations are addressed in Part 266.
Specifically, 1266.101(c) states that, 'owners and operators of
facilities that store hazardous waste that is burned in a boiler
or industrial furnace are subject to the applicable provisions of
Parts 264, 265 and 270 of this chapter..." This provision
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further states, "These standards apply to storage by the burner
as well as to storage facilities operated by intermediaries
(processors, blenders, distributors, etc.) between the generator
•and the burner.*
Some fuel Blenders have asserted that, since their
activities are considered recycling, the blending operation is
exempt from permit requirements according to §261.6(c)(i).
Section 261.6(a)(2), however, clearly states that hazardous
wastes which are recycled materials and are burned for energy
recovery "...are regulated under Subparts C through H of Part 266
of this chapter and all applicable provisions in Parts 270 and
124 of this chapter." This provision makes it clear that fuel
blending is not exempt: from regulatory standards or permitting.
It is possible that fuel blending in tanks or containers
could be exempt from permitting, but only if the blending occurs
at the site where the wastes being blended are generated. The
permit-exempt management would have to meet the provisions of
§262.34, which requires the waste to be processed within 90 days
in units that comply with the technical standards of Part 265,
Subpart J (for tanks), and Subpart I (for containers). The
generator must also comply with specific emergency response and
personnel training provisions of Part 265. This permit exemption
is not available if the unit is classified under Part 265 as a ,
thermal treatment unit (Subpart P). Thus, fuel blending is
treated like any other treatment or storage activity for purposes
of qualifying for the ninety-day generator permit exemption.
There may be some recycling operations at a fuel blending
facility that are exempt from permitting, even though the fuel
blending process itself is not exempt. The exemption is only
available to units that are solely engaged in permit-exempt
recycling; if the reclaimed materials are sometimes sent for use
as a fuel, then the recycling unit would be subject to the
permitting standards*. In States that are authorized for the RCRA
program?* theF Stated-recycling exemptions must be as stringent as
the Federal program.
Annrooriafea Wait
Most fuel blending facilities employ unit operations that
are regulated under the tank standards of Subpart J of either
Part 264 or 265. However, some facilities are using other
devices such as shredders, grinders, filters, microwave units and
distillation columns in their hazardous waste management
operations. Depending on the specific configuration of these
operations, they are permitted as either tank systems (including
ancillary equipment) or as miscellaneous units under Subpart X.
Furthermore, additional permit conditions may be imposed using
the omnibus authority of RCRA Section 3005(c)(3) as necessary to
protect human health and the environment. Since these operations
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£fL n^Bpi JJ? 8i?eA~?e fPPr°Priat« Permitting authority (the
« !*2 JS£ J ?lonal Office) muat or 9rcat«r tot** organic concentratioS? and
(2) leaxs from equipment that contains or contacts hazardous
waste streams with 10 percent by weight or greater totsa
or^anics. Due to the typically high organic content of the
hazardous wastes managed at fuel blending facilities, we would
expect the Subpart AA and BB requirements to. be applicable^
The AA and BB requirements are also applicable to hazardous,
waste recycling units if they are located it hazardous wast™
management facilities that have other units subject to
permitting. Although some recycling units are exempt from the
unit-specific standards of Parts 264 and 265 pursuant to
§261. 6 (c), such units must comply with any applicable AA and BB
requirements of those Parts. See §261. 6 (d>.
On July 22, 1991 '(56 £R 33490), the Agency proposed unit-
specific air emission standards that would provide additional
controls on tanks, containers, and Subpart X units, among others.
When these standards are promulgated as final rules (promulgation
<«,o, acilities are those transportation related sites
including loading docks, parking areas, storage areas and other
similar areas where shipments of hazardous wastes are held or
repackaged during the normal course of transportation. Section
263.12 allow* these facilities to store wastes in containers
without RCRA permits as long as specific packing requirements are
followed and the wastes do not remain on-site for more t-h»n
10 days. Transfer operations are limited to bulking and
consolidation of wastes. Selective blending of hazardous waste
fuels to meet a fuel specification at a transfer facility is not
an appropriate activity under 1263.12; this would constitute
hazardous waste treatment requiring a permit„
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Land Disposal Restrigfciqag
Generators N
i
Generators»of prohibited hazardous wastea (i.e. hazardous
wastes required to meet a treatment standard before they can be
land disposed) must comply with certain notification,
certification, and recordkeeping requirements designed to assure
proper tracking of the waste and adequate notice to the treatment
facility of applicable treatment standards, as set forth in
40 CPR 268.7(a). (Note that if an offsite fuel blender/multi-
purpose facility treats or otherwise manages a waste such that a
new point of generation occurs, then the offsita facility becomes
a generator and is therefore subject to these generator
requirements.) These provisions apply whenever a generator ships
a prohibited waste to another entity for eventual land disposal,
and so apply when generators send prohibited wastes to fuel
blenders/multi-purpose treatment/storage facilities. Although
the wastes may be combusted, some residue (such as combustion
ash) would be land disposed and must meet the treatment standard
applicable to the combusted hazardous waste (as discussed at 5a
£R 29872; May 24, 1993). Information normally required to be
included in the notice are:
- BPA hazardous waste number
• constituents of concern
- treatability group
- manifest number
- waste analysis data (where available)
According to §268.9(a), these provisions also apply when
generators send characteristic wastes off-site. If the generator
treats the characteristic waste to make it non-hazardous before
sending it to a fuel blender/multi-purpose facility, a one-time
notice and certification must be placed in the generator's files
and alsa be sent to the BPA region or authorized State, according
to 5268.9(d). This one-time notice provision applies only to
cases where wastes are hazardous by reason of characteristic
alone, (as discussed in 55 ZB 22662-63; June 1, 1990), and so
does not apply when, a mixture includes a listed waste.
There are circumstances where an otherwise-prohibited waste
destined for combustion may not be subject to LDR requirements
(including the tracking requirements) because neither the waste
nor the residue from treating the waste is subject to a treatment
standard when land disposed. This could occur where hazardous
wastes are going to be burned for energy recovery in a Bevill
device, such as a boiler or cement kiln. If the wastes are
burned for energy recovery in a Bevill device that processes
normal Bevill raw materials as well, and the Bevill device can
show that its residues were not aignificantly affected by its
hazardous waste-burning activities (the "significantly affected"
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test is found in 40 CFR 266.112), then the residues can retain
Bevill-exempt statue and not have to meet LDR treatment
standards. Further, if the Bevill device produces a product that
is used in a manner constituting disposal (e.g., a cement or
light-weight aggregate kiln), and the hazardous waste is burned
for energy recovery rather than for destruction or as an
ingredient, then the product is not required to meet LDR
treatment standard*, in these situations where neither residues
nor products are subject to LDR treatment standards, the original
generator's waste would not be considered prohibited from land
disposal. According to §268.7(a)(6), if such a generator can
assure that the conditions discussed above are all true regarding
the disposition of its otherwise-prohibited waste, then the
generator is only required to prepare a one-time notice for its
facility records documenting this disposition and not to comply
with other tracking/notification requirements. If a generator is
not in a position to know that this is the case, then the full
notification/certification requirements under §268.7(a) would
apply.
Fuel Blending Facilities
According to S268.7(b), treatment facilities (e.g., fuel
blenders, BIFs, etc.) must also prepare a notification and •*
certification for prohibited wastes. These provisions ordinarily
apply to fuel blending operations because combustion residues are
ultimately land disposed and the combustion residue ordinarily
remains subject to LDR treatment standards. These treatment
standards would continue to apply to characteristic wastes that
no longer exhibit a characteristic when land disposed, according
to 5268.40(e), so that de-characterized residues from burning
prohibited characteristic wastes are still subject to treatment
standards. (Note, that for D001 wastes, combustion residues meet
the BDAT standard since these standards require a method of
treatment rather than treating hazardous constituents to a
specified concentration level.)
Because fuel blenders are intermediate treatment operations,
they must comply with §268.7(b) (6) (assuming the intermediate
treatment does not fully achieve the treatment standard).
Specifically, this section requires the fuel blender to prepare
the same notification and certification that is required for
generators, which'in some cases will be the one-time notification
discussed for generators above and in other cases will be
applicable to each waste shipaent. The notification and
certification would accompany the blended fuel when it leaves the
site to be transported to the subsequent treater (e.g., BIF).
»
If you have: any questions oa the applicability of the
regulations and permitting requirements for fuel blending
activities, please call Jaaes Michael of my staff at
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(703) 308-8610. Question* on the applicability of the land
disposal restrictions (LDR) on fuel blending activities should be
directed to Rhonda Craig of my staff at (703) 308-8771? ™OUAG oe
cc: RCRA Branch Chiefs, Regions* I-Z
RCRA Permit Section Chiefs, Regions I-X
Enforcement Section Chiefs, Regions I-*
Waste Combustion Permit Writers' Workgroup
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