United States              Solid Waste and
                      Environmental Protection       Emergency Response           EPA530-F-95-012
                      Agency                  (5305)                     May1995

                      Office of Solid Waste
x°/EPA         Environmental
                      Fact  Sheet
                      Proposed Standards for Nonmunicipal
                      SolidWaste Facilities

                         As a result of a lawsuit requiring the Environmental Protection Agency
                      (EPA) to fulfill its statutory mandate, the Agency is proposing regulations for
                      disposal facilities that may receive hazardous waste from conditionally
                      exempt small quantity generators (CESQG). Because these facilities pose
                      comparatively small risks, EPA intends to impose less costly requirements
                      that are adequately protective of human health and the environment.
        Background
           Section 4010(c) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
        requires EPA to revise standards for nonmunicipal solid waste facilities that
        may receive CESQG or household hazardous waste. On October 9, 1991,
        EPA promulgated Criteria (Part 258) that apply to municipal solid waste
        landfills (MSWLFs) that receive household hazardous waste and CESQG
        hazardous waste; nonmunicipal solid waste disposal facilities were not
        covered by these Criteria.

           EPA elected to regulate municipal solid waste landfills first because they
        present higher environmental risks than nonmunicipal solid waste disposal
        facilities that receive CESQG waste. Although these facilities pose
        comparatively small risks, the Agency is taking regulatory action to satisfy
        the conditions of a lawsuit.

        Action
           EPA is proposing that any existing nonmunicipal solid waste disposal
        facility that receives CESQG hazardous waste comply with new technical
        standards. Facilities that receive CESQG hazardous waste will be subject to
        location restrictions, ground-water monitoring requirements, and corrective
        action standards being proposed in Section 257.5. The proposed rule also
        will permit disposal of CESQG waste in MSWLFs when such landfills meet
        the federal Criteria. Reuse or recycling facilities remain an option for
        managing CESQG hazardous waste. Implementation of these requirements
        will be the responsibility of state agencies.
           Generally, three types of facilities that receive CESQG hazardous waste
        may be affected by this proposal:

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   •  Off-site commercial industrial facilities, which generally are
      designed and monitored; so it is likely that they already meet these
      proposed requirements.
   •  Industrial facilities that may be co-disposing of CESQG waste
      with solid waste on-site, which are apt to discontinue this practice
      due to the potential cost.  Instead, they will send their CESQG waste
      to an appropriate off-site facility.
   •  Construction and demolition waste facilities that receive CESQG
      hazardous waste are likely to be affected the most by this proposal.
      Minima!!}1, these facilities will have to comply with the new technical
      standards in Section 257.5.
   This proposal uses the Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Criteria as a
baseline for the technical standards. The Criteria are effective standards
that can be applied at rionmunicipal solid waste disposal facilities that
receive CESQG waste in order to protect human health and the
environment. They incorporate substantial flexibility for EPA-approved
states to apply the standards on a site-specific basis. An alternative
regulatory approach using general performance standards that would
provide more flexibility also is proposed.

More Information
   The Federal Register notice and this fact sheet are available in electronic
format on the Internet System through the EPA Public Access Server at
gopher.epa.gov. For the text of the FR notice, choose: Rules, Regulations,
and Legislation; then, Waste Programs/EPA Waste Information- GPO;
finally, Year/Month/Day. This fact sheet and other background documents
are available under:  ERA Offices and Regions/Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER) /Office of Solid Waste/ Nonhazardous
Waste/Municipal Solid Waste/Industrial Waste.
   For additional information or to order paper copies of the Federal
Register notice, call the  RCRA Hotline st 1-800 424-9346 or TDD 1-800-
553-7672 (hearing impaired).
   Copies of documents applicable to this rule may be obtained by writing:
RCRA Information Center (RIC), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Office of Solid Waste (5305), 401 M Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20460.

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