f/EPA
United.States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305WK
EPA530-F-96-010
March 1996
Office of Solid Waste
Environmental
Fact Sheet
HAZARDOUS WASTE IDENTIFICATION
RULE FOR CONTAMINATED MEDIA
(HWIR-Media)--PROPOSED RULE
,7/7 a continuing effort to reinvent and streamline environmental
regulations, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing
for comment a proposed rule which would reexamine many of the RCRA
Subtitle C treatment arid management standards for contaminated media
and other wastes managed in cleanups overseen by EPA or authorized
states. EPA anticipates the final rule will accelerate cleanups and reduce
their costs. - . ':''-''
Background ' :
Under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Congress
,l gave EPA the authority to regulate the management, treatment and disposal of
hazardous waste. Subtitle C regulations were originally primarily intended to
regulate currently generated hazardous wastes, not contaminated media and
other wastes resulting from cleanups. The application of existing Subtitle C
requirements to contaminated media and other cleanup wastes often frustrates
cleanups because it imposes unnecessary costs, delays and limits cleanup
-options, , _ -. ' : . .
This proposed rule "Requirements for Management of Hazardous
Contaminated Media" commonly referred to. as the "Hazardous Waste
Identification Rule for Contaminated Media (HWIR-media)" will address the
major RCRA Subtitle C management requirements that are considered the
biggest causes of problems and delays for cleanups. These requirements include
the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs),MinimumTechnological Requirements
(MTRs),and RCRA permitting procedures.
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. Action ; •'• ., - • ; •-.'••. •']'._'-.''.".•';' -••'••":•;•; :
The proposal woulid establish modified Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR)
treatment requirements, and permitting .procedures for contaminated media
which remain subject to the hazardous waste regulations. It would also relieve
much contaminated media of Minimum Technological Requirements (MTRs),
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and would.give EPA and authorized states the authority to exempt certain
contaminated media from regulation as hazardous wastes under Subtitle C of
RCRA. .
These provisions would withdraw and replace the existing regulations for.
Corrective Action Management Units (CAMUs). The rule would greatly simplify
the procedures for authorizing states for this rule, the Hazardous Waste
Identification Rule (HWIR-waste), and the Revised Technical Standards for
Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities. The proposal would also provide an
exemption from Subtitle C of RCRA for contaminated sediments dredged and
managed under permits from the Clean Water Act and the Marine Protection
Research and Sanctuaries Act.. ' : '
, HWlK-media would establish two new regulatory designations for
contaminated media that would otherwise be subject to regulation under the "
current RCRA Subtitle C regulations. Those two designations, "above the Bright
Line" and "below the Bright.line," would distinguish between media that must
remain in Subtitle C and media that are eligible for exemption from Subtitle C
requirements. HWTR-media proposes a more flexible set of regulatory standards
(by comparison to the current RCRA regulations) for those media which remain
subject to Subtitle.C. EPA and authorized States would have the authority to "
set site-specific waste management requirements for those "below the Bright
Line" media which they decided to exempt from the Subtitle C regulations.
The proposed rule would specify a "Bright Line" of constituent-specific
' concentrations for as many hazardous constituents as possible; that is, all
constituents for which the Agency has sufficient verified human health effects
data to calculate the Bright Line levels. If media contained concentrations of
any "Bright Line" constituent equal to or above the concentration specified in the
"Bright Line," then the media would be considered "aboye the Bright Line." The
Bright Line levels themselves are'based on a simple residential exposure
scenario; for soils, assuming ingestion and inhalation pf contaminants by
humans, and for groundwater, assuming direct ingestion of groundwater. In
setting these levels, EPA proposes to use a 1013 risk level for carcinogens and a
hazard index of 10 for non-carcinogens. i
This rule would replace a set of generic, national management standards for
cleanup wastes with a more flexible regulatory framework under RCRA. This
should enhance the abiHty of regulators to select common-sense remedies based
on site-specific conditions, at a wide variety of cleanup sites, while .still ensuring
that threats to human health and the environment are minimized. EPA strongly
encourages public comment on this proposal.
Applicability
This rule can only be applied to cleanups being overseen by EPA or an
.authorized state. It applies only to contaminated media that are regulated as
hazardous (i.e., that exhibit a hazardous characteristic, or are contaminated
with listed hazardous waste). Some provisions and some alternative options also
apply to non-media remediation wastes. . ,
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!'For More Information , : ; ,
" The Federal Register notice and this fact sheet are available in electronic
format on .the Internet through the EPA Public Access Server. For additional
information or. to order paper copies of the Federal Register notice, callthe'
RCRA Hotline at (800) 424^9346 outside the Washington, D.C. area, or (703)
412-9810 in the Washington, D.C. area. Copies of documents applicable to .this
rule may be obtained by writing: RCRA Information Center (RIG), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste (5305W), 401 M Street
]SW, Washington, D.C. 20460.. . '\ :
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