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.
   - , *    .   ;   ; .     .  " "     -   ,     '     ' -    ' \. \  • •
 . 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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