United States Solid Waste and
Environmental . . • ' Emergency Response EPA530-F-96-036
Protection Agency (5305W) ' June 1996
Office of Solid Waste ~- ^~ ?• . . -•
&EPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
Standards Issued for Ndnmunicipa!
Solid Waste Units that Receive CESQG
Hazardous Waste
To fulfill its statutory, mandate, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is issuing regulations for nonmunicipal, nonhazardous waste disposal
units that may receive hazardous waste from conditionally exempt small
quantity generators (CESQG). Because these facilities pose comparatively
• - •• small risks, EPA is imposing requirements that are adequately protective of
human health and the environment, but less costly.
Background
Section 4010(c) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
requires EPA to revise the existing Part 257 standards for nonhazardous waste
disposal facilities that may receive CESQG or household hazardous waste. EPA
has issued Criteria (Part 258) that apply to municipal solid waste landfills
(MSWLFs) that receive household hazardous waste and CESQG waste. These
Part 258 Criteria do not apply to nonmunicipal, nonhazardous waste disposal
units that do not receive household hazardous waste.
EPA elected to regulate municipal solid waste landfills first because they
present higher environmental risks than nonmunicipal, nonhazardous waste
disposal units that receive CESQG waste. Although nonmunicipal, .
nonhazardous units pose comparatively small risks, the Agency is taking
regulatory action to satisfy the statutory mandate of RCRA Section 4010(c)." -
Action
EPA is issuing regulations that require any existing nonmunicipal,
nonhazardous waste disposal unit that receives CESQG Waste to comply with
new technical standards. Units that receive CESQG hazardous waste will be
subject to location restrictions, ground-water monitoring requirements, and
corrective action standards under Section 257.5-257.30. This rule will continue
to allow disposal of CESQG hazardous waste in MSWLFs when such landfills
meet Part 258 Criteria. Reuse or recycling facilities also continue to be an
acceptable option for managing CESQG hazardous waste.
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Generally, three types of facilities that may receive GESQG waste may be
affected by this rule: ' .
• Off-site commercial industrial units, which generally are stringently
designed and monitored; so it is likely that they already meet these
requirements. • .
• Industrial units that may be co-disposing of CESQG waste with
industrial, nonhazardoiis waste on-site, which are apt to discontinue this
practice due to the potential cost. These facilities are likely to send their -
CESQG waste to an appropriate off-site unit.
• Construction and demolition waste units that receive CESQG
hazardous waste are the, class of units most affected by this rule. These
facilities will have-to comply with the new technical standards in Sections
257.5-257.30, if they receive any CESQG wastes.
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This regulation uses the Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Criteria (Part 258)
as a baseline for the technical standards. The Criteria are standards which
provide adequate environmental protection, and which can be applied at
nonmunicipal, nonhazardous waste disposal units that receive CESQG waste.
They incorporate substantial flexibility for EPA-approved states to allow
owners/operators to meet the performance standards on a 'site-specific basis.
For 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. For additional information
or to order paper copies of the Federal Register notice, call the RCRA Hotline. Callers
within the Washington Metropolitan Area must dial 703-412-9810 or TDD 703-412-3323
(hearing impaired). Long-distance callers may call 1-800-424-9346 or TDD 1-800-553-
7672. The RCRA. Hotline is open Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Eastern
Standard Time,-Write to the RCRA Information Center (5305W), US EPA, 401 M Street,
SW, Washington, DC 20.460. . ,
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