United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response.
(5305W)
EPA530-F-97-004
-February 1997
c/EPA
Office of Solid Waste
Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA FINALIZES REGULATIONS UNDER
RCRA FOR MILITARY MUNITIONS
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized regulations that clarify when conventional and
chemical military munitions become a hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA): Additionally, this rule amends existing regulations regarding emergency responses and RCRA
manifest requirements.
Background
Section 107 of the Federal Facilities
Compliance Act of 1992 requires EPA,
in consultation with the Department
of Defense (DOD) and the states to
issue a rule identifying when
conventional and chemical military
munitions become hazardous waste
under RCRA, and to provide for
protective storage and transportation
of that waste. ^
Action
The following summarizes how this
rule will impact the military and non-
military sectors.
Military
This rule establishes the regulatory
definition of solid waste as it applies, to
three specific categories of military
munitions: (1) unused munitions; (2)
munitions being used for their in-
tended purpose; and (3) used or fired
munitions. '. :
The rule conditionally exempts: (1)
from RCRA Manifest Requirements
and Container Marking Require-
ments, waste non-chemical military
munitions that are shipped from one
military-owned or -operated
Treatment, Storage, or Disposal
Facility to another in accordance with
DOD military munitions shipping
controls; (2) from RCRA Subtitle C <
storage regulations, waste non-
chemical military munitions subject to
the jurisdiction of the DOD Defense
Environmental Safety Board storage
standards.
This rule identifies four specific
circumstances under which an
unused munition is considered to
be a solid waste for regulatory
purposes: .(1) the unused munition is
"abandoned by being disposed of,
burned, or incinerated, or treated prior
to disposal;" (2) the unused munition
is removed from storage for purposes
of disposal or treatment prior to .
disposal; (3) the unused munition is
deteriorated, leaking, or damaged to
the point that it can no. longer be put
back into serviceable condition, and
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cannot be reasonably recycled or used
for other purposes; or (4) the munition
has been determined by an authorized
military official to be a solid waste.
Military munitions are not a solid
waste for regulatory purposes: (1)
when a munition is being used for its
intended purpose, which includes
when a munition is being used for the
training of military personnel; when, a
munition is being used for research,
development, testing, and evaluation;
and when a munition is destroyed
during range clearance operations at
active and inactive ranges; and (2)
when a munition that has not been
used or dis- charged, including
components thereof, is repaired,
reused, recycled, reclaimed,
disassembled, reconfigured, or
otherwise subjected to materials
recovery activities.
This rule also specifies that used or
fired munitions are solid waste
when they are removed from their
landing spot and then either: (1)
managed off-range (i.e., when
transported off-range and stored, re-
claimed, treated, or disposed of; or (2)
disposed of (i.e., buried or landfilled)
on-range. In both cases, when the
used or fired munition is a solid waste,
it is potentially subject to regulation
as a hazardous waste. Also, munitions
that land off-range, and that are not
promptly retrieved, are statutory solid
waste.
This rule postpones final action on the
statutory status of used or fired
munitions at closed or transferred
ranges, and the regulatory status of
used or fired munitions that are
recovered and then treated on-range
at a closed or transferred range.
Non-Military and Military
There are three aspects of the rule
.that extend beyond waste military
munitions and the military. The rule
sets forth new storage standards for
the management of all military and
non-military waste munitions and
explosives.
Secondly, the rule clarifies that
persons responding to time-critical
munitions and explosives emergencies
are not subject to RCRA Generator,
Transporter, and Permitting
Requirements.
Lastly, the rule exempts all generators'
and transporters, not just the military,
from the RCRA manifest for
transportation of hazardous waste on
public or private right-of-ways on or
along the border of contiguous
properties under the control of the
same person, regardless of whether
the contiguous properties are divided
by right-of-ways.
For More Information
This Fact Sheet and the Final Rule
are available on the Internet through
EPA Public Access Server. For more
information, contact the RCRA
Hotline at 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.
Paper copies of this Fact Sheet and
the Final Rule may also 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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