United States Solid Waste and
Environmental Protection Agency Emergency Response EPA530-F-98-032
(5305W) November 1998
http://www.epa.gov
Office of Sol id Waste
f/EPA Environmental
No Hazardous Waste Listing Determined
for 14 solvents
Background
Section 3001 of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act required the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and list those wastes
that must be managed as hazardous waste under Subtitle C of RCRA. In 1980,
EPA listed certain chemicals as hazardous waste spent solvents. In 1986, new
spent solvents listings raised the total number of listings to 30. Many of these
solvents were widely used in many different industries, and their use had
resulted in environmental damage at many sites. Although the Agency listed
these solvents as hazardous, other solvents potentially hazardous to human
health and the environment were not examined. As a result of a consent decree
issues in June 1991, EPA agreed to make hazardous waste listings
determination on wastes generated from 14 additional chemicals used as
solvents.
Action
EPA is finalizing a proposal not to amend the regulations for hazardous
waste management under RCRA for wastes generated during the used of certain
organic solvents. The Agency will not list, as hazardous spent solvents, those
wastes that are generated from the use of any of the following 14 chemicals
which EPA found are sometimes used as solvents: acetonitrile, benzyl chloride,
cuemene, cyclohexanol, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, epichlorohydrin, ethylene
dibromide, 2-ethoxyethanol acetate, furfural, isophorone, 2-methoxyethanol, 2-
methoxyethanol acetate, methyl chloride, and phenol.
Based on current management practices and low levels of exposure, EPA has
determined that those solvent wastes not already managed as hazardous pose
little or no risk to human health or the environment. Only a few of these
chemicals are widely used as solvents, and most have either no significant
solvent use or only very specialized solvent use. The proposal is not a
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determination that these chemicals are nontoxic. The vast majority of the
nonwastewaters residuals generated from solvent uses are, in fact, already
regulated as hazardous waste because they exhibit a hazardous waste
characteristic. Rather, this is a determination that these specific wastes do not
need to be added to the RCRA spent solvent hazardous waste listings.
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. The notice is
available http://www.epa.gov/rules, regulations, and legislation. This fact sheet
and other documents related to this rule are available under "EPA Offices and
Regions." For additional information or to order paper copies of any documents,
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
operates weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Write to the RCRA Information Center
(5305W), US EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460.
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