United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(OS-305)
EPA/530-SW-89-050
September 1989
Modifying
RCRA Permits
Introduction
The Resource Conservation and Recov-
ery Act (RCRA) requires each hazardous
waste treatment, storage, and disposal fa-
cility to manage hazardous waste in accor-
dance with a permit issued by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
or a state agency that has a hazardous
waste program approved by EPA. A
RCRA permit establishes the facility's op-
erating conditions for managing hazardous
waste. EPA and state agencies use the per-
mit to specify the administrative and tech-
nical standards for each facility. Over
time, however, the facility needs to modify
the permit to improve equipment or make
changes hi response to new standards.
Recognizing this, EPA established pro-
cedures early in the program for modifying
permits. The Agency has now revised
these procedures to provide more flex-
ibility to both owners and operators of fa-
cilities and EPA and to increase public
involvement. This brochure briefly de-
scribes EPA's new procedures for modify-
ing RCRA permits.
These procedures are effective now in
states where EPA administers the RCRA
program. However, authorized states will
not use these procedures until they have
adopted them as part of their own
programs.
The Old Process
Acknowledging that a permit would
need to be modified for various reasons
during its life, EPA established in 1980 a
process for modifying them. The process
included different procedures for major
and minor modifications. A minor permit
modification allowed a limited number
of minor changes to occur, after EPA
reviewed and approved the modification
request. There was no requirement for
public notice and comment.
For major modifications, EPA would fol-
low procedures that were almost the same
as those for issuing an initial permit.
These procedures included developing a
draft permit modification, announcing in a
local newspaper and on the radio the avail-
ability of the proposed modification,
providing a 45-day public comment
period, and, if requested, holding a public
hearing. Public participation was limited
to the specific permit conditions being
modified.
A Need for Change
The old permit modification process was
becoming increasingly unwieldy. It was
impeding the ability of treatment, storage,
and disposal facilities to respond quickly
to improvements in technology and shifts
in the types of wastes being generated.
This made the routine changes necessary
for effective operations more difficult to
accomplish. Furthermore, the procedures
often did not involve the public early
enough in the modification process.
In response to these concerns, EPA de-
veloped new procedures with help from
representatives from states and industrial,
environmental, and public interest groups.
The new process provides more flexibility
for facilities to respond to changing con-
ditions, clean up waste, and generally
improve their waste management opera-
tions. In addition, the new procedures al-
low for more public involvement by
expanding public notification and par-
ticipation opportunities.
The Congress, in an effort to address the nation's growing concern about its hazardous and solid waste problem,
enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984
greatly expanded RCRA and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) authority to regulate these wastes.
As a result, EPA is developing regulations and programs to reduce, recycle, and treat wastes; restrict land disposal;
and require corrective action for releases of hazardous, wastes, or their constituents, into the environment. EPA's
Office of Solid Waste, through its publications, aims to foster public understanding and encourage citizen involvement
in helping to manage the nation's waste problem.
Printed on recycled paper.
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The New Process
The new process establishes three
classes of permit modifications and sets
administrative procedures for approving
modifications in each class.
* Class One addresses routine and admin-
istrative changes. Lowest range of permit
modifications.
• Class Two primarily addresses improve-
ments in technology and management
techniques. Middle range of
modifications.
* Class Three deals with major changes to
a facility and its operations. Highest
range of modifications.
Class One Modifications
Class One modifications do not substan-
tially alter the conditions in the permit or
reduce the facility's ability to protect
human health and the environment. Such
changes may include
• Improving administrative and routine
functions.
• Upgrading plans and records maintained
by the facility.
• Replacing some equipment with func-
tionally equivalent equipment.
Most Class One changes do not require
approval by the authorized permitting
agency —either EPA or a state— before
they are implemented. There are several
types of changes, however, that may
require such approval. EPA may deny
any Class One modification.
Notifying the Public. Within 90 days
of implementing a change, a facility mak-
ing a Class One modification must notify
the public by sending a notice to all parties
on its mailing list. This mailing list in-
cludes people and organizations who have
asked to be notified of the facility's ac-
tivities. The list is maintained by the per-
mitting agency. Citizens may be added to
the mailing list by sending a written re-
quest to the agency. Any member of the
public may ask EPA to review a Class One
modification.
Class Two Modifications
Class Two modifications include those
changes that enable a facility to respond to
variations in the types and quantities of
wastes that it manages, technological
advancements, and new regulatory re-
quirements. Class Two changes do not
substantially alter the facility's design or
the management practices prescribed by
the permit. They do not reduce—and in
most cases should enhance—the facility's
ability to protect human health and the en-
vironment. Under some circumstances, the
permitting agency may determine that the
modification request should follow the
more restrictive Class Three procedures.
Class Two modifications address
changes like
• Increases of 25 percent or less in a facil-
ity's tank treatment or storage capacity.
• Authorization to treat or store new
wastes that do not require different man-
agement practices.
• Modifications to improve the design of
regulated units or improve management
practices.
The new procedures require the facility
to submit a request for approval of the
change to the permitting agency. The re-
quest describes the change, explains why
it is needed, and provides information
showing that the change complies with
EPA's technical standards for the facility.
For Class Two modifications, a facility
may begin construction 60 days after sub-
mitting a request, although the permitting
agency may delay all or part of the con-
struction.
Involving the Public. The permit
holder must notify people and organiza-
tions on the facility mailing list about the
modification request by sending them a let-
ter and publishing a notice in a major local
newspaper. The notice must appear within
seven days before or after the facility sub-
mits the request to the permitting agency.
The newspaper notice marks the beginning
of a 60-day comment period and an-
nounces the time and place of an informal
public meeting.
This public comment period is an op-
portunity for the public to review the facil-
ity's permit modification plans at the same
time as the permitting agency—early in
the process. All written comments submit-
ted during the 60-day comment period will
be considered by the agency before a final
decision is made on the modification
request.
The public meeting is conducted by the
permittee and is held no fewer than 15
days after the start of the comment period
and no less than 15 days before it ends.
The purpose of this meeting is to provide
for an exchange of views between the pub-
lic and the facility's owner or operator and,
if possible, to resolve any issues concern-
ing the permit modification. The meeting
is less formal than the public hearings held
when a new RCRA permit is under devel-
opment. Because the meeting is intended
to be a dialogue between the facility owner
or operator and its neighbors, the permit-
ting agency is not required to attend the
meeting. EPA believes that the meeting
will result in more public comments being
submitted to the agency and, perhaps, vol-
untary revisions to the permittee's modi-
fication request.
To inform citizens about how the facility
has met the conditions of the permit, the
permitting agency must make the facility's
compliance history available to the public.
A compliance history may include a sum-
mary of any permit violations, when
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violations have occurred, and how the vio-
lations have been corrected. :
Default Provision. The procedures for
Class Two modifications include a default
provision to ensure that the permitting
agency responds promptly to the facility's
request. The agency must respond to a re-
quest within 90 days or, if the agency calls
for an extension, 120 days. If the agency
does not reach a final decision on the re-
quest within 120 days, the facility is auto-
matically allowed to conduct the requested
activities for 180 days. During this period,
the facility must comply with all federal
and state regulations governing hazardous
waste facilities. If the permitting agency
still has not acted by day 250, the facility
then must let the public know that the fa-
cility will become permanently authorized
to conduct the proposed activities unless
the agency approves or denies the request
by day 300. At any time during the Class
Two procedures, the agency may reclassify
the request as Class Three if there is sig-
nificant public concern or if the permitting
agency determines that the facility's pro-
posal is too complex for the Class Two
procedures. This reclassification would re-
move the possibility of an automatic deci-
sion by default.
Class Two Modification Schedule
Day 1 Modification request re-
ceived by agency. News-
paper notice published and
mailing list notified.
Days 15-45 Informal public meeting
held.
Day 60 Written public comments
due to agency.
Day 90 Agency response to Class
Two modification request
due. Deadline may be ex-
tended 30 days.
Day 120 If no response, requested
activity may begin for 180
days.
Day 250 If still no response, public
notified.
Day 300 If still no response, activity
permanently authorized.
Class Three Modifications
Class Three modifications address
changes that substantially alter a facility or
its operation. For example, the following
modification requests fall under Class
Three:
• Requests to manage new wastes that re-
quire different management practices.
• Major changes to landfill, surface im-
poundment, and waste pile liner, leach-
ate collection, and detection systems.
• Increases in tank, container, or incinera-
tor capacity of more than 25 percent.
• Major changes to the facility's ground-
water monitoring program.
Involving the Public. For Class Three
modifications, the facility must initially
follow the same public notice, comment,
and meeting procedures as for Class Two
modifications. This allows for early public
review and comment on proposed changes.
Then the permitting agency must prepare a
draft permit modification, allow 45 days
for public comment on the draft, hold a
public hearing if requested, and then issue
or deny the permit modification request.
Public Involvement Steps for
Class Three Modifications:
The facility representative
• Requests a modification of the permit to
the permitting agency.
• Notifies the public.
• Holds a public meeting.
The permitting agency
• Allows 60 days for public comment on
the modification request.
• Prepares draft permit modification
conditions.
• Notifies the public of the agency's draft
permit conditions.
• Allows 45 days for public comment on
permit conditions.
• Holds a public hearing, if requested.
• Issues or denies the revised permit
conditions.
Temporary Authorization
For certain Class Two or Three modi-
fications, the permitting agency may grant
a facility temporary authorization to per-
form certain activities for up to 180 days.
For example, temporary authorizations
may be granted to ensure that cleanups, or
corrective actions, and closure activities
can be undertaken quickly and that sudden
changes in operations not covered under a
facility's permit can be addressed
promptly. Activities performed under a
temporary authorization must comply with
the applicable waste management regula-
tions. The facility must notify the public
within seven days of making the request.
The permitting agency may grant a tempo-
rary authorization without notifying the
public. A facility may renew a temporary
authorization only by requesting a permit
modification and initiating public
participation.
Administering Permit
Modifications
These procedures are effective now in
states where EPA administers the RCRA
program. States with hazardous waste pro-
grams equivalent to, or more stringent
than, the federal program may be autho-
rized by EPA to administer RCRA haz-
ardous waste programs. Authorized states
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are not required to adopt this new permit
modification process, although it is ex-
pected that many of them will. Therefore,
for state-administered RCRA permits, the
state agency may use different modifica-
tion procedures until it adopts the new
modification approach. However, EPA may
use these new procedures in authorized
states whenever it is necessary to change a
RCRA permit to implement provisions im-
posed by federal law. EPA regional offices,
listed below, maintain up-to-date informa-
tion about which states are following this
and other hazardous waste programs.
Getting involved
EPA encourages community involve-
ment in the permitting and permit modi-
fication processes. The revised permit
modification procedures expand oppor-
tunities for the public to be notified and to
participate. The procedures also allow for
the expeditious approval of requests when
there is no apparent public concern about
proposed changes.
Citizen Involvement Steps
• Contact your EPA regional office or state
agency to identify the permitting agency.
• Write the permitting agency and request
to be put on the mailing list to receive
notices of permit modification requests.
1 Review modification requests.
1 State your support for, or objection to,
the requested modifications during the
public comment period by providing
written comments.
1 Participate in the public meetings. These
informal meetings allow facility repre-
sentatives to explain their permit modi-
fication requests and answer your
questions.
For a copy of the new regulations gov-
erning the permit modification process and
more information on the new permit modi-
fication process or other RCRA programs,
call EPA's RCRA Hotline: 800-424-9346;
in Washington, D.C., the number is
382-3000. Or contact EPA Regional
Offices:
Region I
JFK Federal Building
Boston, MA O22O3
(617) 573-9644
Region II
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 1O278
(212) 264-8682
Region III
841 Chestnut Building
Philadelphia, PA 191O7
(215) 597-794O
Region IV
345 Courtland Street, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 3O365
(404) 347-3433
Region V
23O S. Dearborn Street
13th Floor (HR-11)
Chicago, IL 6O6O4
(312) 353-0398
Region VI
First International Bldg.
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 655-6785
Region VII
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 661O1
(913) 236-2888
Region VIII
999 18th Street
One Denver PI., Suite 13OO
Denver, CO 80202-2413
(303) 293-1676
Region IX
215 Fremont Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 974-8026
Region X
12OO Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)442-1099
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Offices of Solid Waste
Washington, DC 20460
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