United states            office of Solid Waste
                    Environmental Protection      and Emergency Response       EPA/Sao EPA         Environmental
                    Fact  Sheet
                    PROPOSED RULE TO IDENTIFY THE
                    STATUS OF TWENTY MINERAL
                    PROCESSING WASTES WITHIN THE
                    BEVILL AMENDMENT

       BACKGROUND
       ? 12S?f Congress amended the Resource Conservation and Recovery
       Act (RCRA) to temporarily exclude wastes from the extraction
       beneficiation (e.g., crushing and sizing), and processing of ores and
       minerals from hazardous waste regulation. Known as the Bevill
       Amendment, this exclusion is temporary until EPA completes a Report
       to Congress and makes a regulatory determination on the ultimate
       status of these wastes.

       In 1985, EPA proposed to narrow its 1980 interpretation of the Bevill
       Amendment for mineral processing wastes. However, EPA later
       withdrew this proposal because it believed the proposal was technically
       inadequate.  This withdrawal led to a lawsuit by the Environmental
       Defense Fund and the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, who
       claimed that the Bevill exclusion should include only so-called "special
       wastes" (i.e., only mineral processing wastes that are both "high-
      volume" and "low-hazard" wastes). In July 1988, the court determined
       tnat six smelting wastes were clearly hazardous and ordered EPA to list
      them as hazardous. EPA did so on August 31,  1988.

      On October 20. 1988 (53 £R 41288). EPA proposed the criteria by
      which mineral processing wastes would be evaluated for continued
      exclusion, and revised the criteria on April 17,  1989 (54 F£ 15316)
      On September 1, 1989 (54 £B 36592), EPA provided the final criteria.
      and made final the Bevill status of most mineral processing waste
      streams, except for 20 specific waste streams. For these 20 mineral
      processing wastes, EPA conditionally retained the exclusion from
      Subtitle C regulation provided by Section 3001(b)(3)(A) (ii) of RCRA,
      pending collection of additional information.  (Attachment 1  identifies
      the specific waste streams that are conditionally retained in the
      September 1, 1989, final rule.)

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 The September 1, 1989, final rule also made final the Bevill status of
 nine mineral processing wastes streams that had been proposed either
 for retention within or removal from the exclusion in the April 1989 no-
 tice.  EPA temporarily retained five wastes within the Bevill exclusion.

    1. Slag from primary copper processing;
   2. Slag from primary lead processing;
   3. Red and brown muds from bauxite processing;
   4. Phosphogypsum from phosphoric acid production; and
   5. Slag from elemental phosphorus production.

 EPA permanently removed the remaining four wastes from the Bevill ex-
 clusion:
                                   *

   1. Furnace scrubber blowdown from elemental phosphorus produc-
      tion;
   2. Acid plant and scrubber blowdown from primary copper
      processing;
   3. Acid plant blowdown from primary lead processing: and
   4. Air pollution control scrubber blowdown from primary tin
      processing.

 In addition, EPA modified the list of mineral processing wastes proposed
 for conditional retention in April 1989.

All other mineral processing wastes that were proposed for conditional
retention will be permanently removed from the Bevill exclusion as of the
effective date of the September 1. 1989. final rule, which will be March 1
 1990. These wastes will be. subject to RCRA Subtitle C regulation if they
are solid wastes and exhibit one or more of the characteristics of hazard-
ous waste  as defined in 40 CFR 261.

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                          ATTACHMENT 1
        Mineral Processing Wastes Conditionally Retained in the
                    September 1. 1989. Final Rule
  1.   Roast/leach ore residue from primary chromite production;
  2.   Gasifier ash from coal gasification;
  3.   Process wastewater from coal gasification;
  4.   Slag tailings from primary copper processing;
  5.   Calcium sulfate wastewater treatment plant sludge from primary
      copper processing;
  6.   Furnace off-gas solids from elemental phosphorus production;
  7.   Fluorogypsum from hydrofluoric acid production;
  8.   Process wastewater from hydrofluoric acid production;
  9.   Air pollution control dust/sludge from iron blast furnaces;
 10.   Iron blast furnace slag;
 11.   Process wastewater from primary lead production;
 12.   Air pollution control dust/sludge from lighweight aggregate pro-
      duction;
 13.   Process wastewater from primary magnesium processing by
      the anhydrous process;
 14.   Process wastewater from phosphoric acid production;
 15.   Basic oxygen furnace and open hearth furnace slag from carbon
      steel production;
 16.   Basic oxygen furnace and open hearth furnace air pollution control
      dust/sludge from carbon steel production;
 17.   Sulfate processing waste acids from titanium dioxide production;
 18.   Sulfate processing waste solids from titanium dioxide production;
 19.   Chloride processing waste solids from titanium tetrachloride
      production; and
20.   Slag from primary zinc processing.

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 ACTION
 This proposed rule describes the results of EPA's application of the high-
 volume and low-hazard criteria contained in the September 1, 1989, final
 rule to the 20 conditionally retained mineral processing wastes. This ap-
 pUcation involved a three-step process (Section IV of the proposal's pre-
 amble discusses each step in detail).

 Applying these criteria, EPA proposes to remove 7 mineral processing
 wastes from the Bevill exclusion, and to temporarily retain 13 mineral
 processing wastes within the exclusion, pending the final rulemaking In
 January 1990 on the September 1989 proposal, the preparation of a Re-
 port to Congress in July 1990,  and in a subsequent regulatory determi-
 nation in January 1991. (See Attachment 2 for the list of proposed min-
 eral processing wastes for removal from the Bevill exclusion and tempo-
 rary retentions within the exclusion.)

 EPA is also proposing a revision to the definition of "designated facility"
 to eliminate any confusion that the public and the regulated community
 may have over its applicability. This proposal would provide that if a
 waste is sent to an authorized state where the waste is not considered
 hazardous, then the designated facility must be a facility allowed by the
 state to accept the waste. This regulatory clarification would only apply
 where a hazardous waste in one state is shipped to a second state that
 has not yet regulated the waste as hazardous.  (In fact, EPA's current
 interpretation of "designated facility" leads to the same result as the
 proposal.)

 REQUEST FOR COMMENTS
 EPA solicits public comment-on the data used to take these proposed
 actions.  However, EPA will not respond to comments on the Bevill min-
 eral processing wastes criteria made final in the September 1, 1989, final
 rule. This is because these criteria were developed  in response to com-
 ments submitted in two public comment periods subsequent to propos-
 als published in October 1988 and April 1989.

 CONTACT
 For further information or to order a copy of the Federal Register notice,
 please contact the RCRA hotline Monday through Friday. 8:30 a.m. to
 7:30 p.m. EST.  The national toll-free  number is (800) 424-9346; for the
 hearing impaired, it is TDD (800) 553-7672. In Washington, D.C.,  the
number is (202) 382-3000, or TDD  (202) 475-9652.

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                    ATTACHMENT 2
             ;ssing Wastes Proposed for Removal from the
                    Bevlll Exclusion
1.   Roast/leach ore residue from primary chromite
     production;
2.   Process wastewater from coal gasification;
3.   Furnace off-gas solids from elemental phosphorus
     production;
4.   Process wastewater from hydrofluoric acid
     production;
5.   Process wastewater from primary lead production;
6.   Sulfate processing waste acids from titanium dioxide
     production; and
7.   Sulfate processing waste solids from titanium dioxide
     production.

   Mineral Processing Wastes Proposed to Be Temporarily
          Retained in the Bevill Exclusion

 1.   Gasifier ash from coal gasification;
2.   Slag tailings from primary copper processing;
3.   Calcium sulfate wastewater treatment plant sludge
     from primary copper processing;
4.   Fluorogypsum from hydrofluoric acid production;
5.   Air pollution control dust/sludge from iron blast
     furnaces;
6.   Iron blast furnace slag;
7.   Air pollution control dust/sludge from lightweight
     aggregate production;
8.   Process wastewater from primary magnesium
     processing by the anhydrous process;
9.   Process wastewater from phosphoric acid production;
10.  Basic oxygen furnace and open hearth furnace
     slag from carbon steel production;
11.  Basic oxygen furnace and open hearth furnace air
     pollution control dust/sludge from carbon steel
     production;
12.  Chloride processing waste solids from titanium
     tetrachloride production; and
13.  Slag from primary zinc  processing.

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