United States Solid Waste and
Environmental Protection Emergency Response EPA/530-SW-91-068
Agency (OS-305) September 1991
Office of Solid Waste
&EPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
Comments Requested on
New Options for Listing and
Managing Used Oil
This notice discusses options regarding listing used oil as a waste,
management standards for used oil handlers, and possible future
incentives for encouraging used oil recycling. Through this notice, the
Agency is trying to determine the most practical methods for regulating
and managing used oil to protect human health and the environment
while encouraging and promoting recylcing of this valuable resource.
Background
In November 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
proposed to list all used oils as hazardous waste. At that time, the
Agency also proposed management standards to control the collection,
transportation, and recycling of all used oils. Due to the potential
stigma that might be attached to a hazardous waste, in 1986 EPA
issued a decision not to list as hazardous used oil that is being
recycled. The Agency thought that listing could discourage recycling,
resulting in increased incidences of improper disposal of used oil. This
decision was; legally challenged in 1988, and the court ruled that EPA
must make a listing determination for used oil based on the statutory
criteria for listing, which relate to whether a material is toxic.
Since the 1988 decision, EPA has been collecting and analyzing new
data on the composition of various types of used oils, the management
of used oils, and the potential impact of used oils on human health and
the environment when mismanaged. EPA believes it is important to
consider the effects of other regulations issued since 1988, as well. The
Toxicity Characteristic (TC) rule, issued in 1990, subjects many more
wastes to federal hazardous regulations, including certain categories of
used oil being disposed. Subsequent to 1988, EPA also has issued
regulations on hazardous waste storage tanks and underground
storage tanks. The Oil Pollution Act was passed in 1990, and the more
specific Spill Prevention Control Countermeasure requirements are
being developed. These laws and regulations all affect used oil
management and disposal.
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Action
This notice expands on the Agency's 1985 proposal, considers
options regarding listing used oil, and reviews possible alternate
management standards for all used oils. The notice does not address
used oil generated by do-it-yourself oil changers. However, some
incentives that are conducive to the collection and recycling of this oil
are discussed.
Listing Options
Option One: This option, which was originally proposed in 1985,
would list all used oil as hazardous. This option would include used
oils that are contaminated after use and oil that may not be
hazardous at the point of generation or contaminated after use.
Option Two: This second option would list only those categories of
used oil that are typically and frequently hazardous based on their
toxicity at the point of generation, rather than after collection and
likely contamination. Oils that may be listed under this option are
those from gasoline-powered engines. These include used oils from
automotive crankcases, marine engines, and piston-engine
airplanes.
Option Three: This option would be to not list any used oils as
hazardous and rely on management standards to address the types
of mismanagement that have historically occurred with used oil,
such as contamination with hazardous waste due to mixing, road
oiling, releases, and spills associated with storage and
transportation.
If this approach is adopted, used oil handlers would still be
required to test oil destined for disposal for hazardous
characteristics. Characteristic hazardous waste must be disposed
according to hazardous waste management regulations:
characteristic hazardous used oil that is recycled is subject to the
proposed management standards.
If used oil is listed as hazardous, certain exemptions and
exclusions may apply to: nonhazardous wastewaters mixed with small
amounts of used oil: industrial wipers (such as shop towels and rags):
sorptive minerals (such as absorbent clay used to clean up spills)
mixed with used oil: used oil filters and parts that are recycled:
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used shock absorbers (including the used oil) that are recycled; and
distillation bottoms recycled for the manufacture of asphalt.
A number of other materials may be mixed with used oil in small
quantities. To determine whether or not these mixtures are hazardous,
the Agency is proposing a qualitative test. If one drop of listed used oil
can flow from the mixture, the waste would be considered hazardous. If
adopted, this "one-drop philosophy" will allow used oil handlers to
drain all free-flowing used oil from mixtures, and dispose of the waste
in municipal solid waste facilities.
Options for Management Standards
EPA believes that used oils pose hazards to human health and the
environment, and therefore need to be managed safely. The
mismanagement of used oil can contaminate air, water, and soil.
Contamination primarily occurs from improper storage in containers
and tanks, disposal in unlined impoundments or landfills, burning of
used oil mixed with hazardous waste, improper storage practices at
used oil handling sites and associated facilities, and road oiling for
dust suppression. The Agency proposed a comprehensive set of
management standards in 1985 for generators, transporters, and
recycling facilities that handle hazardous used oil. This notice
discusses other management options for used oil.
Under the phased-in approach, the Agency is presenting options for
comment on the level of controls needed for used oil. The options are
to:
— Provide management standards for all used oils to some extent.
— Provide one set of management requirements for all used oil
handlers.
— Provide basic management standards immediately that balance
the interests of protective regulation and the need to promote
recycling. (At a later date, the Agency may provide additional
standards, if necessary.)
To reduce the risks posed by mismanagement of used oil and to
impose the least burdensome requirements on the used oil recycling
industry, EPA is considering implementing the proposed management
standards in two phases. Phase I requirements would be fairly simple,
"good housekeeping* practices that address the improper storage and
disposal of used oil by generators, transporters, recyclers, and disposal
facilities. "Good housekeeping" includes such practices as inspecting
for leaks, releases, or spills; maintaining storage tanks and containers;
and tracking recycled used oil from generators to recyclers. Phase I also
proposes to ban road oiling and establishes guidelines that presume all
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used oil being disposed is destined for recycling. In Phase II, the
Agency may consider additional management standards and controls
for used oil, if needed.
EPA proposes that the management standards include a recycling
presumption. Under this presumption, all used oil handers would be
subject to the same management standards unless their used oil is not
recyclable. By eliminating the distinction between small and large
quantity generators all used oils would be collected and recycled.
When they comply with the used oil management standards, certain
generators—including service station dealers—would be exempt from
Comprehensive, Environmental Response, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
requirements for off-site releases of used oil.
The Agency recognizes that certain nonhazardous used oils cannot
be recycled and will require disposal. To ensure that disposal occurs in
an environmentally safe manner, EPA is considering four approaches to
control the disposal of nonrecyclable, nonhazardous used oil:
— Allow hazardous, nonrecyclable used oil disposal in hazardous
waste landfills.
— Allow disposal of nonhazardous used oil in municipal
solid waste facilities after a demonstration that the used oil is not
hazardous and not recyclable.
— Allow limited disposal of nonhazardous used oil if the disposal
facility is in compliance with certain design and operating criteria
that will be developed by EPA at a later date.
— Ban land disposal of nonhazardous used oil.
In addition to used oil management standards, this notice discusses
possible future approaches for promoting the collection and recycling of
used oil generated by people who change their own oil.
Contact
For additional information or to order a copy of the Federal Register
notice, contact the RCRA Hotline, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30
p.m. EST. The national, toll-free number is (800) 424-9346: TDD (800)
553-7672 (hearing impaired): in Washington, D.C.. the number is (703)
920-9810, TDD (703) 486-3323.
Copies of documents applicable to this rulemaking may be obtained
by writing: RCRA Information Center (RIC), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste (OS-305), 401 M Street SW.
Washington, D.C. 20460.
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