United States Solid Waste and PPA/sao SW 91 -081
Environmental Protects Emergency Response
Agency
Office of Solid Waste
s>EPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
Treatment Standards Proposed For
20 Newly Listed Hazardous Wastes
and Contaminated Debris
Background
The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) enacted in 1984 prohibit
the land disposal of untreated hazardous wastes. HSWA requires
EPA to set levels or methods of treatment for hazardous wastes to
substantially diminish the short-term and long-term threats to human
health and the environment. Wastes that meet the treatment
standards established by EPA may be land disposed (i.e., placed in a
landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, injection well, land
treatment facility, salt dome formation, salt bed formation, or
underground mine or cave).
The statutory schedule for land disposal restriction (LDR) rules
covered by HSWA was completed on May 8, 1990. However, a number
of hazardous wastes have been newly listed or identified since 1984
and LDR treatment standards must be promulgated for these wastes.
Action
EPA is proposing LDR treatment standards for 20 newly listed wastes
that are based on identified best demonstrated available technologies
for the treatment of these wastes. The 20 newly listed wastes are:
• Recent petroleum refining wastes (F037 and F038)
• Wastes from the production of unsymmetrical demethydrazine
(K107-K110)
• Wastes from the production of dinitrotoluene and toluenediamine
(KlllandK112)
• Wastes from the production of Ethylene Dibromide (Kl 17, Kl 18,
and K136)
-------
• Wastes from the production of Ethylenebisdithiocarbamic
acid (K123 - K126)
• Wastes from the production of Methyl Bromide (K131 and K132)
• Additional organic U wastes (U328, U353, and U359)
EPA is also proposing to amend the treatment standards for debris
contaminated with prohibited listed or prohibited characteristic
hazardous wastes. Under the proposal, debris must be treated
prior to land disposal using specific technologies from one or more
of the following families of debris treatment technologies: extraction,
destruction, or immobilization. EPA is also proposing that
contaminated debris that is treated by extraction and destruction
technology and no longer exhibits a hazardous characteristic would
no longer be subject to regulation as a hazardous waste.
In addition, EPA is proposing revisions to a number of current LDR
treatment standards, including: organic constituents of F001- F005
wastes: wastewaters for certain listed hazardous wastes, basing the
new treatments standards on actual wastewater treatment
technologies, rather than incineration scrubber waters; alternate
treatment standards for K006 and K062 wastes and extending the
K061 generic exclusion to F006 and K062 wastes treated by high
temperature metal recovery: adding vanadium to Appendix VIII;
simplifmg notification and certification rules for characteristic wastes
and clarifying the status under the land disposal restriction program of
wastes that are listed due to being characteristicly hazardous. EPA is
also proposing to establish a new waste management unit known as a
containment building.
Public Comment
EPA is requesting public comment on this proposed rule. Comments
should be sent to EPA within 45 days of the Federal Register
notice publication date. For instructions on submitting written
comments, please see the Federal Register notice. It is available for
free by calling the RCRA Hotline or by visiting EPA's RCRA Docket
in Washington, DC.
Contact
For further information, or to order a copy of the Federal Register
notice, please call 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 Arlington, VA, the
number is (703) 920-9810 or (TDD) (703) 486-3323. Or write to the
RCRA Information Center (OS-305), US EPA, 401 M Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20460.
------- |