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Interim status gives hazardous waste facilities tempo-
rary authority to continue operations, pending completion of
administrative action on formal permit applications. With- „
out Interim status, facilities are not allowed to operate.
EPA is promulgating the general (permitting) standards
for hazardous waste facilities in two phases. The Phase I
regulations, most of which were issued on May 19, 1980, in-
clude largely administrative and general requirements, many
of which are also part of the interim status standards and
with which facilities in interim status must comply until they
receive their final permits. ThS technical operating, design,
and construction standards necessary to issue final permits
to new or existing facilities are being issued in Phase II.
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Phase I- Requirements - Major areas covered by interim status and general stand-
ards in Phase I are:
o waste analyses to identify the waste to be handled
and the method to be used for handling it;
o security precautions to prevent unauthorized entry;
o inspections of the facility to identify or prevent
environmental or health hazards*;
o plans to deal with emergency situations;
o personnel training for regular duties and emergency
situations;
o special precautions to prevent accidents owing to
ignitable, reactive, or incompatible wastes;
o restrictions on locations of new facilities near
faults or floodplains (in the General Standards
only);
o preparedness and prevention mechanisms to minimize
the possibility of fires, explosions, or unplanned
releases of hazardous waste.
The interim status standards also contain a few provi-
sions that apply to selected types of facilities. These
generally ensure good operating practices and such require-
ments as diverting run-on and runoff at landfills and pre-
heating of incinerators to normal operating conditions before
introducing' wastes into them.
Recordkeeping and Reporting. Facility owners and oper-
ators must maintain operating records and prepare reports that
include, among other things, the type and quantity of wastes
received and how they are managed, results of inspections, and
descriptions of emergencies. They are, in addition, respon-
sible for certain aspects of the manifest system for tracking
hazardous waste, namely, signing and dating the manifest for
waste received and for reporting any discrepancies between the
data on the form and the waste received.
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Closure and Postclosure. Owners and operators of haz-
ardous waste management facilities must comply with closure
and postclosure requirements. All hazardous waste management
facilities must have
, ~ o a written closure plan;
o an estimate of costs for closing the facility;
o financial assurance for closing the facility;
o liability insurance.
All hazardous waste disposal (but not treatment or stor-
age) facilities must have, in addition, a written postclosure
plan and an estimate of costs and financial assurance for
postclosure care.
se II Requirements Besides the general permit requirements, facility own-
is rs and operators must comply -with requirements for specific
types of hazardous waste facilities. These standards are
being developed and finalized as Phase II of Part 264 of the
facility standards. Because of the complexities in develop-
ing the standards for specific facilities, EPA is promulgat-
ing the Phase II standards in components, as the standards
for each type of facility are completed. This system enables
States with approved programs and EPA to begin processing per-
mits for these facilities at the earliest possible date.
A series of Phase II regulations, which included most of
the technical facility standards, was issued in January 1981,
Promulgated at that time were permitting standards for facili-
ties or portions of facilities that
o store hazardous waste in containers;
o treat or store hazardous waste in tanks, surface
impoundments, or piles;
o treat hazardous waste in incinerators.
These regulations are now in effect and may be used to permit
facilities. EPA has decided to defer their use, however, for
existing surface impoundments and incinerators pending comple-
tion of regulatory impact analyses currently under way.
Standards for Land Disposal Facilities. General permit-
ting standards for land disposal facilities—surface impound-
ments and waste piles that dispose of the waste (rather than
store or treat it), land treatment facilities, landfills, un-
derground injection wells, and underground seepage facilities—
have not yet been finalized. Reproposed standards were pub-
lished in the Federal Register on February 5, 1981; EPA expects
to issue final standards in mid-1982. Facilities that are in
existence must, of course, comply with the interim status
standards pending completion of the general standards.
Protection Ag
uin Dearborn Street
r*, /~ o /• t y^ E11 •
3 b0604
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Because the interim status standards do not provide foi
new hazardous waste facilities, and since the facility perm)
regulations require obtaining a permit prior to constructioi
of such facilities, EPA has issued a temporary regulation 01
standards for new land disposal facilities (40 Federal Regit
12414, February 13, 1981). These standards apply to landfU
surface impoundments, land treatment facilities, and Class 1
underground injection wells. The temporary standards will 1
in effect until final standards are completed. It is expect
that these standards will be finalized late in 1982.
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