FACTS ABOUT RCRA REGULATING HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITIES Hazardous Waste Hazardous wastes are generated by thousands of com- mercial, industrial and governmental operations across our nation. Every state has hazardous waste producers, and waste is often transported through several states before it is ultimately disposed of, treated, or recycled. Hazardous wastes can be in numerous forms: solid, liquid, or sludge, and the nature of their hazardous characteristics are varied. Under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), a waste is "hazardous" if it exhibits any of the following characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity or toxicity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made the determination that certain wastes are hazardous and has published a list of these wastes. Thus, wastes fall under the RCRA hazardous waste regulatory program if they are "listed" by EPA or exhibit any of the four characteristics of a hazardous waste. Under RCRA, facilities which treat, store, dispose of, or recycle hazard- ous wastes so-called 'TSDR facilities" must meet strict tech- nical and performance requirements. "Cradle-to-Grave" Management Prior to RCRA there was no national regulatory system for tracking hazardous wastes and for establishing accountability of waste management practices. Thus, wastes were often disposed of by placing them into unsecured landfills or even by dumping on roadsides and open fields, leaving no record of what the wastes were or who had disposed of them. Under the "cradle-to-grave" system established under RCRA, this situation has changed dramatically. The key to this system is the uniform manifest program, illustrated in Figure 1, which keeps strict tabs on hazardous wastes from their production (cradle) to their disposal (grave). RCRA requires generators of solid wastes to determine whether their wastes are hazardous as defined by the EPA. If they are hazardous, the generator must obtain an EPA iden- tification number for the facility and must comply with RCRA regulations governing the safe handling of hazardous wastes while they are handled at the facility. If the generator does not send wastes off site, a RCRA permit must be obtained for managing the wastes on site. If the wastes are transported off site (e.g., to a commercial TSDR facility), the generator must prepare a manifest for each waste shipment which identifies the waste, the generator, the transporter and the facility to which the waste is being shipped. The manifest provides the basis for tracking the waste through the entire transportation cycle, including intermediate stops. If the wastes do not reach their in- tended destination as scheduled, the generator must notify EPA or the authorized state agency so that the situation can be investigated. The TSDR facility that is the ultimate repository of the wastes Continued on Pg. 2 ------- "Cradle-to-Grave" Continued from Pg. 1 must meet strict technical and performance standards to ensure that the wastes are handled in an environmentally protective manner. The facility cannot receive haz- ardous wastes unless it has obtained a RCRA operating permit from EPA or an authorized state, or is in compliance with "interim status" standards specified by EPA or the state. As will be explained shortly, because of the time required to obtain a RCRA permit, TSDR facilities can be authorized to manage hazardous wastes under interim status if they meet certain waste management requirements estab- lished by EPA. The RCRA "cradle-to-grave" system does not end with the secure arrival of the waste at its intended TSDR facility. Re- gardless of whether the TSDR facility is operating under interim status or a permit, the facility's owner does not have the op- Con of simply closing down the facility and walking away from it when he or she no longer wishes to handle waste or goes out of business. UnderRCRA,theownermustbe prepared to close the hazardous waste facil- ity under environmental requirements es- tablished by EPA and must provide finan- cial assurances to pay for proper closure measures. If the facility is to be closed by removing wastes, the owner must demon- strate that RCRA clean-up standards are met, which could involve an environmental sampling and analysis program and site re- mediation, as necessary. If the facility is a land disposal operation and is to be closed with wastes left in place (e.g., placing a cap over a landfill), the facility must continue to monitor groundwater for at least 30 years after closure. The Cradle: Hazardous Waste Ninety-nine percent of hazardous wastes are generated by large quantity generators, each producing over 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per month. Ninety-six percent of these wastes are managed on site, requiring large quantity generators to obtain RCRA permits as TSDR facilities. The remaining four per- cent have their wastes transported off site to commercial TSDR facilities. About one million tons are produced each year by small quantity generators, each producing 100 to 1,000 kilograms per month. Small quantity generators typically range from construction and automotive repair firms, laundromats and dry cleaners, to photographic processors and electro- platers. Generators of less than 100 kilograms per month are exempt from RCRA regula- tions. These generators most often have their wastes transported off site to be treated or disposed of by commercial TSDR facilities. Transporting Hazardous.Waste The transportation of hazardous wastes is regulated by EPA and the Depart- ment of Transportation (DOT). EPA's manifest system provides strict accounta- bility for each shipment and confirms its acceptance by the TSDR facility. DOT's regulations establish standards for the safe packaging and handling of hazardous wastes while in transit and for clearly mark- ing the transporting vehicles. Most hazard- ous waste is transported over highway and rail, although water and air transportation is sometimes used. Figure 1. The RCRA Hazardous Waste Management System Storage Facility Transporter EPA or Authorized State Agency Generator EPA RCRA FACT SHEET ------- The Grave: Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, Disposal and Recycling Often a facility requiring a RCRA permit will have more than one type of activity treatment, storage, disposal or recycling on site. Figure 2 provides a summary of the facilities active in 1985. Land Disposal was the most economical and commonly used method for disposing of hazardous waste until the 1984 amend- ments to RCRA placed stringent limita- tions on the types of wastes which can be disposed of in or on the land. It is expected that the future use of land disposal will decrease significantly. The types of land disposal facilities in use are: Landfills, units in which wastes are placed in or on the land and covered when fdled; Surface impoundments, natural or man- Treatment,which changes the character of haz- ardous waste in order to render it less hazardous, commonly includes: Incineration, or burning hazardous wastes at high tem- peratures in order to ensure near-complete combustion; Biological and chemical treatment of wastewaters; Steam-stripping technolo- gies, which volatilize waste- waters and capture hazardous elements with air pollution control equipment; and Solidification, which in- volves mixing a stabilizing agent (like cement) with haz- ardous waste to create a solid or impermeable material. 2. Number of Active Facilities by Type of Technology TOTAL NUMBER OF FACILITIES IN 1985 - 2959 AS Facilities Commercial Facilities Treatment Storage Land Disposal Recycling Sou/o0: National Screening Survey, U. S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, 1986 Note: Some facilities have more than one process. Storage facilities hold hazardous wastes for more than 90 days and must apply for RCRA permits. Storage facilities must meet RCRA standards for above- and below-ground tanks and for storage of port- able containers such as 55-gallon drums. Recycling facilities are used to treat hazardous wastes to convert them to useful materials, such as raw materials for manu- facturing processes and saleable products. There is a variety of recycling techniques, including filtration and heat and chemical treatment. Generators of hazardous waste commonly recycle solvents, acids and metals. made depressions or diked areas filled with water which can be used to treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes; Waste piles, noncontainerized accumu- lations of solid, nonflowing hazardous waste; Undergroundinjectionwells, consisting of steel and concrete-encased shafts placed deep in the earth for the injection of liquid hazardous wastes by force and under pres- sure; and Land treatment, a disposal process in which hazardous waste is applied onto or incorporated into the soil surface. Natural microbes in the soil break down or immo- bilize the hazardous constituents. More TSDR Sites Needed Many existing contamination prob- lems associated with hazardous wastes are the result of disposal practices which pre- dated the RCRA program. EPA is commit- ted to ensuring that the unsound methods which characterized much of the hazardous waste management practices of the past will not take place at facilities which are regulated under RCRA. EPA believes, however, that the greater environmental threat comes from practices at facilities which are not regu- lated under RCRA, since they may not be complying with the performance and technical standards of RCRA TSDR fa- cilities. Because of this con- cern, EPA is striving to assur: that there are a sufficient num- ber of RCRA-permitted facili- ties to provide capacity for the environmentally sound man- agement of all hazardous wastes. Unfortunately, the lack of environmentally sound re- gional and waste-specific treat- ment and disposal sites is al- ready aproblem. It is important that environmentally sound al- ternatives to land disposal be put into place to assure that there are safe, regulated places to put hazardous waste. Incin- eration is one such important alternative. More incinerators are needed, particularly ones that can burn solids and sludges contaminated by hazardous wastes. This need will become even more important as more solids and sludges are added to the hazardous waste system as a result of contaminated site clean-ups under Superfund and RCRA. Technologies exist to safely treat and dispose of wastes, but siting and permitting the facilities which will employ these tech- nologies are difficultit is not uncommon to take three to five years to site, permit and construct an incinerator. More effective siting and permitting are, therefore, among the most important solutions to the capacity problem. REGULATING HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITIES ------- RCRA Permitting of TSDR Facilities Undo- RCRA. all existing TSDRs must apply for a permit by November 1988 in order to continue operation. A RCRA permit is a legally binding document which establishes the hazardous waste manage- ment activities which can be conducted at a TSDR facility in accordance with RCRA requirements. Permits limit these activities and require specified measures (like moni- toring and reporting). Violations of permit conditions are subject to enforcement ac- tions by EPA or the authorized state agency. Many TSDR facilities are operating today without a final permit, but have "interim status" under RCRA. When RCRA began, interim status was given to facilities which submitted the first pan of the two-pan RCRA permit application, including basic information about the haz- ardous waste they manage and descriptions of each waste management unit at the facil- ity. Interim status does not apply indefi- nitely the RCRA amendments of 1984 established a schedule for TSDR facilities to receive operating permits: November 1988 for land disposal facilities, Novem- ber 1989 for hazardous waste incinerators and November 1991 for all other facilities. To receive an operating permit the facility must submit a highly detailed appli- cation, called the "Pan B" application, which includes technical information about the facility's hazardous waste activi- ties, measures proposed to ensure compli- ance with RCRA requirements, and dem- onstrations that these measures are suffi- cient to ensure protection of human health and the environment Once a Pan B application is found to fully meet RCRA requirements, EPA or the state prepares a draft RCRA permit which specifies all proposed hazardous waste activities to be allowed at the facility and includes conditions and stipulations appli- cable to these activities. Each permitted facility must meet RCRA requirements designed specifically for that facility's environmental conditions. These require- ments include, for example, procedures for analyzing wastes, technology require- ments, recordkeeping and reporting re- quirements, and a contingency plan estab- lishing emergency response procedures. An opportunity for public review and comment on a draft RCRA permit must be provided before any final decisions are made by the regulatory agency to issue a final permit This can include a public hearing if interest in a hearing is requested by any member of the public. EPA encour- ages public participation throughout the RCRA permitting process. Suggested Readings Solving the Hazardous Waste Problem: EPA's RCRA Program. U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste, EPA/530-SW-86-037, November 1986. The Hazardous Waste System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, June 1987. 1986 National Screening Survey of Haz- ardous Waste Treatment, Storage, Dis- posal and Recycling Facilities, U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste, December 1986. Hazardous Waste Regulation: The New Era, by Richard C. Fortuna and David J. Lennett, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1987. RCRA Hazardous Wastes Handbook, 7th Edition, Government Institutes, Inc., January 1987. Standards and Interim Status Stan- dards for Owners and Operators of Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities. (Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 264 and 265). For Further Information For further information, contact the RCRA-Superfund Hotline, Office of Solid Waste (WH-562), U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. (800)424- 9346 (toll free) or (202) 382-3000. For information on specific aspects of treatment, storage, disposal and recycling facilities and on where to obtain other RCRA fact sheets, contact your EPA Re- gional Office. EPA RCRA Fact Sheets Land Disposal Public Involvement The State and Federal Partnership Regulating Hazardous Waste Facilities Health & Risk Assessment Corrective Action Closure/Post Closure RCRA ICERCLA Comparison Enforcement Official Bmjntts Penalty for Prirate UM $300 ------- |