[Recycled Oil] --[SW-883]
STATEMENT OF
GARY N. DIETRICH
ASSOCIATE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR
FOR SOLID WASTE
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
May 5, 1980
Mr. Chairman, I am Gary Dietrich, Associate Deputy Assistant
Administrator for Solid Waste of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. I thank you for the opportunity to present EPA's views
on S. 2412, a bill to amend the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act to further encourage the use of recycled oil. This hearing
is timely because EPA is currently in the process of considering
appropriate regulation of waste oil as a hazardous waste under
Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The
provisions of this bill should be considered in that overall
context.
EPA supports the recovery and reuse of used oil. We
believe that the discarding and disposal of used oil should be
discouraged. Waste oil represents a valuable resource "because,
with appropriate treatment, it can be recycled as a lubricating
oil. It also can be burned as a fuel. In either case, two
important objectives are served:
a) The use of virgin petroleum' products is replaced by
the amount of oil recycled.
b) Potential environmental hazards from improper disposal
of used oil are reduced or eliminated.
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In my statement, I will focuss on the scope and nature of
the waste oil problem, the options EPA is considering for dealing
with that problem, and the specific provisions of this bill to
encourage recycling.
Used Oil Quantities and Collection
EPA estimates that there are 1.4 billion gallons of used and
waste oil generated annually. About half of this is used auto-
mobile crankcase oil, and the other half is used industrial
oils. Of this total, we estimate that 700 million gallons are
burned as fuel, 100 million gallons are re-refined or reclaimed,
200 million gallons are used for road oiling or similar purposes
and 400 million gallons are disposed of either indiscriminantly
or with garbage and trash.
The collection of used automotive and some used industrial
oil for disposal, use or recycle is carried out "by an estimated
5,000 small collectors. We believe that much of the used
industrial oil is burned as a fuel directly by the generator
on-site with or without reprocessing.
Environmental Problem
Used oil presents an environmental problem "because it is
usually highly contaminated. Also the oil, itself, can
pollute the environment, particularly when discharged into
surface waters. A variety of contaminants are added during its
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use. Automotive crankcase oil is contaminated with lead from
gasoline. Industrial oils are contaminated with a variety of
materials, but we have very incomplete data on the nature and
degree of this contamination.
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A large number and variety of chemical additives are added
to oils to improve their performance and extend their useful life.
Although they serve beneficial purposes during use, they constitute
contaminants in used oil. We have an incomplete inventory of
these additives and their importance as contaminants in used oil.
Perhaps the worst feature of used oil is the fact that it
is typically mixed when it is collected, transported and stored
prior to being ra-used, recycled or disposed. In this mixing
process, a variety of toxic solvents, PCB's and other toxic
matarials are frequently mixed into used oil. The results are
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heterogeneous mixtures that can and frequently do contain some
very hazardous materials. Indeed, the worst cases of environ-
mental damages associated with used oil resulted from indiscritni-
nant mixing: dioxin-contaminated used oil employed as a dust
suppressant on a horse arena in Missouri, killing many horses
and threatening humsin life; PCB,-contaminated used oil that has
killed cattle; and road oiling with used oil in Texas which
contained a highly toxic solvent. It is largely the propensity
for used oil to be a carrier for a variety of highly toxic
solvents, PCB's^and other materials that causes EPA to be
concerned about used oil and to presume that used oil is a
hazardous waste. We are also concerned about the lead in
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used oil, and here, also, the mixing o'f used oil results in
all used oil being suspected o'f containing lead. I£ automotive
crankcase oil were segregated from other used oil, our concern
about lead contamination of used oil could be focused on
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crankcase oil and, further, crankcase oil exclusive of that
derived from diesel-engine fleets. Although we do not have a
great deal of data on the other contaminants of used oil—
particularly those picked up in industrial oil and those derived
from additives—we believe that the mixing of used oil has the
effect of spreading these contaminants throughout most used oil.
All uses, recycling and disposal of used oil have the
potential of polluting the environment, but the nature and degree
of this pollution varies. The disposal of used oil can result in
the leaching or draining of the oil or its contaminants into *
surface and ground waters. Similar potential exists with respect
to used oil that is used as a road oil or in other applications
on the land. The burning of used oil can result in air emissions
of lead, other metals and incompletely burned organic contaminants.
The reclaiming, re-refining and reprocessing of used oil can
generate highly contaminated sludges, residues and wastewater
and air discharges. The storage and transportation of used oil
can be attended by leakage and spills into the environment. They
can also be attended by indiscriminant dumping into the environment,
Although the environmental impacts from individual use, recycling
and disposal operations can vary in degree and sometimes can be
very substantial, the aggregate impact- from the ultimate disposi-
tion of 1.4 billion gallons of used oil each year probably spell
our greatest concerns about used oil.
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Environmental Control of Used Oil
EPA believes it has jurisdiction under Subtitle C of the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to regulate used oil as
a hazardous waste and to regulate the disposal as well as the
re-use and recycling of this material. Indeed, in our proposed
regulations published December 18/ 1978, we listed several used
oils as hazardous waste and proposed to regulate the disposal,
use-on-the-land and burning-as-a-fuel of these oils. We did
not propose to regulate the reclaiming, re-refining or other
recycling of these oils, but we. indicated that we might, in the
future, regulate these uses. The Agency received a very large
number of comments on these proposals. We had hoped to complete
our consideration of these comments and our further analysis of
the used oil problem in order to include regulation of used oil
in the final and interim final Subtitle C hazardous waste regula-
tions that are being announced today. The used oil problem is very
complex, however, and we simply have not been able to complete our
work on this matter. We are, however, planning to list and regulate
used oil as a hazardous waste in an amendment to our hazardous
waste regulations sometime in the fall of this year.
As I have mentioned, the used oil problem is complex and
we believe it merits a special, tailored set of hazardous waste
management regulations. We do- not believe it should be managed
under the same requirements as most other hazardous wastes. We
feel this way for several reasons. First, used oil is a resource.
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It can be used and recycled. Disposal should be discouraged.
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In order to promote the use and recycling of used oil, while,
at the same time, controlling its potential to pollute the
environment, special regulations are required. Secondly, because
of the large number of generators of waste oil—366,000—most of
whom are small service stations, garages and other businesses,
because of the number of transporters—5,000—and because of the
unknown but believed large numbers of users of used oil, we do
not feel that the highly sophisticated and complex manifest
tracking system of the Subtitle C program is well-suited and
wholly necessary to deal with this problem. Finally, we believe
that the environmental impacts associated with the use and recycling
of used oil are different and peculiar to this type of material.
The requirements of the hazardous waste management regulations are
designed primarily to deal with the long-term containment and
destruction or treatment of wastes and are not always optimal to
deal with use and recycling.
Against this backdrop of general findings, we have carefully
reviewed the used oil problem and have come to some tentative
findings with respect to environmental regulation. These are:
- We believe that reclaiming and re-refining of used oil
should be encouraged but should be regulated. It is
important to assure that used oil is delivered to and
safely stored at recycling facilities, and it is
important to control the waste discharges from these
facilities.
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We believe that the burning of waste oil as a fuel should
be encouraged and can be accomplished in an environmentally
safe way. But this use also must be regulated to insure
environmental protection. Some types of burning should
be prohibited or restricted while other types should be
allowed but controlled.
We believe that the use of used oil for road oiling,
dust suppression, pesticide carriers and other land
applications should be virtually prohibited.
- We believe that disposal of used oil should be discouraged
and, where practiced, should be regulated as any other
hazardous waste.
Finally, we believe that the collection, transportation
and storage of used oil should be regulated but in a
manner that does not impose a large amount of reporting
and recordkeeping on generators.
We are working with these concepts in formulating a final regu-
lation to be promulgated this fall under the Subtitle C hazardous
waste management program.
Comments on S. 2412
EPA agrees with the basic intent., of the bill but has a
number of concerns with its specific provision.
First, we are concerned that the objectives of the bill
do not reflect the beneficial use of used oil as a fuel. We have
information that indicates that burning of waste oil as a fuel
is and can be a competitive and appropriate use of used oil, as
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compared to reclaiming and re-refining, from the standpoint of
economics as well as conservation of resources. Section 9001
of the bill fails to recognize this. As previously mentioned,
use of used oil as a fuel can have environmental impacts, as
can reclaiming and re-refining, but we believe these impacts
can be adequately controlled. We recognize that re—refining . of
used oil for re-use as a lubricant produces a. high.er level of
conservation because it produces a material that, after
use, can be recycled once again and perhaps several additional
times. Thus, re-refining is to be preferred. However, we also
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recognize that many generators will prefer to burn their used
oil, as a fuel in on-site boilers. If air emissions are controlled,
this use should not be discouraged.
Secondly, we believe that most of the provisions of the
bill are alraady provided in the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act and therefore can be implemented under the current
authority. Certainly, those provisions of the bill related to
regulation of used oil for purposes of protecting human health
and the environment—principally Sections 9003 (a) (2) (B) and
9005 (b) (5)—are already covered by ,existing authority. Also,
we believe that many of the provisions of the bill for encouraging
the use and recycling of used oil caJi be accomplished under RCRA.
Section 6002 of RCRA requires Federal agencies to produce products
containing the highest practicable percentage of recovered materials,
and it requires EPA to issue guidelines to encourage and assist
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agencies in carrying out that mandate. EPA has the authority under
Section 6002 to issue guidelines for use of re-refined oil. Because
of the Section 6002 mandate, the Department of Defense has already
initiated a program to use increased amounts of re-rafined oil.
The existing authority of Section 6002 seems to be ideally suited
to achieve the objective of §9003 (a) (2) (B) of this bill.
Thirdly, we are not pursuaded that a new State grant program
is necessary to adequately deal with the used oil problem.. We do
support the concept of aggressive State programs, both to implement
environmental protection requirements and to foster tlie beneficial
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use and recycling of used oil. We believe that the first of these
objectives can and will be served under the current authorities of
RCRA which provide for authorizing the States to implement the
hazardous waste management program under Subtitle C and further
provides for Federal grant support to the States to assist them
in this effort. With respect to the second objective, we believe
that carefully designed regulations and guidelines under current
RCRA authorities can suffice to promote the beneficial use and
recycling of used oil. Thus by regulation, we believe that we
can set the framework that favors use and recycling and penaits
the private sector to accomplish this objective without Federal
assistance through State grants.
We do believe that Section 9003 (b) (1) of the bill, which
requires the labeling of virgin oil to encourage users to conserve
used oil, has considerable merit and would support enactment of
this provision. We would point out that EPA already "has a very
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similar mandate under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act,
P.L. 94-163. Section 383 (d) (2) of that Act requires EPA to
prescribe labeling standards applicable to containers of new,
used, and recycled oil relating to proper disposal after use.
However, the timing of this action is predicated on completion
of certain still pending action by the National Bureau of Standards.
We further believe that Section 9003 (a) (2) (A) of the bill,
which requires EPA to assure the fitness of recycled or re-refined
oil for intended uses, has considerable merit. We note that
Section 383(c) and (d) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act
has a similar provision which requires the National Bureau of
Standards to develop test procedures for determining the
"substantial equivalency" of re-refined and reprocessed used oil
with new oil and further requires the Federal Trade Commission
to promulgate those test procedures, together with labeling
standards, to affect notification to consumers about the equiva-
lency of the reprocessed or re-refined products. We understand
that implementing a "substantial equivalency standard" presents
some very difficult technical and judgmental problems and believe
that a fitness test is preferable and more readily implemented.
We hasten to point out that Section 9003 (a) (2) (A) would add
a new activity to EPA's many programs-"-an activity with which we
have no experience. If it is the wisdom of the Congress that
EPA perform this function, we undoubtedly would have to seek
help from the National Bureau of Standards and would have to
gear up. However, EPA does not seek out this activity. Based on
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past experience, we do not believe we could meet the statutory
deadline of six months.
Finally, we do not feel qualified to comment on Section 9004
of the bill and will defer to others to comment on its merits.
In summary, instead of supporting this legislation at this
time, we would like to continue to work with this Committee in
implementing the current authorities of RCRA to deal with the
wise regulation of used oil from the standpoint of bot-h environ-
mental protection and resource conservation. As I have already
mentioned, we are moving to use the current authorities of RCRA
to deal with this matter.
Again, I appreciate the opportunity to provide ttiis statement
and I shall be happy to answer any questions you might have.
yo 1984
SW-883
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