United States Solid Waste and
Environmental Protection Emergency Response EPA/530-SW-91-082
Agency (OS-305) November 1991
Office of Solid Waste
Environmental
Fact Sheet
Capacity Assurance Planning
and the 1991 Biennial Report
The Comprehesive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) Section 104(c)(9) requires that
States receiving funds for remedial action provide capacity assurances
deemed adequate by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
After October 17, 1989, EPA will only fund CERCLA remedial actions
in States that have provided an assurance, through the Capacity
Assurance Plan (CAP) process, that sufficient capacity would exist
to manage hazardous waste generated in the State during the next
20 years.
Numerous States have urged EPA to require all States to base
their capacity assurance analyses on a consistent set of data (in order
to make comparisons across the country). In response, EPA has
decided that the Biennial Report will be the primary data collection
process for States to use in conducting their capacity assurance
analyses. The Biennial Report is the national report that EPA compiles
describing the demographics of, and trends in, hazardous waste
generation and management. Under regulations promulgated in 1985,
States are required to collect and submit to EPA complete biennial
report data every two years.
Most States will use the 1991 EPA Hazardous Waste Report forms
(also known as the biennial report forms) to satisfy both the biennial
reporting requirements and the data requirements of the CAP.
Therefore, it is important that generators, and treatment, storage, and
disposal facilities complete these forms so that States are provided with
all the data needed to prepare the capacity analyses in their CAPs and
to fulfill biennial report requirements. Some States, however, may use
their own forms to collect the same type of information. To assist these
States, it is equally important that generators and facilities in these
States complete whatever forms they do receive. Unless otherwise
noted, all forms are due March 1, 1992.
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The 1991 EPA Hazardous Waste Report forms contain the same waste
information requested as previous years, including some CAP-
supporting information. This information includes:
' Identification information: EPA ID numbers, company name,
location, generator status, mailing address, company contact,
and certification.
Generation and management information for each waste
stream: waste stream description, hazardous waste codes,
quantity generated in reporting year, standard industrial
classification codes, on-site system type and quantity of waste
managed in each system, identification of off-site facilities and the
system type and quantity of waste shipped to the facilities.
Generation and management information for each waste
stream (CAP-supporting data elements): origin codes for each
hazardous waste stream, hazardous waste form codes.
Information for each waste treatment, disposal, or recycling
process system (CAP-supporting data elements): process system
descriptions and status, maximum operational capacity, influent
quantity, liquid effluent quantity, solid/sludge residual information,
system capacity constraints, and planned capacity change.
EPA has made few changes to the 1991 forms. In addition to minor
code changes and improved instructions, three new CAP-supporting
data elements were added to the 1991 forms that were not included in
the previous forms. The new data elements are:
Point of measurement (form GM-Section l.G)
This will help determine which respondents are mixing or
aggregating waste streams before measuring quantities.
RCRA-radioactive mixed waste (form GM-Section I.I
and form WR-H)
This will assist in identifying special demands on management
capacity.
Off-site availability (form GM-Section lll.D)
This will provide additional data regarding waste that was shipped
to States that do not use the EPA 1991 Hazardous Waste Report.
Help in completing the Federal forms is available at 1-800-283-8489.
This toll-free number will operate until April 30, 1992.
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