United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Public Awareness (A-107)
Washington DC 20460
SW-850
2d ed., revised
May" 1980
Hazardous Waste
Information
Rules for
Identification
and Listing
of Hazardous
Waste
Identification
and Listing
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) requires
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to institute a national
program to control hazardous waste. Specific regulations for carrying
out RCRA are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR
Parts 260 to 265 and 122 to 124). The program becomes effective 6 months
following promulgation of the regulation identifying and listing hazardous
wastes (Part 261). This regulation includes a list of hazardous wastes
as well as several characteristics for identifying hazardous waste.
The keystone of the program is control of hazardous waste from
point of generation through treatment, storage, and ultimate disposal
via transportation manifests, recordkeeping, and reporting. The control
system starts when those who generate, transport, treat, store, or dispose
of hazardous wastes notify EPA, as required by section 3010 of RCRA.
After receiving notification, EPA assigns an identification number to
the notifier. Anyone engaged in transporting, treating, storing, or disposing
of hazardous waste who does not notify EPA during the 90-day period
following promulgation of the regulation identifying hazardous wastes
may not begin or continue operation after the effective date of the regulations
without obtaining an EPA identification number.
The identification regulation promulgated under section 3001, Subtitle C,
of RCRA (40 CFR Part 261) defines and lists solid wastes which are hazardous
wastes and thus are subject to RCRA controls. In addition, the regulation
establishes criteria for identifying characteristics and for listing hazardous
waste. The regulation also delineates several wastes that are excluded
from all or part of the RCRA regulatory control system. The regulations
of 40 CFR Part 260 provide procedures for exempting wastes that are
listed; and procedures for petitioning EPA to modify hazardous waste
characteristics or the list.
The list and the characteristics are to be used by persons who generate,
transport, treat, store, or dispose of solid waste to determine if the waste
they handle is hazardous. EPA has determined that the listed wastes
are hazardous. The responsibility for identifying a hazardous waste because
of its characteristics rests primarily with the generator; however, other
persons handling the waste also have an obligation to know if a waste
they are managing is hazardous.
Once a solid waste is identified as hazardous, it is subject to all
of the controls under Subtitle C—Hazardous Waste—of RCRA, except
where otherwise provided. Special requirements apply to haza'rdous wastes
generated by small-quantity generators and to hazardous wastes that
are used, reused, recycled, or reclaimed.
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Definition of RCRA defines a hazardous waste in general as a solid waste that
Uolil "UUl Ul nmy cause increased mortality or serious illness, or may cause substantial
hazard to health or the environment when improperly managed. EPA
was required to establish criteria for a more specific identification and
for listing hazardous wastes. The criteria established under the Act were
then used to develop characteristics and a list of hazardous wastes.
Characteristics of Hazardous Waste. Hazardous wastes are identified
on the basis of measurable characteristics for which standardized
tests are available. The identification regulation provides detailed
technical specifications for four characteristics adopted by EPA:
• ignitability—posing a fire hazard during routine management
• corrosivity—-ability to corrode standard containers, or to dissolve
toxic components of other wastes
• reactivity—tendency to explode under normal management conditions,
to react violently when mixed with water, or to generate toxic
gases
• EP toxicity (as determined by a specific extraction procedure)
—presence of certain toxic materials at levels greater than those
specified in the regulation
List of Hazardous Wastes. The identification regulation contains
a list of specific hazardous wastes. Included in the list are wastes
that possess any of the four hazardous waste characteristics as well
as wastes meeting the criteria for acute hazardousness or toxicity.
The criterion for acute hazardousness permits EPA to list a
hazardous waste if it has been found to be fatal to hurnans or ha's
been shown to be acutely toxic in certain animal studies.
The toxicity criterion permits EPA to list a hazardous waste
if it contains one or more constituents that have been found to have
toxic effects on humans or other life forms unless, after consideration
of the following factors, EPA determines that the waste may not
cause or potentially cause "substantial" hazard to human health or
the environment:
• the degree of toxicity of the toxic constituents of the waste
• the concentration of these constituents in the waste
• the potential for these constituents or their by-products to
migrate from the waste into the environment
• the persistence and degradation potential of the constituents
or their toxic by-products in the environment
• the potential for the constituents or their toxic by-products
to bioaccumulate in ecosystems
• the plausible and possible types of improper management
to which the waste may be subjected
• the quantities of the waste generated
• the record of human health and environmental damage that
has resulted from past improper management of wastes containing
the same toxic constituents
t other appropriate factors
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Identifying a
Hazardous Waste
The generator must determine if:
• the Material is a solid waste; and
• the waste or any constituent is included in the hazardous waste list,
or
• the waste meets any of the hazardous waste characteristics
Exemption or
Delisting
It is possible for the generator to get an exemption from regulation
even if the waste is listed in the regulation. The regulation (40 CFR
Part 260) includes delisting procedures for generators to follow who believe
their facility's individual waste is fundamentally different from the waste
listed. The generator must demonstrate, or reference test data that
demonstrate, that the'specific waste does not meet the criteria which
caused the Agency to list the waste. This provision reflects recognition
that individual waste streams vary depending upon raw materials, industrial
processes, and other factors.
Small Generators
The regulation provides for the exemption of small generators from
these initial hazardous waste controls. In general, facilities generating
or accumulating less than 1,000 kilograms per month of an identified
hazardous waste are exempted; however, EPA has specified lower generation
limits for certain acutely hazardous wastes. To enjoy this exemption,
however, small generators must dispose of their hazardous waste in approved
Subtitle C hazardous waste management facilities or in facilities approved
by a State to manage municipal or industrial solid waste. Small generators
should refer directly to the regulation to determine the applicability
of the exemption to their wastes.
EPA intends to expand the coverage of small generators over a
2- to 5-year period. This will be accomplished through amendments to
the regulation.
Excluded Wastes
Certain wastes are not subject to RCRA hazardous waste controls
(but may be controlled under other laws). These include:
domestic sewage
industrial wastewater discharges
nuclear wastes regulated under the Atomic Energy Act
irrigation return flows
household waste
• wastes that are reused or recycled, except for the storage and
transportation of sludges and listed wastes
• agricultural wastes returned to the soil as fertilizers or
soil conditioners
• mining overburden returned to the mine site
• utility wastes (fly ash, FGD sludge, bottom ash)
• oil and gas drilling muds and brines
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