United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Public Awareness (A-107)
Washington DC 20460
SW-850
May 1980
?/EPA
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 266 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 (1) criteria for identifying characteristics and for listing
hazardous waste; (2) procedures for exempting wastes that are listed;
and (3) procedures for petitioning EPA to modify the selected hazardous
waste characteristics or the list. The regulation also delineates several
wastes that are excluded from all or part of the RCRA regulatory control
system.
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.
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Definition of RCRA defines a hazardous waste in general as a solid waste that
may cause substantial hazard to health or the environment when improperly
Hazardous \Afaste 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 hazardous waste list of specific wastes, waste sources, and waste
processes. Included in the list are wastes that possess any of the
four hazardous waste characteristics as well as wastes meeting the
criteria for general toxicity.
General toxicity is defined in the regulation as characteristic
of waste which contain one or more constituents that have been
found to have toxic effects on humans or other life forms. EPA
can also consider other factors to determine if the waste may cause
or potentially cause “substantial” hazard to human health or the
environment. The other factors which EPA may consider are:
• 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 bioaceumulate 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
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Identifying a The generator must determine if:
1-Iazardous VVaste . 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 It is possible for the generator to get an exemption from reguiation
D I. • even if the waste is listed in the regulation. The regulation includes
eiisting 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
less than 1,000 kilograms of an identified hazardous waste are exempted;
however, EPA has specified lower generation limits for certain wastes.
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. Generators will be notified of these changes as they
develop.
Excluded VVastes 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
• garbage and refuse
• materials that are reused or recycled (Regulations to cover some
of these uses or wastes will be promulgated by April 1981.)
• agricultural and silvicultural wastes returned to the soil as fertilizers
or conditioners
• overburden from mining operations (except that derived from uranium
and phosphate mining containing specified concentrations of radium)
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