3EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office o»
Solid Wine and
Emergency Response
DIRECTIVE NUMBER:
TITLE:
9502.05-85
*•
RSI: Guidance on Corrective Action for
Continuing Releases
APPROVAL DATE:
2/5/85
EFFECTIVE DATE: 2/5/85
ORIGINATING OFFICE: osw
J&FINAL
D DRAFT
STATUS:
I
A- Pending OMB approval
B- Pending AA-OSWER approval
C- For review &/or comment
D- In development or circulating
REFERENCE (other document*): headquarters
TE DIRECTIVE DIRECTIVE D
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Wasrirngton. DC 20460
OSWER Directive Initiation Request I
Orq.natoc ‘nfocm. ori
Name of Contact Person
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Mail Code — Branch Telepnori ? umber
Lead Office 0
0 OERR 0
OSW 0
OUST
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AAOSWER
ApDrOvSd for Review
S9n?ure of Office Osr.ctor Date
Title
RSI: Guidance on Corrective Action for Continuing Releases
Permits”.
Summar of Directive
SUMMARY
This draft RSI outlines EPA’s general approach to impleirenting the requireirents
for corrective action for continuing releases as outlined in 3004(u) of the Act
(as anended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Act Anendrrents of 1984). It does not
-ddress the Act’s two related corrective action authorities, 3008(h) and 3004(v).
his RSI provides background on the scope of the provision and Congress’ intent
in incorporating these requirerrents in the Act. The menu discusses the
applicability of the provision to types of facilities (e.g., those facilities
seeking a RCRA permit or already permitted under 1 RA) and types of units at
those facilities. The provision applies to solid waste rnanageitent units at
these facilities and does not affect the current regulatory system for protecting
ground water at “regulated units”. The rrerno provides preliminary definitions of
such key terns as “release’, “solid waste menagenent unit”, “facility”, and
“corrective measures”, as they apply in the corrective action program: [ SEE ATI’ACHED]
Key Words:
Corrective Action, Continuing Releases,
nf 19R4
Hazardous and Solid Waste Arrendnents
Type of Directive (Manuel Policy Dir. Clive. Announcement. dc i
Status
0 Draft I
Final
0 New
0 Revision
Does this Directive Supersede Previous D,rect,ve(s Yes
No
Does It Supplement Previous Directive(sl
Yes
No
If Yes to Either Ouest ,on. Whet l),rect,ve (number title)
Review Plan
0 OSWER 0 OUST 0 OECM
O OERR 0 OWPE 0 occ
osw 0 Regions 0 OPPE
0
Other (SpeciFy)
aQuest Meets OSWER Directives System Format
iyrdture of Lead Office Directives Officer
Date
Signature of OSWER Directives Officer
I Date
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A1 A HMENT
The RSI provides information on the imn diate effect of 3004(u) on current
permit actions and specifies that all permit applicants must submit
additional information to address the new requirenent. The RSI also describes
EPA’s general approach for irnplenenting the new corrective action program, and
0 utlines each of the major steps in the process. -
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O ST .
‘ ‘ UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,: CY DIRECTIVE NO.
WASHINGTON, D C 20460
PRO ) — 8 5
FEb i
OFFICE OF
SOLD - SrE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: RCRA Reauthorization Statutory Interpretation #3:
1rnmediate Implementation of New Corrective Action
Req ii e rp M t s
FROM: J’ac(c W. McGraw
,Acting Assistant Administrator
TO: Addressees
BACKGROUND
One of the most important early—enactment provisions of the
RCRA reauthorization is the new authority for corrective action
for continuing releases [ Section 3004 (u)J. As you know, this pro-
vision is applicable to all permits issued after November 8, 1984.
This memorandum provides preliminary guidance on the new information
to be submitted with Part B applications to satisfy the new require-
ments. The guidance applies to those facilities whose Part B
applications have been requested, and for which final determinations
were not made prior to November 8, 1984.
The new continuing release provision in effect requires that
each facility seeking a RCRA permit must (a) identify all solid
waste management units at the facility; (b) identify releases
of hazardous wastes or constituents that have occurred from those
units; and (c) perform corrective action for those releases. Vir-
tually all regulated facilities will be affected by this provision,
since it applies to inactive arid closed units at such facilities,
as well as to the operating units subject to permitting.
Much of the implementation of the continuing release provision
is subject to interpretations which have not yet been made by the
Agency. An effort is currently underway to clarify the full impact
of this provision on the RCRA permit program.
Policy guidance on implementation of the new §3004(u) authority,
including the requirement for financial assurance for corrective
action, is expected to be issued in draft within a month. Separate
guidance is being developed on how to determine whether or not a
facility has a release that may pose a threat to human health and the
environment. Additional guidance on the technical aspects of
different types of corrective action programs, and on the use of
interim status corrective action orders, will also be issued.
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NREC1]VE NO.
ACTION
Several actions can be taken to implement this new cor-
rective action requirement prior to issuance of the above mentioned
guidance packages. Specifically, we recommend that a notice he
sent to each facility whose Part B has been requested and for
which a final determination was not made prior to November 8, 1984.
This notice should provide a general explanation of the new cor-
rective action provision, and the fact that additional information
must be submitted to satisfy the new requirement. In general,
EPA will need to obtain the following information in order to
determine whether a facility is in compliance with section 300 4(u):
(a) Identification of each unit at the facility that might
fall within the definition of solid waste management unit,
that has not already been described in the Part B appli-
cation. Although no final decision has yet been made on
the definition, a solid waste management unit may include
any landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, land treatment
unit, injection well, incinerator, tank (including waste—
water treatment units, elementary neutralization units,
and tanks used in reuse/recovery operations), container
storage area, transfer station, or waste recycling oper-
ation at the facility. The applicant should also under-
stand that EPA views the “facility” as not limited to the
area where wastes are managed, hut includes the entire
contiguous property under the control of the owner or
operator. For each unit, the following information should
be supplied:
— Type of unit
— Location of each unit at the facility on a
topographic map
— General dimensions
— Whether the unit is currently operating, and if
not, when the unit closed or ceased operating
— Description of the wastes that were placed in
the unit (where available)
(b) All information available to the owner/operator on
whether or not releases have occurred from any of the
solid waste management units (including the hazardous
waste units) at the facility. Releases to ground water,
as well as to other media (e.g., soils, surface water,
air) should be described. Such information would
include available ground or surface water monitoring
data, results of soil sampling, spill reports, inspection
records, etc.
We recommend that in most cases, applicants who have already
submitted their Part B application should be given no more than
30—45 days in which to submit this information.
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It should be understood that there is currently no provision
in 40 CFR Part 270 which requires submission of the above infor-
mation in Part B applications. In a sense, therefore, submittal of
the information by permit applicants is “voluntary.” However,
section 3005(c) of the Act provides that permits can be issued
to facilities only upon a determination that the facility is in
compliance with the requirements of Section 3004 of the Act.
Therefore, failure to submit information to demonstrate a facility’s
compliance with the §3004(u) requirement would be grounds for denial
of the permit.
The above information, when submitted by the permit applicants,
will allow the permit writer to make an assessment as to which
facilities are likely to require corrective action proqrams, and
how permitting and enforcement priorities might subsequently be
realigned.
Some States may have existing regulatory requirements analogous
to the new RCRA continuing release provision. Such States may
already have gathered substantial information on solid waste man-
agement units and releases at their facilities. In preparing the
notices to be sent to permit applicants, Regional Offices should
coordinate with their States to avoid requesting such information
that has already been collected by a State agency.
Some facilities may contain only units with a relatively
low likelihood of having caused a release (e.g., indoor container
storage areas, above—ground tanks, etc.). In such cases, the
Region/State may consider going forward with issuing the permit,
providing that:
— The owner/operator has indicated that there is no
information indicating a release from any of the units;
a nd
— An assessment of the facility, based on a site in-
spection and other available information, confirms that
a release that poses a threat to human health and the
environment is unlikely to have occurred.
For many facilities, the absence of a release will not be
so easily established. Further, some facilities will already have
determined that such a release(s) has occurred. For these facil-
ities further information will have to he developed to identify
and/or characterize releases. As noted earlier, guidance on these
issues will be forthcoming.
Any questions or comments on procedural aspects of imple-
menting this corrective action authority should be directed to
Dave Fagan (382—4497). For information on the guidance packages
being developed, please contact Art Day (382—4658), or George
Dixon (382—4494).
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V rr —r
L \LLJ E O.
2
Addressees :
Regional Administrators, Regions I—X
Regional Waste Management Division Directors, Regions I—X
Hazardous Waste Branch Chiefs, Regions I—x
Regional Counsels, Regions I—X
State Hazardous Waste Program Directors
Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring
Associate General Counsel for Solid Waste and Emergency Response
OSWER Office Directors
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