United States Office of Directive 9347.3-05FS
Environmental Protection Solid Waste and July 1989
Agency Emergency Response
oEPA
Superfund LDR Guide #5

Determining When Land

Disposal Restrictions (LDRs)

Are Applicable to CERCLA

Response Actions
CERCLA Section 121(d)(2) specifies that on-site Superfund remedial actions shall attain "other Federal standards,
requirements, criteria, limitations, or more stringent State requirements that are determined to be legally applicable
or relevant and appropriate (ARAR) to the specified circumstances at the site." In addition, the National Contingency
Plan (NCP) requires that on-site removal actions attain ARARs to the extent practicable. Off-site removal and
remedial actions must comply with legally applicable requirements. This guide outlines the process used to determine
whether the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) land disposal restrictions (LDRs) established under
the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) are "applicable" to a CERCLA response action. More detailed
guidance on Superfund compliance with the LDRs is being prepared by the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency
Response (OSWER).
For the LDRs to be applicable to a CERCLA
response, the action must constitute placement of a
restricted RCRA ha^rHnn^ waste. Therefore, site
managers (OSCs, RPMs) must answer three separate
questions to determine if the LDRs are applicable:
(1)	Does the response action constitute
placement?
(2)	Is the CERCLA substance being placed
also a RCRA hazardous waste? and if so
(3)	Is the RCRA waste restricted under the
LDRs?
Site managers also must determine if the CERCLA
substances are California list wastes, which are a
distinct category of RCRA hazardous wastes restricted
under the LDRs (see Superfund LDR Guide #2).
(1) DOES THE RESPONSE CONSTITUTE
PLACEMENT?
The LDRs place specific restrictions (e.g., treatment
of waste to concentration levels) on RCRA hazardous
wastes prior to their placement in land disposal units.
Therefore, a key determination is whether the response
action will constitute placement of wastes into a land
disposal unit. As defined by RCRA, land disposal
units include landfills, surface impoundments, waste
piles, injection wells, land treatment facilities, salt dome
formations, underground mines or caves, and concrete
bunkers or vaults. If a CERCLA response includes
disposal of wastes in any of these types of off-site land
disposal units, placement will occur. However,
uncontrolled hazardous waste sites often have
widespread and dispersed contamination, making the
concept of a RCRA unit less useful for actions
involving on-site disposal of wastes. Therefore, to
assist in defining when "placement" does and does not
occur for CERCLA actions involving on-site disposal
of wastes, EPA uses the concept of "areas of
contamination" (AOCs), which may be viewed as
equivalent to RCRA units, for the purposes of LDR
applicability determinations.
An AOC is delineated by the areal extent (or
boundary) of contiguous contamination. Such
contamination must be continuous, but may contain
varying types and concentrations of hazardous
substances. Depending on site characteristics, one or
more AOCs may be delineated. Highlight 1 provides
some examples of AOCs.
Highlight 1: EXAMPLES OF AREAS OF
CONTAMINATION (AOCs)
¦	A waste source (eg., waste pit, landfill,
waste pile) and the surrounding
contaminated soil.
¦	A waste source, and the sediments in a
stream contaminated by the source, where
the contamination is continuous from the
source to the sediments.*
¦	Several lagoons separated only by dikes,
where the dikes are contaminated and the
lagoons share a common liner.
• The AOC does not include any contaminated surface
or ground water that may be associated with the land-
based waste source

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For on-site disposal, placement occurs when wastes
are moved from one AOC (or unit) into another AOC
(or unit). Placement does not occur when wastes are
left in place, or moved within a single AOC. Highlight
2 provides scenarios of when placement does and does
not occur, as defined in the proposed NCP. The
Agency is current reevaluating the definition of
placement prior to the promulgation of the final NCP,
and therefore, these scenarios are subject to change.
In summary, if placement on-site or off-site does
not occur, the LDRs are not applicable to the
Superfund action. -
(2) IS THE CERCLA SUBSTANCE A RCRA
HAZARDOUS WASTE?
Because a CERCLA response must constitute
placement of a restricted RCRA hazardous waste for
the LDRs to be applicable, site managers must evaluate
whether the contaminants at the CERCLA site are
RCRA hazardous wastes. Highlight 3 briefly describes
the two types of RCRA hazardous wastes --listed and
characteristic wastes.
Highlight 3: RCRA HAZARDOUS WASTES
A RCRA solid waste is hazardous if it is
listed or exhibits a hazardous characteristic.
Listed RCRA Hazardous Wastes
Any waste listed in Subpart D of 40
CFR 261, including
• F waste codes (Part 26131)
• K waste codes (Part 26132)
• P waste codes (Part 26133(e))
• U waste codes (Part 261.33(f))
Characteristic RCRA Hazardous Wastes
Any waste exhibiting one of the following
characteristics, as defined in 40 CFR 261:
• Ignitabiliry
• Corrosivity
• Reactivity
• Extraction Procedure (EP)
Toxicity
• A solid waste is any material that is discarded or
disposed of (i.e., abandoned, recycled in certain ways, or
considered inherently waste-like). The waste may be
solid, semi-solid, liquid, or a contained gaseous material.
Exclusions from the definition (e g., domestic sewage
sludge) appear in 40 CFR 261.4(a). Exemptions (e g.,
household wastes) are found in 40 CFR 261 4(b)
Site managers are not required to presume that a
CERCLA hazardous substance is a RCRA hazardous
waste unless there is affirmative evidence to support
such a finding. Site managers, therefore, should use
‘reasonable efforts’ to determine whether a substance
is a RCRA listed or characteristic waste. (Current
data collection efforts during CERCLA removal and
Highlight 2: PL4CEMENT
Placement does occur when wastes are:
Consolidated from different
AOCs into a single AOC;
• Moved outside of an AOC (for
treatment or storage, for
example) and returned to the
same or a different AOC; or
. Excavated from an AOC, placed
in a separate unit, such as an
incinerator or tank that is within
the AOC, and redeposited into
the same AOC.
Placement does not occur when wastes
are:
• Treated in situ;
• Capped in place;
• Consolidated within the AOC; or
• Processed within the AOC (but
not in a separate unit, such as a
tank) to improve its structural
stability (e.g, for capping or to
support heavy machinery).

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remedial site investigations should be sufficient for this
purpose.) For listed hazardous wastes, if manifests or
labels are not available, this evaluation likely will
require fairly specific information about the waste (e.g.,
source, prior use, process type) that is “reasonably
ascertainable” within the scope of a Superfund
investigation. Such information may be obtained from
facility business records or from an examination of the
processes used at the facility. For characteristic wastes,
site managers may rely on the results of the tests
described in 40 CFR 261.21 - 26124 for each
characteristic or on knowledge of the properties of the
substance. Site managers should work with Regional
RCRA staff Regional Counsel, State RCRA staff, and
Superfund enforcement personnel, as appropriate, in
making these determinations.
In addition to understanding the two categories of
RCRA hazardous wastes, site managers will also need
to understand the derived-from rule, the mixture rule,
and the contained-in interpretation to identify correctly
whether a CERCLA substance is a RCRA hazardous
waste. These three principles, as well as an
introduction to the RCRA delisting process, are
described below.
Derived-from Rule (40 CFR 2613(c) (2))
The derived-from rule states that any solid waste
derived from the treatment, storage, or disposal of a
listed RCRA hazardous waste is itself a listed
hazardous waste (regardless of the concentration of
hazardous constituents). For example, ash and
scrubber water from the incineration of a listed waste
are hazardous wastes on the basis of the derived-from
rule. Solid wastes derived from a characteristic
hazardous waste are hazardous wastes only if they.
exhibit a characteristic.
Mixture Rule (40 CFR 2613(a)(2))
Under the mixture rule, when any solid waste and
a listed hazardous waste are mixed, the entire mixture
is a listed hazardous waste. For example, if a
generator mixes a drum of listed F006 electroplating
waste with a non-hazardous wastewater (wastewaters
are solid wastes - see Highlight 3), the entire mixture
of the F006 and wastewater is a listed hazardous waste.
Mixtures of solid wastes and characteristic hazardous
wastes are hazardous only if the mixture exhibits a
diaracteristic.
Contained-In Interpretation (OSW Memorandum dated
November 13, 1986)
The contained-in interpretation states that any
- mixture of a non-solid waste and a RCRA listed
hazardous waste must be managed as a hazardous
waste as long as the material contains (i.e., is above
health-based levels) the listed hazardous waste. For
example, if soil or ground w ter (i.e., both non-solid
wastes) contain an FOOl spent solvent, that soil or
ground water must be managed as a RCRA hazardous
waste, as long as it “contains” the FOOl spent solvent.
Delisting (40 CFR 260.20 and .22)
To be exempted from the RCRA hazardous waste
“system,” a listed hazardous waste, a mixture of a listed
and solid waste, or a derived-from waste must be
delisted (according to 40 CFR 260.20 and .22).
Characteristic hazardous wastes never need to be
delisted, but can be treated to no longer exhibit the
characteristic. A contained-in waste also does not have
to be delisted; it only has to “no longer contain” the
hazardous waste. -
If site managers determine that the hazardous
substance(s) at the site is a RCRA hazardous waste(s),
• they should also determine whether that RCRA waste
• is a California list waste. California list wastes are a
distinct category of RCRA wastes restricted under the
LDRs (see Superfund LDR Guide.#2).
(3) Is ThE RCRA WASTE RESTRICTED
UNDER THE LDRs?
if a site manager determines that a CERCLA waste
is a RCRA hazardous waste, this waste also must be
restricted for the LDRs to be an applicable
requirement. A RCRA hazardous waste becomes a
restricted waste on its HSWA statutory deadline or
sooner if the Agency promulgates a standard before
the deadline. Because the LDRs are being phased in
over a period of time (see Highlight 4), site managers
may need to determine what type of restriction is in

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Wastc Statutciy Deadline
effect at the time placement is to occur. For example,
if the RCP.A hazardous wastes at a site are currently
under a national capacity extension when the CERCLA
decision document is signed, site managers should
evaluate whether the response action will be completed
before the extension expires. If these wastes are
disposed of in surface impoundments or landfills prior
to the expiration of the extension, the receiving unit
would have to meet minimum technology requirements,
but the wastes would not have to be treated to meet
the LDR treatment standards.
APPLICABILITY DETERMINATIONS
If the site manager determines that the LDRs are
applicable to the CERCLA response based on the
previous three questions, the site manager must: (1)
comply with the LDR restriction in effect, (2) comply
with the LDRs by choosing one of the LDR
compliance options (e.g., Treatability Variance, No
Migration Petition), or (3) invoke an ARAR waiver
(available only for on-site actions). If the LDRs are
determined to be applicable, then, for on-site
actions only, the site manager should determine if the
LDRs are relevant and appropriate. The process for
determining whether the LDRs are applicable to a
CERCJ.A action is summarized in Highlight 5.
Highlight 4: LDR STATUTORY DEADLINES
Spent Solvent and Dtoxin-
Containing Wastes
November 8, 1986
California List Wastes
First Third Wastes
July 8, 1987
August 8, 1988
Spent Solvent, Dio an-
Containing, and California
List Soil and Debris From
CERCLA/RCRA Corrective
Actions
November 8, 1988
Second Third Wastes
Highlight 5 - DETERMINiNG WHEN LDRS
ARE APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS
Third ThLrd Wastes
June 8, 1989
May 8, 1990
Newly Identified
Wastes
Within 6 months of
identification as a
hazardous waste

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