United States Solid Waste and EPA530-F-00-029
Environmental Protection Agency Emergency Response August 2000
(5305W) http://www.epa.gov
Office of Solid Waste
Environmental
Fact Sheet
AMENDMENTS TO CAMU RULE PROPOSED
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the 1993
Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU) rule to provide additional detail to the
framework for managing hazardous clean-up wastes in CAMUs. This proposal is
intended to make the Agency's general expectations for CAMUs clearer, and the
CAMU process more consistent and predictable, as well as more explicit for the
public. In these proposed amendments, the Agency seeks to achieve the proper
balance between providing national minimum standards while retaining the flexibility
that is necessary to make site-specific CAMU decisions.
Background
In 1993, EPA issued the CAMU rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA). This rule was intended to provide a protective framework for making hazardous waste
cleanups easier, faster, and less expensive by alleviating some of the regulatory burdens
associated with full-scale hazardous waste management. The CAMU rule primarily
accomplished this by establishing general performance standards while providing relief from
RCRA's Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs) treatment standards and the minimum technology
requirements (MTRs) associated with the design of land disposal units.
The CAMU rule granted considerable flexibility to the Agency and the states to specify site-
specific standards for managing hazardous waste and hazardous media from cleanups in on-site
land-based units. Although the rule received broad support, it was challenged in court. The
petitioners were troubled by, among other things, the lack of explicit waste treatment and unit
design requirements for CAMUs.
Since 1993, the CAMU lawsuit has been stayed while the Agency undertook a series of
actions to address the issue of how hazardous wastes are managed during cleanups. In
February 2000, the Agency entered into a settlement agreement that calls for these proposed
amendments to be issued by August 2000, and for final regulations by October 2001.
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Action
Following are the primary proposed changes to the 1993 CAMU rule.
! Clarification of the types of wastes that may be managed in a CAMU to distinguish more
clearly between wastes resulting from industrial processes and cleanup.
! Modification of the CAMU design standards to include performance standards for caps,
and for new units, minimum design standards for liners.
! Establishment of treatment requirements for wastes placed in CAMUs for permanent
disposal. Waste that contains "principal hazardous constituents" must meet a minimum
treatment standard, or a site-specific adjusted standard.
! Modification of the information submission requirements for CAMU applications.
! Establishment of new design and operation requirements for CAMUs that are used for
treatment and/or storage of cleanup wastes (as opposed to permanent disposal).
! Provisions for "grandfathering" existing CAMUs, and CAMUs substantially in the
approval process by a certain date.
! Establishment of authorization approaches to allow states that are already authorized
for the CAMU rule to continue to implement CAMUs with a minimum of disruption.
Comments will be accepted on the proposal for 60 days following publication in the Federal
Register.
For More Information
This fact sheet, and related documents are available on the Internet at
. For additional
information or to order paper copies of any documents, call the RCRA Hotline. Callers within
the Washington Metropolitan Area must dial 703-412-9810 or TDD 703-412-3323 (hearing
impaired). Long-distance callers may call 1-800-424-9346 or TDD 1-800-553-7672. The RCRA
Hotline operates weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Address written requests to: RCRA-
Docket@epa.gov or RCRA Information Center (5305W), US EPA, Ariel Rios Building, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460.
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