United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Publication 9347.3-12FS
January 1991
v>EPA
Superfund Guide To
RCRA Management
Requirements for Mineral
Processing Wastes
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Hazardous Site Control Division OS-220
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
CERCLA remedial actions must comply with (or justify a waiver of) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
requirements when they are "applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements" (ARARs). For RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste
requirements to be applicable, the CERCLA response action must constitute either treatment, storage, transport, or disposal of a
RCRA hazardous waste (or a waste management unit being closed as part of a CERCLA response action must contain hazardous
waste that was originally disposed after the effective date of RCRA regulation). The determination of whether a CERCLA waste
is a RCRA hazardous waste is particularly important for Superfund site managers handling wastes that originally were generated
during mineral processing operations, but recently were removed from the mining waste (Bevill) exclusion (RCRA section
3001(b)(3)(A)(ii)) and are now regulated as hazardous wastes. The purpose of this guide is to summarize recent revisions
to the 1980 mining waste exclusion, explain the potential effects of these revisions on waste management options for
mineral processing wastes, and provide a general framework for managing mineral processing wastes at CERCLA sites
in accordance with RCRA land disposal restrictions (LDRs) and the recently promulgated toxicity characteristics (TC)
rule.
BACKGROUND
The 1980 mining waste exclusion, RCRA
§3001(b)(3)(A)(ii), excluded solid wastes generated in the
"extraction, beneficiation, and processing of ores and
minerals" from regulation as hazardous waste under the
RCRA Subtitle C program, pending the completion of a
Report to Congress and a decision by EPA on whether
regulation as hazardous waste is warranted. From 1980
through 1989, this exclusion encompassed all "solid waste
from the exploration, mining, milling, smelting, and refining
of ores and mineral." A Federal Court of Appeals ruling
(Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA, 852 F.2d 1316,
{D.C. Cir. 1988} cert, denied, 109 S.Ct. 1120 (1989)),
however, concluded that only mineral processing wastes that
are "high volume, low hazard" should be exempted from
RCRA Subtitle C regulations under the mining waste
exclusion. Therefore, in response to the Court decision, EPA
developed definitions for extraction, beneficiation, and
mineral processing (see Highlight 1) and criteria (54 FR
36592, September 1, 1989) (see Highlight 2) for
determining if a mineral processing waste stream is "high
volume" and "low hazard" to assist in determinations of
which mineral processing wastes would continue to be
excluded. Based on these definitions and criteria, five wastes
were retained under the mining waste exclusion for study in
a Report to Congress. In addition, the rule identified 20 other
wastes, for which the exclusion was "conditionally retained,"
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that required further study before a decision could be made
on whether or not they should be excluded from hazardous
waste regulation and included in the scope of the Report to
Congress. The September 1,1989 rule also removed all other
mineral processing wastes from the exclusion.
EPA promulgated a subsequent rule (55 FR 2322,
January 23, 1990) removing five of the remaining 20
"conditional" wastes from the mining waste exclusion. The
remaining 15 wastes for which the exclusion had been
conditionally retained (by the September 1, 1989 rule) were
retained for study in the Report to Congress. Thus, these 15
wastes, along with the five wastes for which the exclusion
was retained by the September 1, 1989 rule, comprise the 20
mineral processing wastes that are currently excluded from
regulation as hazardous wastes under RCRA. Each of these
20 wastes (see Highlight 3) is currently under study by EPA
to determine the most appropriate regulatory program. EPA
submitted the Report to Congress on July 31, 1990. An
Agency decision on which, if any, of these 20 wastes will be
subject to Subtitle C is scheduled for early 1991.
In a September 13, 1988 rulemaking (53 FR 35412),
six mineral processing wastes that were formerly listed
RCRA hazardous wastes (and later exempted from
RCRA Subtitle C requirements by the mining waste
exclusion) were relisted in response to the court
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Highlight 1
DEFINITIONS OF EXTRACTION,
BENEFICIATION, AND MINERAL PROCESSING
Extraction is the process of mining and removing ores and
minerals from the ground.
Beneficiation is defined as crushing; grinding, washing;
dissolution; crystallization; filtration; sorting; sizing; drying;
sintering; pelletizing; briquetting; calcining to remove water and/or
carbon dioxide; roasting, autoclaving, and/or chlorination in
preparation for leaching (except where the roasting (and/or
autoclaving and/or chlorination)/leaching sequence produces a final
or intermediate product that does not undergo further
beneficiation or processing); gravity concentration; magnetic
separation; electrostatic separation; floatation; ion exchange;
solvent extraction; electrowinning; precipitation; amalgamation;
and heap, dump, vat, tank, and in situ leaching. (40 CFR
261.4(b)(7))
Mineral processing operations are operations that
• follow beneficiation of an ore or mineral (if applicable);
• serve to remove the desired product from an ore or mineral, or
enhance the characteristics of ores or minerals or beneficiation
ores or minerals;
• use mineral-value feedstocks that are comprised of less than 50
percent scrap materials;
• produce either a final mineral product or an intermediate to the
final product; and
• do not combine the product with another material that is not
an ore or mineral, or beneficiated ore or mineral (e.g., alloying),
do not involve fabrication or other manufacturing activities,
and do not involve further processing of a marketable product
of mineral processing. (A listing of criteria is provided in the
preamble to the September 1, 1989 rulemaking, 54 FR 36592).
decision in EDF v EPA as RCRA hazardous wastes. These
wastes are:
• K064 Acid plant blowdown slurry/sludge resulting from
the thickening of blowdown slurry from primary
copper production
• K065 Surface impoundment solids contained in and
dredged from surface impoundments at primary
lead smelting facilities
• K066 Sludge from treatment of process wastewater
and/or acid plant blowdown from primary zinc
production
• K088 Spent potliners from primary aluminum reduction
• K090 Emission control dust or sludge from
ferrochromiumsilicon
• K091 Emission control dust or sludge from
ferrochromium production
Highlight 2
HIGH VOLUME AND LOW HAZARD DEFINITIONS
EPA defines "high volume" mineral processing wastes as:
(1) non-liquid mineral processing wastes that were generated at
an average annual rate of greater than 45,000 metric tons per
year per facility, and
(2) liquid mineral processing wastes that were generated at an
average annual rate of more than 1,000,000 metric tons per
year per facility during any year between 1983 and 1998
(see 54 FR 36629).
A high volume mineral processing waste is not "low hazard" if
samples of the waste from two or more facilities fail the Synthetic
Precipitation Leaching Procedure (SPLP) Test or the pH Test (see
54 FR 36630).*
* NOTE: The SPLP and pH tests are not related to the TCLP
test.
In July, 1990, a Federal Court of Appeals ruling remanded
the listings of five of these wastes (AMC v. EPA, 31 ERC
1935). At this time, K088 is the only one of these six wastes
that is a listed RCRA hazardous waste; the other five wastes
are RCRA hazardous wastes only if they exhibit one or more
of the RCRA hazardous waste characteristics.
RCRA WASTE DETERMINATIONS
In order to ensure that Superfund response actions comply
with applicable RCRA requirements, site managers first need
to know if RCRA hazardous wastes are present at the site.
The determination of whether RCRA wastes are present at
mining or smelting sites is affected by the two mineral
processing waste regulations discussed above. If a mineral
processing waste (except the 20 wastes currently under
study) is transported, treated, stored, or disposed of as part
of a CERCLA response action, it is subject to hazardous
waste regulations under RCRA Subtitle C if it meets the
definition of a RCRA hazardous waste (i.e., is listed or
exhibits a characteristic).
EPA recently promulgated the toxicity characteristics (TC)
rule, which may affect when mineral processing wastes are
hazardous wastes. The TC rule (55 FR 11798, March 29,
1990), which took effect on September 25, 1990, replaces
the extraction procedure (EP) with the Toxicity
Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test to define
when a waste is hazardous by characteristic. The TC also
adds an additional 25 regulated constituents (all of which are
organics) to the 14 constituents previously regulated under
the EP toxicity test (see CERCLA Compliance with the
RCRA Toxicity Characteristics (TC) Rule, Part II,
Publication 9347.3-1 IPS).
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Highlight 3
MINERAL PROCESSING WASTES CURRENTLY RETAINED UNDER THE MINING WASTE EXCLUSION
Mineral Processing Wastes Commodity sector
Red and brown muds from bauxite refining Alumina
Gasifer ash from coal gasification Coal Gasification
Process wastewater from coal gasification
Calcium sulfate WWT plant sludge from primary copper processing Copper
Slag from primary copper processing
Slag tailings from primary copper processing
Slag from elemental phosphorous production Element Phosphorous
Fluorogypsum from hydrofluoric acid production Hydroflouric Acid
Process wastewater from hydrofluoric acid production
Air Pollution Control (APC) dust/sludge from iron blast furnaces Iron
Iron blast furnace slag
Slag from primary lead processing Lead
Process wastewater from primary magnesium processing by the anhydrous process Magnesium
Phosphogypsum from phosphoric acid production Phosphoric Acid
Process wastewater from phosphoric acid production
Treated residue from roasting/leaching of chrome ore Sodium Chromate/Bichromate
Basic Oxygen Furnace (EOF) and Open Hearth Furnace (OHF) APC dust/sludge
from carbon steel production Steel
EOF and OHF slag from carbon steel production
Chloride process waste solids from titanium tetrachloride production Titanium Tetrachloride
Slag from primary zinc processing Zinc
Original five wastes retained under the exclusion in the September 1, 1989 rule. The remaining 15 wastes were retained in the January 23,1990
rule. All other mineral processing wastes are subject to Subtitle C regulation if they are hazardous waste by listing or characteristic.)
As with the EP, site managers are not required to test
wastes to determine if they exhibit the toxicity characteristic
based on the TCLP; knowledge of the wastes may be
sufficient. Specific knowledge of Superfund wastes may not
be available in many cases, and testing may be necessary to
make this determination. In general, mineral processing wastes
that did not exhibit the toxicity characteristic based on the EP
test also would be expected not to exhibit the toxicity
characteristic using the TCLP test. However, in limited cases,
wastes that were not hazardous under the EP may be
hazardous under the TCLP, and site managers will need to base
decisions on whether to "retest" on previous results and
site-specific factors.
At sites where RCRA hazardous waste requirements may
not be applicable (e.g., listed or characteristically hazardous
mineral processing wastes are not known to be present), site
managers still must determine if the requirements are relevant
and appropriate (based on the factors discussed in the NCP
preamble, see 55 FR 8743 and 8763). [NOTE: In some
circumstances, RCRA requirements may be relevant and
appropriate to mining wastes that have been excluded from
RCRA (or are under review).]
RCRA WASTE MANAGEMENT
Mineral processing wastes other than those listed
in Highlight 3 (i.e., wastes removed from the mining
waste exclusion) would have to exhibit the toxicity
characteristic, one of the other three characteristics
(ignitability, corrosivity, or reactivity) or be listed as hazardous
waste, before being regulated under Subtitle C. [Note: Solid
wastes that still are excluded from Subtitle C regulation, such
as extraction or beneficiation wastes, or that do not exhibit a
characteristic and are not listed, must be managed in
accordance with Subtitle D of RCRA.]
Mineral processing wastes that have been removed from the
mining waste exclusion and are determined to be hazardous are
subject to Subtitle C requirements in those states that do not
have authorization to administer their own hazardous waste
program (i.e., non-authorized RCRA states). Generators,
transporters, and treatment, storage, and disposal facilities in
authorized states will be subject to RCRA requirements only
after the state revises its program to reflect the changes in
Federal regulations and EPA authorizes the revision. (Of
course, the requirements will be applicable as state law if the
state law is effective prior to authorization.) The rule is not
effective automatically in authorized states because it is not
required as part of the Hazardous and Solid Waste
Amendments (HSWA) of 1984 (the provisions of which are
effective in all states once promulgated by EPA).
All mineral processing wastes that now are
considered RCRA hazardous wastes (i.e., non-excluded
mineral processing wastes that are characteristic or
listed) are considered to be "newly identified" wastes
and will not have treatment standards under the land
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Summary of Mining Waste Exclusion
Extraction. beneficlatlon.
and processing wastes
Is
wast* from
extraction or
beneftclatton process?
(see highlight 1)
Is waste
a mineral processing
waste listed In
highlight 37
Waste Is excluded
from Subtitle C
and must be managed
under Subtitle 0
Waste Is temporarily
exempt from Subtitle C
pending study: waste
must be managed as a
Subtitle 0 waste
Waste has been
removed from
mineral processing
exclusion
Is
waste a
hazardous waste
(I.e.. Hsted or
haract eristic)'
Has EPA
established LOR
treatment standard*
for the wastes?
Waste I* regulated
under Subtitle 0
of RCRA
Comply wtth the
appropriate LOR
treatment standard*
for the watte
Manage treatment residuals as
Subtitle C waste* unless:
(1) waste* are detfsted
(If Hsted waste) and/or
(2) waste no longer exhibits
characteristic
(If characteristic waste)
Manage) waste* In
accordance with
Subtitle C requirement*
As of thto
for any
, EPA has not sat LOR treatment standard*
processing waste* removed from the Mining Waste Exclusion
disposal restrictions (LDRs) until EPA completes a separate
LDR rulemaking. Furthermore, no other LDR restrictions
(e.g., soft hammer requirements, California list requirements)
apply to these newly identified wastes. However, formerly
excluded mineral processing wastes
that now are considered hazardous must be disposed of in
accordance with other Subtitle C requirements (e.g., in a
regulated Subtitle C disposal unit) unless they are delisted or
treated to remove the characteristic(s) that make them
hazardous.
NOTICE: The policies set out in this memorandum are intended solely as guidance. They are not intended, nor can they be relied upon, to create
any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA officials may decide to follow the guidance provided in this
memorandum, or to act at variance with the guidance, based on an analysis of specific site circumstances. The Agency also reserves the right to
change this guidance at any time without public notice.
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