United States Office of Directive: 9347.3-05FS
Environmental Protection Solid Waste and July 1989
Agency Emergency Response
&EPA
Superfund LDR Guide #5
Determining When Land
Disposal Restictions (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
hazardous waste. Lherefore, 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?
Lhe LDRs place specific restrictions (e.g., treatment of
waste to concentration levels) on RCRA hazardous wastes
prior to their placement in land disposal units. Lherefore, 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
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concept of a RCRA unit less useful for actions involving
on-site disposal of wastes. Lherefore, 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), whichmay 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 (e.g., 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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F or 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.
Highlight 2: PLACEMENT
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).
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 ARCRA
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 261.31)
#	K waste codes (Part 261.32)
#	P waste codes (Part 261.33(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:
#	Ignitability
#	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
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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 - 261.24 for each
characteristic or on knowledge of the properties of the
substance. Sitemanagers 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 261.3(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).
F or 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 261.3(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 characteristic.
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 water
(i.e., both non-solid wastes) contain an F001 spent solvent,
that soil or ground water must be managed as a RCRA
hazardous waste, as long as it "contains" the F001 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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Highlight 4: LDR STATUTORY DEADLINES
Waste
Statutory Deadline
Spent Solvent and Dioxin-
Containing Wastes
November 8, 1986
California List Wastes
July 8, 1987
First Fhird Wastes
August 8, 1988
Spent Solvent, Dioxin-
Containing, and California
List Soil and Debris From
CERLA/RCRA
Corrective Actions
November 8, 1988
Second Fhird Wastes
June 8, 1989
Fhird Fhird Wastes
May 8, 1990
Newly Identified
Wastes
Within 6 months of
identification as a
hazardous waste
effect at the time placement is to occur. For example, if the
RCRA 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 managermust: (1) comply with the
LDR restriction in effect, (2) comply with the LDRs by
choosing one of the LDR compliance options (e.g.,
Lreatability Variance, No Migration Petition), or (3) invoke
an ARAR waiver (available only for on-site actions). If the
LDRs are determined not to be applicable, then, for on-site
actions only, the site manager should determine if the LDRs
are relevant and appropriate. Lhe process for determining
whether the LDRs are applicable to a CERCLA action is
summarized in Highlight 5.
Highlight 5 - DETERMINING WHEN LDRS
ARE APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS
Does
placement occur?
LDRs are not
applicable
LDRs are not
applicable:
determine If
they are
relevant and
appropriate
(on-site
response only)
Is the
CERCLA waste a
RCRA hazardous or
California list
waste?
Is the
RCRA hazardous
waste restricted
under the LDRs?
LDRs are not
applicable

YES
1
'
LDRs are applicable 1
requirements 1
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