^£DSrx
• A v
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
18-P-0227
July 31, 2018
Why We Did This Project
We audited the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) oversight of
the implementation of new
Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA)
regulations by authorized state
hazardous waste programs.
RCRA Subtitle C specifies
requirements for the
management of hazardous
waste. Congress gave the
states the option to assume
primary responsibility for
implementing the hazardous
waste rules, with oversight from
the federal government. For a
state to assume the regulatory
lead as the implementing
agency, it must be authorized by
the EPA to do so. Once a state
has received EPA authorization
for the base hazardous waste
program, the state must
continue to revise its program to
authorize any additional
required rules promulgated by
the EPA. All states except
Alaska and Iowa have been
authorized by the EPA to
implement the hazardous waste
program.
This report addresses the
following:
• Partnering with states and
other stakeholders.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oia.
Listing of OIG reports.
Incomplete Oversight of State Hazardous Waste
Rule Authorization Creates Regulatory Gaps and
Human Health and Environmental Risks
What We Found
Most states are authorized to implement
the majority of new required hazardous
waste rules promulgated by the EPA.
However, states and the EPA have taken
many years to authorize rules—from less
than 1 year to more than 31 years. No state
has been authorized by the EPA for all required rules. For the 173 required
rules, the number not authorized ranges from six to 98 per state; eight states
have not been authorized for more than 50 rules. Although states may have valid
reasons for not seeking authorization for a rule, these rules are nonetheless
unauthorized.
The EPA lacks internal controls to validate the completeness and accuracy of
state authorization information, and does not collect sufficient data to identify
reasons for delays or lack of authorization of RCRA rules. Further, the EPA has
not defined authorization goals to track program performance.
For Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) rules, EPA
regions can administer the requirements if a state has not received
authorization. However, for non-HSWA rules, the EPA cannot administer a rule
when a state has not yet been authorized for the rule, which creates regulatory
gaps. Unauthorized non-HSWA rules create risks to human health and the
environment.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the Office of Land and Emergency Management work with
regions to identify and track rules for which states have not sought authorization
and then prioritize those rules, collect information to improve the authorization
process, improve data collection, and implement performance measures.
The recommendations are resolved with agreed-to actions pending.
Noteworthy Achievements
The EPA has taken steps to improve the state authorization process, including
conducting a Lean effort to reduce the backlog and time required for
authorization, implementing monthly conference calls with regions, and
identifying state authorization as a priority in the fiscal years 2018-2019
National Program Managers' Guidance.
The lack of timely
authorization of
hazardous waste rules
by states creates human
health and environmental risk.

-------