EPA530-R-02-005h
RCRA, SUPERFUND & EPCRA CALL CENTER MONTHLY REPORT
August 2002
1. Soil Treatment Standards and Constituents Subject to Treatment
On May 26, 1998 (63 FR 28556), EPA promulgated alternative treatment standards
for hazardous soils subject to land disposal restrictions (LDR) and designated soil as a
new treatability group (40 CFR Section 268.49). Under the new soil standards, a facility
must treat all constituents subject to treatment to a 90 percent reduction of the
constituent level in the soil, capped at 10 times the nonwastewater universal treatment
standard (UTS) (Section 268.49(c)(1)). Additionally, facilities must decharacterize any
soil that exhibits the characteristic of ignitability, corrosivity, or reactivity (Section
268.49(c)(2)). Under these alternative soil standards, what constituents are subject to
treatment?
Section 268.49(d) defines "constituents subject to treatment" as any constituents
listed in Section 268.48 (i.e., the UTS table) that are reasonably expected to be present in
any given volume of contaminated soil, except fluoride, selenium, sulfides, vanadium,
and zinc, and that are present at concentrations greater than 10 times UTS. Generators of
contaminated soil are not required to monitor soil for the entire list of underlying
hazardous constituents (UHCs) to determine the constituents subject to treatment.
Instead, EPA allows generators of contaminated soil to reasonably apply knowledge of
the contaminants that are likely to be present in the soil and use that knowledge to select
appropriate UHCs, or classes of constituents, for monitoring (63 FR 28556, 28609; May
26, 1998).
For soils containing a listed waste, using the alternative soil treatment standards may
encompass constituents subject to treatment that do not require treatment under the
Section 268.40 waste code specific standard. The treatment standards for listed waste in
Section 268.40 do not require identification or treatment of UHCs. However, under the
alternative soil treatment standards, facilities must identify and treat all UHCs reasonably
expected to be present in both characteristic and listed soil.
Finally, the alternative soil treatment standards are not automatically available in all
states. Before using the alternative soil standards, facilities should check with their
implementing agency to verify which treatment options are available for contaminated
soil in their state. Facilities operating in states that have adopted the alternative soil
treatment standards have the option of treating hazardous soils in accordance with the
original waste code specific standards in Section 268.40 or the alternative Section 268.49
soil standards.

-------
FB 14628

-------