40 CFR Part 261, Subpart C - Characteristics of Hazardous Waste

The Environmental Protection Agency is revising regulations associated with the definition of solid waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. These revisions implement vacaturs ordered by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit), on July 7, 2017, as modified on March 6, 2018.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is proposing to add hazardous waste aerosol cans to the universal waste program under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. This proposed change, once finalized, would benefit the wide variety of establishments generating and managing hazardous waste aerosol cans, including the retail sector, by providing a clear, protective system for managing discarded aerosol cans. The streamlined universal waste regulations are expected to ease regulatory burdens on retail stores and others that discard hazardous waste aerosol cans; promote the collection and recycling of these cans; and encourage the development of municipal and commercial programs to reduce the quantity of these wastes going to municipal solid waste landfills or combustors.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is amending existing regulations regarding the export and import of hazardous wastes from and into the United States. Specifically, this rule applies a confidentiality determination such that no person can assert confidential business information (CBI) claims for documents related to the export, import, and transit of hazardous waste and export of excluded cathode ray tubes (CRTs). EPA is making these changes to apply a consistent approach in addressing confidentiality claims for export and import documentation. The rule will result in cost-savings and greater efficiency for EPA and the regulated community as well as facilitate transparency with respect to the documents that are within the scope of this rulemaking. However, EPA is not finalizing the proposed internet posting requirement in the proposed rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to grant a petition submitted by Blanchard Refining Company LLC—(Blanchard) to exclude (or delist) the residual solids generated from the reclamation of oil bearing hazardous secondary materials (OBSMs) on-site at Blanchard's Galveston Bay Refinery (GBR), located in Texas City, Texas from the lists of hazardous wastes. EPA used the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS) Version 3.0.35 in the evaluation of the impact of the petitioned waste on human health and the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting a petition submitted by ExxonMobil Oil Corporation Beaumont Refinery (ExxonMobil) to exclude from hazardous waste control (or delist) a certain solid waste. This final rule responds to the petition submitted by ExxonMobil to have the secondary impoundment basin (SIB) solids excluded, or delisted from the definition of a hazardous waste. The SIB solids are listed as F037 (primary oil/water/solids separation sludge); and F038 (secondary oil/water/solids separation sludge). After careful analysis and evaluation of comments submitted by the public, the EPA has concluded that the petitioned wastes are not hazardous waste when disposed of in Subtitle D landfills. This exclusion applies to the surface impoundment solids generated at ExxonMobil's Beaumont, Texas facility. Accordingly, this final rule excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when disposed of in Subtitle D landfills but imposes testing conditions to ensure that the future-generated wastes remain qualified for delisting.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting a petition submitted by Samsung Austin Semiconductor (Samsung) to exclude from hazardous waste control (or delist) a certain solid waste. This final rule responds to the petition submitted by Samsung to have the copper filter cake from the electroplating process excluded, or delisted from the definition of a hazardous waste. The Copper filter cake is listed as F006, wastewater treatment sludges from electroplating operations. The basis of the listing is cadmium, hexavalent chromium, nickel, and cyanide (complexed). After careful analysis and evaluation of comments submitted by the public, the EPA has concluded that the petitioned wastes are not hazardous waste when disposed of in Subtitle D landfills. This exclusion applies to the copper filter cake generated at Samsung Austin Semiconductor's Austin, Texas facility. Accordingly, this final rule excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when disposed of in Subtitle D landfills, but imposes testing conditions to ensure that the future-generated wastes remain qualified for delisting.

EPA is proposing to grant a petition submitted by Samsung Austin Semiconductor (Samsung) to exclude (or delist) the sludge generated from the electroplating process from the lists of hazardous wastes. EPA used the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS) Version 3.0.47 in the evaluation of the impact of the petitioned waste on human health and the environment.

EPA is proposing to grant a petition submitted by ExxonMobil Oil Corporation Beaumont Refinery (ExxonMobil) to exclude (or delist) the secondary impoundment basin solids in Beaumont, Texas from the lists of hazardous wastes. EPA used the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS) Version 3.0.47 in the evaluation of the impact of the petitioned waste on human health and the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is extending the comment period on the tentative denial of a petition to revise the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrosivity hazardous waste characteristic regulation, published in the Federal Register on April 11, 2016. EPA is tentatively denying the rulemaking petition because the materials submitted in support of the petition fail to demonstrate that the requested regulatory revisions are warranted, as further explained in the tentative denial. The Agency's review of additional materials it identified as relevant to the petition similarly did not demonstrate that any change to the corrosivity characteristic regulation is warranted at this time. The comment period is being extended to December 7, 2016.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is responding to a rulemaking petition (“the petition”) requesting revision of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrosivity hazardous waste characteristic regulation. The petition requests that the Agency make two changes to the current corrosivity characteristic regulation: revise the regulatory value for defining waste as corrosive from the current value of pH 12.5, to pH 11.5; and expand the scope of the RCRA corrosivity definition to include nonaqueous wastes in addition to the aqueous wastes currently regulated. After careful consideration, the Agency is tentatively denying the petition, since the materials submitted in support of the petition fail to demonstrate that the requested regulatory revisions are warranted, as further explained in this document. The Agency's review of additional materials it identified as relevant to the petition similarly did not demonstrate that any change to the corrosivity characteristic regulation is warranted at this time. The Agency is also soliciting public comment on this tentative denial and the questions raised in this action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend our existing regulations in regards to the export and import of hazardous wastes from and into the United States. EPA is proposing these changes to: Provide greater protection to human health and the environment by making existing export and import related requirements more consistent with the current import-export requirements for shipments between members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); enable electronic submittal of all export and import-related documents ( e.g., export notices, export annual reports); and enable electronic validation of consent in the Automated Export System (AES) for export shipments subject to RCRA export consent requirements prior to exit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to revise delisting levels for the hazardous waste exclusion granted to John Deere Des Moines Works (John Deere) of Deere & Company, in Ankeny, Iowa to exclude or “delist” up to 600 tons per calendar year of F006/F019 wastewater treatment sludge. The wastewater treatment sludge is a filter cake generated by John Deere's Ankeny, Iowa, facility wastewater treatment system was conditionally excluded from the list of hazardous wastes on November 25, 2014. This direct final rule responds to a request submitted by John Deere to increase certain delisting levels and eliminate certain delisting levels for the excluded waste. After careful analysis and use of the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS), EPA has concluded the request may be granted.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending the exclusion for International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in Essex Junction, Vermont to reflect changes in ownership and name.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is publishing a final rule to regulate the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) as solid waste under subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The available information demonstrates that the risks posed to human health and the environment by certain CCR management units warrant regulatory controls. EPA is finalizing national minimum criteria for existing and new CCR landfills and existing and new CCR surface impoundments and all lateral expansions consisting of location restrictions, design and operating criteria, groundwater monitoring and corrective action, closure requirements and post closure care, and recordkeeping, notification, and internet posting requirements. The rule requires any existing unlined CCR surface impoundment that is contaminating groundwater above a regulated constituent's groundwater protection standard to stop receiving CCR and either retrofit or close, except in limited circumstances. It also requires the closure of any CCR landfill or CCR surface impoundment that cannot meet the applicable performance criteria for location restrictions or structural integrity. Finally, those CCR surface impoundments that do not receive CCR after the effective date of the rule, but still contain water and CCR will be subject to all applicable regulatory requirements, unless the owner or operator of the facility dewaters and installs a final cover system on these inactive units no later than three years from publication of the rule. EPA is deferring its final decision on the Bevill Regulatory Determination because of regulatory and technical uncertainties that cannot be resolved at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising regulations associated with the comparable fuels exclusion and the gasification exclusion, originally issued by EPA under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). These revisions implement vacaturs ordered by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit), on June 27, 2014.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, or the Agency) is publishing a final rule that revises several recycling-related provisions associated with the definition of solid waste used to determine hazardous waste regulation under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The purpose of these revisions is to ensure that the hazardous secondary materials recycling regulations, as implemented, encourage reclamation in a way that does not result in increased risk to human health and the environment from discarded hazardous secondary material.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting the petition submitted by John Deere Des Moines Works (John Deere) of Deere & Company, in Ankeny, Iowa to exclude or “delist” up to 600 tons per calendar year of F006/F019 wastewater treatment sludge filter cake generated by John Deere's wastewater treatment system from the list of hazardous wastes. This final rule responds to a petition submitted by John Deere to delist up to 600 tons per calendar year of F006/F019 wastewater treatment sludge filter cake generated by John Deere's wastewater treatment system from the list of hazardous wastes. After careful analysis and use of the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS), EPA has concluded the petitioned waste is not hazardous waste. The F006/F019 exclusion is a conditional exclusion for 600 cubic yards per year of the F006/F019 wastewater treatment sludge. Accordingly, this final rule excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, also, “the Agency” or “we”) is proposing to grant a petition submitted by the John Deere Des Moines Works (John Deere) of Deere & Company, in Ankeny, Iowa to exclude or “delist” up to 600 tons per calendar year of F006/F019 wastewater treatment sludge filter cake generated by John Deere's wastewater treatment system from the list of hazardous wastes. The Agency has tentatively decided to grant the petition based on an evaluation of waste-specific information provided by John Deere. This proposed decision, if finalized, would conditionally exclude the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This exclusion would be valid only when the wastewater treatment sludge filter cake is disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill which is permitted, licensed, or otherwise authorized by a State to manage industrial solid waste. If finalized, EPA would conclude that John Deere's petitioned waste is nonhazardous with respect to the original listing criteria and that there are no other current factors which would cause the waste to be hazardous.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is revising certain export provisions of the cathode ray tube (CRT) final rule published on July 28, 2006. The revisions will allow the Agency to better track exports of CRTs for reuse and recycling in order to ensure safe management of these materials.

This Notice of Data Availability (NODA) announces and invites comment on information assembled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency), and solicits additional information regarding the hazardous waste management practices of establishments in the retail sector (e.g., stores). The NODA also invites comment on specific issues and suggested questions that the retail industry has raised about challenges they face in complying with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste policies, guidances and regulations. This NODA meets the Agency's commitment to solicit public comment on issues associated with the retail sector under Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review to make regulatory programs more effective or less burdensome in achieving regulatory objectives.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is revising the regulations for hazardous waste management under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to conditionally exclude carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) streams that are hazardous from the definition of hazardous waste, provided these hazardous CO 2 streams are captured from emission sources, are injected into Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI wells for purposes of geologic sequestration (GS), and meet certain other conditions. EPA is taking this action because the Agency believes that the management of these CO 2 streams, when meeting certain conditions, does not present a substantial risk to human health or the environment, and therefore additional regulation pursuant to RCRA's hazardous waste regulations is unnecessary. EPA expects that this amendment will substantially reduce the uncertainty associated with identifying these CO 2 streams under RCRA subtitle C, and will also facilitate the deployment of GS by providing additional regulatory certainty.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is publishing a final rule that modifies its hazardous waste management regulations for solvent-contaminated wipes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Specifically, this rule revises the definition of solid waste to conditionally exclude solvent-contaminated wipes that are cleaned and reused and revises the definition of hazardous waste to conditionally exclude solvent-contaminated wipes that are disposed. The purpose of this final rule is to provide a consistent regulatory framework that is appropriate to the level of risk posed by solvent-contaminated wipes in a way that maintains protection of human health and the environment, while reducing overall compliance costs for industry, many of which are small businesses.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting a petition submitted by ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company (ExxonMobil) Baytown Refinery to exclude from hazardous waste control (or delist) a certain solid waste. This final rule responds to the petition submitted by ExxonMobil to have the F039 underflow water generated at the North Landfarm (NLF) in Baytown, Texas excluded, or delisted, from the definition of a hazardous waste. After careful analysis and evaluation of comments submitted by the public, the EPA has concluded that the petitioned wastes are not hazardous waste when disposed of in Subtitle D landfills. This exclusion applies to 7,427 cubic yards per year of the F039 underflow water. Accordingly, this final rule excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when disposed of in Subtitle D landfills but imposes testing conditions to ensure that the future-generated wastes remain qualified for delisting.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting the petition submitted by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) to exclude or “delist” a certain wastewater treatment sludge generated by its facility in Essex Junction, Vermont from the lists of hazardous wastes. This final rule responds to a petition submitted by IBM to delist F006 waste. The F006 waste is sludge generated from IBM's Industrial Waste Treatment Plant (IWTP). After careful analysis and use of the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS), EPA has concluded the petitioned waste is not hazardous waste. The F006 exclusion is a conditional exclusion for 3,150 cubic yards per year of the F006 wastewater treatment sludge. Accordingly, this final rule excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

The EPA (also, “the Agency” or “we”) is amending an existing exclusion to reflect changes in ownership and name for the ConocoPhillips Billings, Montana Refinery. Today's amendment documents these changes.

The EPA (also, “the Agency” or “we” in this preamble) is proposing to grant a petition submitted by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), in Essex Junction, Vermont to exclude (or “delist”) up to 3,150 cubic yards per calendar year of F006 wastewater treatment sludge generated by IBM's Industrial Waste Treatment System from the list of hazardous wastes. The Agency has tentatively decided to grant the petition based on an evaluation of waste-specific information provided by IBM. This proposed decision, if finalized, would conditionally exclude the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This exclusion would be valid only when the wastewater treatment sludge is disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill which is permitted, licensed, or otherwise authorized by a State to manage industrial solid waste. If finalized, EPA would conclude that IBM's petitioned waste is nonhazardous with respect to the original listing criteria and that there are no other factors which would cause the waste to be hazardous.

EPA is proposing to grant a petition submitted by ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company (ExxonMobil) Baytown Refinery (BTRF) to exclude (or delist) the underflow water generated at the North Landfarm (NLF) in Baytown, Texas from the lists of hazardous wastes. EPA used the Delisting Risk Assessment Software (DRAS) Version 3.0 in the evaluation of the impact of the petitioned waste on human health and the environment.