Waste Management Activities Any person who manages hazardous waste must let the EPA know it is managing a hazardous waste within 90 days of the waste being identified as hazardous A person may be an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or any other legal entity A hazardous waste “manager” is a generator, transporter, or owner or operator of a treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility Owner The person who owns a facility, either in whole or in part The broad definition of a person in federal environmental law leads to the term owner, also being defined broadly Operator The person responsible for overall operation of a facility Pursuant to federal environmental laws, the definition of person, and consequently the definition of operator, is quite broad Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) Facility Pursuant to the RCRA, such hazardous waste facilities are strictly regulated in areas such as design, construction, operation, and closure

Waste Management Activities (cont.) Generator Person who “creates” the waste “Any person, by site, whose act or process produces hazardous waste identified or listed . . . or whose act first causes hazardous waste to become subject to regulation” [40 C.F.R. Section 260.10(a)(26)] Waste Manifest Document used to keep track of hazardous waste shipments Consisting of six parts, it’s created by a hazardous waste generator and must follow each load of hazardous waste from the generator through transportation to its ultimate disposal destination Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest A document that accompanies hazardous waste at all times from its generation through its disposal Illegal Dumping Waste Minimization Generators are required to make efforts to reduce the volume and risk associated with hazardous materials Small Quantity Generators (SQGs) Defined in the RCRA as one that generates more than a certain minimum, but less than a certain maximum, quantity of hazardous waste Have slightly relaxed regulatory storage and transportation time limits compared to larger generators

Waste Management Activities (cont.) Transporters Anyone who moves hazardous waste from one place to another off a given site by any form of transportation, including air, rail, roadway, or water; but such wastes typically transported by trucks or railcars Required to Use particular containers, labels, and placards on their mode of transportation to ensure that the waste is moved safely and that the public and first responders, such as police or fire departments, are placed on notice concerning the hazardous nature of the load Carry the manifests initiated by the generators so that every bit of waste can be tracked Regulated pursuant to Section 3003 of the RCRA RCRA requirements apply to both interstate and intrastate movement The only movement not covered by the RCRA transportation requirements is movement within the same production or manufacturing site Use of a public road invokes the transportation requirements The EPA and DOT can enforce regulations against transporters Can become generators if they manipulate the wastes that come into their possession in certain ways

Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) Facilities Introduction Facilities receiving hazardous waste for any one of three purposes (treatment, storage, or disposal) must comply with strict performance standards Facility Defined to include contiguous land (land lying next to the buildings, ponds, landfills, or other operational features of a hazardous waste operation), structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land The facilities performance standards include specifications as to use of technology, monitoring, staffing, training, and many other activities TSD activities are regulated pursuant to Section 3004 of the RCRA The facilities themselves are permitted under Section 3005 of the RCRA

Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) Facilities (cont.) Treatment facility Facility whose operator uses any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize such waste or so as to recover energy or material resources from the waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous or less hazardous; safer to transport, store, or dispose of; or amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume Storage facility Holds hazardous waste for a temporary period, at the end of which period the waste is treated, disposed of, or moved elsewhere for additional storage Disposal facility Where hazardous waste is intentionally placed into or on land or water and where waste will remain after the facility is closed

RCRA Operating Permit Every owner/operator of a TSD facility must obtain a permit prior to beginning construction of the facility [RCRA Section 3005] A permit is individual to a facility Corporations with operations at multiple locations must permit each location separately

RCRA Operating Permit (cont.) Part A & Part B permit application Two parts/types of an application required in certain circumstances Upon passage of the RCRA, existing TSD facilities (also known as interim status facilities) were required to file this application with the EPA for a permit to continue to do business until they received their full operating permit Part A Basic information related to the application, including the name of the applicant the location of the facility the nature of the business regulated activities to be conducted at the facility a topographic map of the proposed site Part B More detailed and substantial than Part A Must demonstrate compliance with all applicable technical standards for the type of facility proposed

RCRA Operating Permit (cont.) Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984 Corrective action following releases Inspection Any EPA or state representative may inspect the buildings, vehicles, equipment, grounds, and records of any person who handles hazardous waste, including generators, transporters, or owners or operators of TSD facilities [RCRA Section 3007] Inspection authority also extends to sites where hazardous waste has, at any time, been handled, even if the waste is no longer handled at the facility or the facility is closed Inspectors are authorized to copy records, take samples of waste, and visually inspect any portion of a facility they so choose

TSD Facility Standards Personnel training Facility security Financial responsibility Specific design and operating standards depending on the type of facility and whether it contains Storage tanks Landfills Incinerators Emergency Response Preparedness Record Keeping Closure Requirements

State-Regulated Hazardous Waste Programs States can create and administer their own hazardous waste programs in lieu of administration by the EPA State-administered program must be consistent with the federal program and ensure adequate compliance with RCRA provisions State enacted RCRA laws must be no less strict than the federal RCRA provisions; however, they may be more strict than the RCRA Joint permitting The result of dual administration by the EPA and the states EPA ends up enforcing the HSWA provisions, and states enforce the remainder of the RCRA provisions

Enforcement Civil penalties Fines of up to $25,000 per day of violation, regardless of whether violator has taken action to correct the violation If violation is proven, permit can be suspended or revoked Criminal penalties Provided for “knowing” violation of RCRA requirements Fines of up to $50,000 and up to 2 years in prison The crime of “knowing endangerment” A situation where a person violates the RCRA and “knows at that time that he thereby places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury” [Section 3008] Fines of up to $250,000 and a possibility of 15 years in prison An “organizational defendant” may be fined up to $1 million

Enforcement (cont.) Citizen suits The HSWA of 1984 permits suits where management (past or present) of a waste management facility has placed citizens in imminent or substantial endangerment Suits not allowed against the EPA regarding the siting or permitting of a hazardous waste facility, among other reasons, for situations where the EPA is already pursuing a RCRA action or where the offending party is taking remedial action pursuant to an administrative order obtained by the EPA If a citizen substantially prevails in such litigation, he/she may recover attorneys’ fees