1. 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

2. 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 (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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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