Changes to the Hazardous Waste Identification Rule

For more information, contact Betty Moore at 512.329.5544.  

EPA finalized revisions to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste identification rule (HWIR) on May 16, 2001 that are effective on August 14, 2001. EPA will maintain the mixture and derived-from rules with two revisions. The mixture and derive-from rules were developed to ensure that the mixture of hazardous wastes with other wastes or wastes that are derived-from the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous wastes are still regulated to protect human health and the environment. The revisions finalized in this rule take into consideration the relative risks posed by specific wastes.

The first revision expands the exclusion for mixtures and/or derivatives of wastes listed solely for the characteristics of ignitability, corrosivity, and/or reactivity found in 40 CFR 261.3(a)(2)(iii), 261.3(a)(2)(iv), and 261.3(c)(2)(i). Under the mixture rule, a mixture of a "listed hazardous waste" with one or more listed hazardous wastes is a hazardous waste. Under the derive-from rule, any solid waste generated from the treatment, storage, or disposal of a listed hazardous waste remains. In this revision to the mixture and derive-from rule, all wastes listed solely for the characteristic of ignitability, corrosivity, and/or reactivity are excluded when they no longer exhibit the characteristic of a hazardous waste.

The revisions to the mixture and derived-from rule also affect the land disposal restriction (LDR) regulations. When a waste that is listed solely for its characteristic of ignitability, corrosivity, and/or reactivity does not exhibit this characteristic at the point of generation, the LDR regulations do not apply to the waste. However, if the listed waste exhibits that characteristic at the point of generation and is subsequently decharacterized, then the LDR requirements still apply. Pursuant to 40 CFR 268.7(a)(7)(a), the generator is still required to put a one-time notification in the facility's files.

The second revision to the rule excludes certain low-level mixed wastes (i.e., waste that is both radioactive and hazardous) (LLMW) from the mixture and derived-from rules. These wastes are excluded provided that they are managed in accordance with 40 CFR 266, Subpart N. These wastes are conditionally exempt from the storage, treatment in tanks, transportation and disposal requirements of RCRA. In addition, hazardous waste mixed with Naturally Occuring and/or Accelerater-produced Radioactive Material (NARM) are exempt from RCRA transportation and disposal requirements. Treated LLMW and NARM can be disposed at low-level radioactive waste facilities regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Additionally, the definition of "eligible radioactive waste" was moved to its own subsection (40 CFR 261.3(h)) to provide more clarity of the exemption.