Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Final Amendment

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 261

[SW-FRL-5075-6]

Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of

Hazardous Waste; Final Amendment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final amendment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) today is

granting a final amendment to an exclusion from the lists of hazardous

wastes previously granted for certain solid wastes generated by POP

Fasteners (POP) in Shelton, Connecticut. This action is taken in

response to a petition for amendment submitted by POP to increase the

maximum annual waste volume covered in its exclusion. The exclusion was

granted under regulations that allow generators to petition EPA to

remove their wastes from hazardous waste control by excluding such

wastes from the hazardous waste lists.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 19, 1994.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for this final amendment is located at the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC

20460, and is available for viewing (room M2616) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Call (202) 260-9327

for appointments. The reference number for this docket is ``F-94-DLPE-

FFFFF''. The public may copy material from any regulatory docket at no

cost for the first 100 pages, and at a cost of $0.15 per page for

additional copies.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the

RCRA Hotline, toll free at (800) 424-9346, or at (703) 412-9810. For

technical information concerning this notice, contact Shen-yi Yang,

Office of Solid Waste (5304), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401

M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, (202) 260-1436.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On March 5, 1990, POP Fasteners (POP), a division of Black and

Decker Corporation, of Shelton, Connecticut petitioned the Agency under

Secs. 260.20 and 260.22, to exclude from hazardous waste control its

F006 metal hydroxide filter cake resulting from the treatment of

wastewater originating from its electroplating operation. After

evaluating the petition, EPA published its final decision in the

Federal Register (57 FR 57673, December 7, 1992) to exclude POP's waste

from the lists of hazardous waste contained at Secs. 261.31 and 261.32.

POP's final exclusion only applied to the process and waste volume (a

maximum of 300 cubic yards generated annually) covered by its original

petition. Any waste generated in excess of 300 cubic yards per year

must be handled as hazardous unless an amendment to POP's final

exclusion is granted.

On May 10, 1993, POP petitioned the Agency for an amendment to its

1992 final exclusion for an increase of its annual maximum waste

generation from 300 cubic yards to 1,000 cubic yards. After its

evaluation of POP's request and supporting information, EPA proposed,

on April 11, 1994, to amend POP's December 7, 1992 exclusion to reflect

a waste volume increase (see 59 FR 17080).

Today's rulemaking finalizes the proposed amendment to amend POP's

existing exclusion.

II. Disposition of Petition for Amendment

POP Fasteners, Shelton, Connecticut.

A. Proposed Amendment

As a result of its business growth, POP petitioned the Agency on

May 10, 1993 for an amendment to its 1992 final exclusion for an

increase of its annual maximum waste generation from 300 cubic yards to

1,000 cubic yards.

POP stated in an April 19, 1993 letter that: (1) the increase in

the filter cake generation was attributable to an increase in rivet

production since the petition was filed; (2) there have been no changes

in the manufacturing process, feed materials, or waste water treatment

process; and (3) the hours of POP's operation have increased.

To confirm that the waste characteristics have not changed, POP

submitted results from the analyses of one filter cake composite for

all Toxicity Characteristic (TC) constituents listed in 40 CFR 261.24

and nickel using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP,

SW-846 Method 1311). POP also submitted a signed certification dated

May 10, 1993 stating that all submitted information is true, accurate,

and complete.

The Agency reviewed its previous decision to grant POP's original

delisting petition (57 FR 37921, 57 FR 57673 and the administrative

record in the RCRA public docket) and the analytical results provided

by POP in support of its request for an amendment to its existing

exclusion. The analytical results submitted to support this amendment

show that the constituents detected in the waste sample, as well as

their respective leachate concentration levels, are consistent with the

waste data in POP's original petition. Furthermore, POP has certified

that there have been no changes in process or feed materials.

Therefore, the Agency believes that the waste characteristics have not

changed.

The Agency evaluated the potential impact of POP's petitioned waste

on human health and the environment, at the increased annual maximum

waste volume, following the same approach it used in evaluating POP's

original petition. Specifically, the Agency evaluated the waste using

the requested annual maximum waste volume estimate of 1,000 cubic yards

and the maximum reported leachate concentration of POP's waste using

the same ground-water model described in the Agency's original decision

(see 57 FR 37921, August 21, 1992 and the RCRA public docket ``F-92-

PEEP-FFFFF'' to that rule). The Agency notes that the modeling results

are the same for 300 and 1,000 cubic yards, and the increased waste

volume has no significant impact. Thus, the Agency believes that the

constituents in POP's waste would not leach and migrate at

concentrations above the Agency's health-based levels used in delisting

decision-making.

EPA also considered the impact of the increased waste volume on

potential risks posed by other exposure routes (i.e., air emission,

surface water). Since the total concentration levels of hazardous

constituents of concern in the petitioned waste and the active landfill

area remain unchanged, the Agency believes that no significant exposure

to contaminants potentially released via air emission and surface

runoff from POP's petitioned waste is likely. See 57 FR 37921 (August

21, 1992), 57 FR 57673 (December 7, 1992), and the RCRA public dockets

for these notices for a detailed description of the evaluation.

B. Response to Public Comments

The Agency did not receive any comments on the proposed amendment.

C. Final Agency Decision

For the reasons stated in the proposed amendment and in today's

notice, the Agency believes that POP's waste is non-hazardous at the

maximum generation rate of 1,000 cubic yards per year, and should be

excluded from hazardous waste control. The Agency, therefore, is

granting the amendment to POP Fastener's exclusion to reflect a waste

volume increase for waste generated at its Shelton, Connecticut

facility. This amendment only applies to the process covered by POP's

original petition, and allows a maximum annual waste volume of 1,000

cubic yards. All other conditions listed in POP's exclusion remain

unchanged. Waste generated in excess of 1,000 cubic yards per year or

from changed processes must be handled as hazardous until a new

exclusion is granted.

III. Effective Date

This amendment is effective immediately upon final publication in

the Federal Register. The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984

amended section 3010 of RCRA to allow rules to become effective in less

than six months when the regulated community does not need the six-

month period to come into compliance. That is the case here because

this amendment reduces the existing requirements for persons generating

hazardous wastes. In light of the unnecessary hardship and expense that

would be imposed on this petitioner by an effective date six months

after publication and the fact that a six-month deadline is not

necessary to achieve the purpose of section 3010, EPA believes that

this amendment should be effective immediately upon final publication.

These reasons also provide a basis for making this amendment effective

immediately, upon final publication, under the Administrative Procedure

Act, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d).

IV. Regulatory Impact

Under Executive Order 12866, EPA must conduct an ``assessment of

the potential costs and benefits'' for all ``significant'' regulatory

actions. This amendment is not significant, since its effect reduces

the overall costs and economic impact of EPA's hazardous waste

management regulations. This reduction is achieved by excluding an

additional amount of waste generated at a specific facility from EPA's

lists of hazardous wastes, thereby enabling this facility to treat its

waste as non-hazardous. There is no additional economic impact due to

today's rule. Therefore, this rule is not a significant regulation, and

no cost/benefit assessment is required. The Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) has also exempted this rule from the requirement for OMB

review under section (6) of Executive Order 12866.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612,

whenever an agency is required to publish a general notice of

rulemaking for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make

available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that

describes the impact of the rule on small entities (i.e., small

businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions).

No regulatory flexibility analysis is required, however, if the

Administrator or delegated representative certifies that the rule will

not have an impact on any small entities.

This amendment will not have any adverse economic impact on small

entities because its effect will be to reduce the overall costs of

EPA's hazardous waste regulations and will be limited to one facility.

Accordingly, I hereby certify that this amendment will not have a

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

This amendment therefore, does not require a regulatory flexibility

analysis.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act

Information collection and recordkeeping requirements associated

with this final amendment have been approved by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) under the provisions of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-511, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and have

been assigned OMB Control Number 2050-0053.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 261

Hazardous Waste, Recycling, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Dated: September 7, 1994.

Elizabeth A. Cotsworth,

Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 261 is amended

as follows:

PART 261--IDENTIFICATION AND LISTING OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

1. The authority citation for part 261 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921, 6922, and 6938.

Appendix IX--[Amended]

2. In Table 1 of Appendix IX of Part 261, the entry for ``POP

Fasteners, Shelton, Connecticut'' is revised to read as follows:

Table 1.--Wastes Excluded From Non-specific Sources

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Facility Address Waste description

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POP Fasteners........ Shelton, Connecticut. Wastewater treatment sludge (EPA Hazardous Waste No. F006)

generated from electroplating operations (at a maximum annual

rate of 1,000 cubic yards) after [insert date of publication]. In

order to confirm that the characteristics of the waste do not

change significantly, the facility must, on an annual basis,

analyze a representative composite sample for the constituents

listed in Sec. 261.24 using the method specified therein. The

annual analytical results, including quality control information,

must be compiled, certified according to Sec. 260.22(i)(12),

maintained on site for a minimum of five years, and made

available for inspection upon request by any employee or

representative of EPA or the State of Connecticut. Failure to

maintain the required records on site will be considered by EPA,

at its discretion, sufficient basis to revoke the exclusion to

the extent directed by EPA.

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[FR Doc. 94-23114 Filed 9-16-94; 8:45 am]

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