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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 261

[SW-FRL-4861-9]

Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of

Hazardous Waste; Proposed Amendment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Proposed amendment and request for comment.

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

proposing to modify 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 waste

from hazardous waste control by excluding them from the hazardous waste

lists.

DATES: EPA is requesting public comments on this proposed amendment.

Comments will be accepted until May 11, 1994. Comments postmarked after

the close of the comment period will be stamped ``late''.

Any person may request a hearing on this proposed amendment by

filing a request with the Director, Characterization and Assessment

Division, Office of Solid Waste, whose address appears below, by April

26, 1994. The request must contain the information prescribed in 40 CFR

260.20(d).

ADDRESSES: Send three copies of your comments to EPA. Two copies should

be sent to the Docket Clerk, Office of Solid Waste (5305), U.S.

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

20460. A third copy should be sent to Jim Kent, Delisting Section,

Waste Identification Branch, CAD/OSW (5304), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. Identify

your comments at the top with this regulatory docket number: ``F-94-

DHWA-FFFFF''.

Requests for a hearing should be addressed to the Director,

Characterization and Assessment Division, Office of Solid Waste (5304),

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

20460.

The RCRA regulatory docket for this proposed 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 public may copy material from any

regulatory docket at no cost for the first 100 pages, and at $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. In support of

its petition, POP submitted sufficient information to EPA to allow the

Agency to determine that: (1) The waste is not hazardous based upon the

criteria for which it was listed, and (2) no other hazardous

constituents or factors that could cause the waste to be hazardous are

present in the waste at levels of regulatory concern. After evaluating

the petition, the 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 applies 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 its final

exclusion is granted.

II. Disposition of Petition for Amendment

POP Fasteners, Shelton, Connecticut

A. Petition for An 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 its 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.

B. Agency Evaluation

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

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

record in docket) and the analytical results provided by POP in support

of this petition. 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 used in POP's original

petition evaluation. 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 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 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 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 docket for these notices for a

detailed description of the evaluation.

C. Conclusion

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, proposes

to amend POP's exclusion to reflect a waste volume increase. This

proposed amendment would only apply to the process covered by POP's

original petition, and would allow a maximum annual waste volume of

1,000 cubic yards. All other conditions listed in POP's exclusion would

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

year or from changed processes would remain hazardous unless a new

exclusion is granted.

III. Effective Date

This amendment, if finally published, will become effective

immediately upon such final publication. 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, if finalized, would reduce 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, 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 proposal to amend an exclusion is not significant, since

its effect would be to reduce the overall costs and economic impact of

EPA's hazardous waste management regulations. This reduction would be

achieved by excluding 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. Therefore,

this rule would not be 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 any impact on any small entities.

This amendment, if promulgated, will not have any adverse economic

impact on any small entities since its effect would be to reduce the

overall costs of EPA's hazardous waste regulations and would be limited

to one facility. Accordingly, I hereby certify that this proposed

regulation, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small entities. This regulation, therefore,

does not require a regulatory flexibility analysis.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act

Information collection and recordkeeping requirements associated

with this proposed amendment have been approved by the Office of

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

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

been assigned OMB Control Number 2050-0053.

VII. List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 261

Environmental protection, Hazardous Waste, Recycling, and Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: March 14, 1994.

Michael Shapiro,

Director, Office of Solid Waste.

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

proposed to be 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

[date of publication of final rule]. 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. 94-8576 Filed 4-8-94; 8:45 am]

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