Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Petroleum Refining Process Wastes; and Land Disposal Restrictions for Newly Hazardous Wastes; Notice of Data Availability

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 261

[FRL-6124-2]

RIN 2050-AD88

Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of

Hazardous Waste; Petroleum Refining Process Wastes; and Land Disposal

Restrictions for Newly Hazardous Wastes; Notice of Data Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Data Availability and Request for Comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available

for public comment data and information relating to its Notice

published in the Federal Register on November 20, 1995 (60 FR 57747).

That Notice proposed to amend EPA regulations under the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by designating as hazardous wastes

certain petroleum refining waste streams, and to apply universal

treatment standards under the Land Disposal Restrictions program to the

wastes proposed for listing. That Notice also proposed to broaden

existing RCRA exclusions for the recycling of oil-bearing residuals in

petroleum refineries. In response to that proposal (and related to a

separate, recently-finalized rulemaking on fuels produced from

hazardous waste), EPA has received specific information on a technology

(gasification) that can

[[Page 38140]]

recycle oil-bearing residuals into fuels. EPA is assessing whether or

not, as a result of this new information, the proposed rule should also

exclude oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials recycled in

gasification units. Today's Notice seeks comment on the additional

information the Agency has received on gasification, specifically in

the context of recycling oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials.

DATES: The Agency is reopening the comment period only for the limited

purpose of obtaining information and views on the new data and

information described in this document. Comments on the additional data

will be accepted through August 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Commenters must send an original and two copies of their

comments referencing docket number F-98-PR2A-FFFFF to: RCRA Docket

Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 401 M Street, SW, Washington,

D.C. 20460. Hand deliveries of comments should be made to the

Arlington, VA, address listed below. Comments may also be submitted

electronically by sending electronic mail through the Internet to:

[email protected]. Comments in electronic format should also

be identified by the docket number F-98-PR2A-FFFFF. All electronic

comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special

characters and any form of encryption. If comments are not submitted

electronically, EPA is asking prospective commenters to voluntarily

submit one additional copy of their comments on labeled personal

computer diskettes in ASCII (TEXT) format or a word processing format

that can be converted to ASCII (TEXT). It is essential to specify on

the disk label the word processing software and version/edition as well

as the commenter's name. This will allow EPA to convert the comments

into one of the word processing formats utilized by the Agency. Please

use mailing envelopes designed to physically protect the submitted

diskettes. EPA emphasizes that submission of comments on diskettes is

not mandatory, nor will it result in any advantage or disadvantage to

any commenter.

Commenters should not submit electronically any confidential

business information (CBI). An original and two copies of CBI must be

submitted under separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document Control Officer,

Office of Solid Waste (5305W), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington,

D.C. 20460.

Public comments and supporting materials are available for viewing

in the RCRA Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway I,

First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The RIC is

open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding federal

holidays. To review docket materials, it is recommended that the public

make an appointment by calling (703) 603-9230. The public may copy a

maximum of 100 pages from any regulatory docket at no charge.

Additional copies cost $0.15/page. For information on accessing paper

and/or electronic copies of the document, see the ``Supplementary

Information'' section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the

RCRA Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing

impaired). In the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, call (703) 412-

9810 or TDD (703) 412-3323. For information on specific aspects of this

Notice, contact Maximo Diaz, Jr. or Ross Elliott, Office of Solid Waste

(5304W), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20460. [E-mail addresses and telephone numbers:

D[email protected], (703) 308-0439; [email protected],

(703) 308-8748].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The index to the docket is available on the

Internet. Follow these instructions to access the information

electronically:

www: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/hazwaste.htm#id

FTP: ftp.epa.gov

Login: anonymous

Password: your Internet address

Files are located in /pub/epaoswer

The official record for this action will be kept in paper form, and

will be maintained at the address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of this

document. EPA will transfer all comments received electronically into

paper form and place them in the official record, which will also

include all comments submitted directly in writing. The official record

is the paper record.

EPA responses to comments, whether the comments are written or

electronic, will be in a notice in the Federal Register or in a

response to comments document placed in the official record for this

rulemaking. EPA will not immediately reply to commenters electronically

other than to seek clarification of electronic comments that may be

garbled in transmission or during conversion to paper form, as

discussed above.

Background

On April 19, 1996, EPA proposed to exclude so-called ``comparable

fuels'' from the regulatory definition of solid waste. 62 FR at 17459.

A comparable fuel is a fuel produced from a hazardous waste which meets

a series of specifications for hazardous constituents and other

properties based on comparable levels in representative fossil fuels.

EPA included among these proposed specifications one for synthesis gas

fuel (more usually referred to as syngas) when produced from hazardous

wastes. Id. at 17465.

Commenters from the gasification industry maintained that syngas

fuels were not contained gases and so were not solid wastes and could

not be regulated under subtitle C under any circumstance. EPA

disagrees, due to the plenary authority to regulate fuels produced from

hazardous wastes set out in RCRA section 3004 (q)(1). See 62 FR at

24253 (May 2, 1997). However, it appears to the Agency that

gasification of petroleum industry secondary materials might be an

activity warranting exclusion as a matter of Agency discretion (rather

than due to a statutory mandate), since gasification of such materials

can potentially be viewed as a means of recovering otherwise un-

utilizable hydrocarbons from the secondary materials and thus

potentially be regarded as a final stage of crude oil refining. These

are issues at the heart of the instant rulemaking involving listing and

exclusion determinations for petroleum refining wastes and secondary

materials. Consequently, as the Agency indicated in the recently-

finalized comparative fuels rule, we have decided to consider the

possibility of a regulatory exclusion for petroleum refining industry

secondary materials being gasified in the present proceeding.

Specifically, EPA is assessing whether oil-bearing hazardous

secondary materials generated within the petroleum industry should be

excluded from the definition of solid waste when inserted into

gasification units, in a manner similar to insertion into petroleum

cokers as proposed at 40 CFR 261.4(a)(12). 60 FR at 57796. EPA has

decided that this Notice of data availability is a useful exercise and

will help to strengthen the record for the Agency's decisions, and

provide a useful opportunity for further public comment.

The remainder of this Notice addresses new data prompted by public

comments.

[[Page 38141]]

Description of Gasification Process

Gasification is a chemical conversion process that converts

hydrocarbon feedstocks into a synthetic natural gas product, often

called ``synthesis gas'' or ``syngas''. This process occurs under

oxygen-starved (or reducing) conditions, which distinguishes

gasification from combustion. Under high temperature and pressure, the

hydrocarbon feedstocks are converted primarily into carbon monoxide,

hydrogen gas, nitrogen gas, and hydrogen sulfide. Solid residues from

gasification include a glass-like slag produced in the gasification

process, and sulfur from clean-up of the synthesis gas. Information the

Agency has received indicates the potential advantages of gasification,

including very efficient conversion of hydrocarbons to synthesis gas,

the lack of air emissions (i.e., SOx and NOx

compounds) formed during gasification, and a relatively clean product

fuel. Based upon the information submitted to the Agency, the

gasification process in some ways might compete with the petroleum

coker for the same types of oil-bearing materials, but in a somewhat

different manner such that gasification does a better job of recovery

of energy values. For example, the synthesis gas produced from oil-

bearing materials can be used as a fuel (i.e., a substitute for natural

gas) in units such as a combustion turbine for producing electricity

and/or steam. In addition, the syngas can be used as a feedstock in

producing other chemicals, or processed further to produce hydrogen.

Hydrocarbon Feedstocks for Gasification

According to information supplied to EPA suitable hydrocarbon

feedstocks for gasification include many of the oil-bearing secondary

materials generated at petroleum refineries that are the subject of the

proposed exclusions in the November 21, 1995 proposal, including

primary and secondary wastewater treatment sludges, and API separator

sludges. 60 FR at 57747. Petroleum coke itself (both on-spec and off-

spec) can be used as a gasification feedstock. The continued extraction

and recovery of hydrocarbon values from these oil-bearing hazardous

secondary materials within the petroleum industry is the basis for

these proposed exclusions. 60 FR at 57754. It is from this perspective

that the Agency is interested in information that would help determine

whether or not to extend the exclusion for oil-bearing hazardous

secondary materials that are inserted into petroleum refineries, to the

same materials when they are inserted into gasification units. The

Agency would consider the same conditions on the exclusion as was

proposed for materials inserted into petroleum refineries, such as the

limitation on the source of the oil-bearing materials, the condition

barring land placement or speculative accumulation, and the regulation

of residuals generated during the processing of oil-bearing hazardous

secondary materials (if the residuals are to be disposed).1

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\1\ See example of letter to interested parties requesting

comment on the issue of residuals dated October 1, 1997 from David

Bussard to Kyle Isakower, American Petroleum Institute; see also

comment in response from Amoco Petroleum Products, Comment #PRA-

L0011.

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Information in the Docket

Information placed in the docket for this Notice was submitted to

the Agency primarily from members of the Gasification Technologies

Council, both before and after the proposed rulemaking on April 19,

1996 and November 20, 1995. This information includes descriptions of

the gasification process, suitable feedstocks for gasification, a

description of gasification activities worldwide, and environmental and

economic benefits of gasification. Also included are (1) public

comments submitted by the gasification industry to EPA during the

related comparative fuels rulemaking mentioned above; (2) EPA's letter

of May 28, 1995 to Mr. William Spratlin of EPA Region VII describing

the present regulatory status of a particular gasification operation

operated by Texaco; (3) public comments of Strategic Environmental

Analysis, Inc. in this proceeding, maintaining that the gasification

process is an environmentally superior means of recovering hydrocarbon

values from petroleum industry secondary materials. EPA will evaluate

any new comments on whether this additional information supports

inclusion of gasification units, along with petroleum refining units,

as places where certain oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials can

be recycled and still be excluded under the proposed rule.

Dated: June 4, 1998.

Elizabeth A. Cotsworth,

Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 98-18731 Filed 7-14-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P