RCRA

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Prior to 1960

uncontrolled land disposal of waste was common. No laws were in place to control the disposal, transport, and record keeping of wastes.

Municipal Land fills in 1960

unlined and minimally covered

Between 1950s and 1960s

waste generated increased by 60 %

By 1965

4M chemicals were being produced in the US and synthetic chemical production was quickly increasing

SWDA

Solid Waste Disposal Act - passed in 1965. Law was flawed: did not emphasize the regulation of waste throughout its life cycle. More focused on training and research on waste management. minimal standards fro landfills. Had no affect on hazardous waste generators or management.

1970

Ammended SWDA by the resource recovery act (RRA). emphasized the recovery of energy and minerals from solid waste.
It failed.

RRA failure

open dumping was not banned, tracking of and responsibility for hazardous wastes was not put into place, no permit program for hazardous waste generators, transporters, or disposal facilities.

1976

amended Resource Convservation and Recovery Act amendment to SWDA. This time they got it. Generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous waste became fully under Federal regulations (and state regulations if authorized to manage RCRA) ultimately resulting in a "Crade-to-Grave" approach to hazardous wastes. And open dumping was finally banned.

Used Oil Recycling Act of 1980

Intended to encourage the recycling of used oil by exempting if from regulation as a hazardous waste if certain requirements are met.

Solid Waste Disposal Act Amendments of 1980

Intended to provide US EPA with greater enforcement authority over illegal dumping of hazardous waste. It also created a category of large-volume wastes thought to be low-toxicity that were excluded from definition as a hazardous waste and would be categorized as Special Waste.

Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984

These 1984 amendments made the most substantial additions to the program by significantly expanding RCRA's coverage and requirements for hazardous industrial wastes.

Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988

In effect for a limited time (expired in 1991) and for a limited area (4 eastern states and Puerto Rico). The regulation of medical waste is currently the responsibility of the states.

Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992

Strengthened enforcement of RCRA at Federal facilities.

Land Disposal Program Flexibility Act of 1996

provided regulatory flexibility for land disposal of certain wastes.

RCRA National Goals

Protecting human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal.• Conserving energy and natural resources.• Reducing the amount of waste generated.• ensuring that wastes are managed in an environmentally-sound manner.

RCRA and the States

As we have seen before, feds give states control of, in this case, solid and hazardous waste programs• Must be as stringent or more stringent than Feds• Feds will approve plans• MT hazardous waste program
MT solid waste program

Solid Waste - Subtitle D

Define Solid Waste• EPA's general definition - any garbage or refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities.• Defines solid waste by: producer (to include "other discarded material")• More intense definition in CFR

Hazardous Waste - Subtitle C

Hazardous Waste Definition - not so easy• Simple definition - a waste with properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment.

Underground Storage Tanks -Subtitle I

An UST is one or more tanks and any underground piping connected to the tanks that have at least 10 percent of their combined volume underground• EPA specififies specific design and monitoring requirements

RCRA Corrective Action

Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, ground water, surface water and air.• Regulatory process that is followed, which includes: initial site assement, site characterization, interim actions, remedial alternatives and action.

Specific amendment of importance

The 1976 amendments to the 1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act, known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act finally addressed some of the major national solid and hazardous waste issues

Solid waste Regs

Bans Open Dumping, Sets min. federal criteria for landfills (location restricitons, operating cirteria, design criteria, corrective action, closure requirments, financial reg), states play a major role.

Define Solid Waste

Abandoned - disposed of, burned, incinerated.
Inherently Waste like - pose a threat to human health
military munitions
Recycled - May be exempt if reused, reclaimed, burned for energy recovery
Does not have to be solid - sludges from WWTF, WTF, containerized gas.

EPA def of Solid waste

RCRA states that "solid waste" means any garbage or refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities.

Minimum Criteria of MSW Landfills

Subpart B Location Restrictions - airport safety, floodplain, wetlands, faults, seismic, unstable ground.
Subpart C Operating criteria- exclusions of hazard waste
Subpart D Design Criteria - Synthetic This illustration is an example of minimum design criteria for MSW landfills detailed in 40 CFR 258.40. This criteria addresses the maximum height of leachate allowed in the drainage layer above the upper composite liner (see figure in early notes). The maximum height is 30 cm) Subpart E - ground-water monitoring and corrective action - sampling and analysis req, detection monitoring, assessment plan, corrective action. Subpart F -Closure and post closure, final cover, closure plan, post closure rqd for 30 years.

Industrial waste

Subset of SW - haz waste is regulated under subtitle C. Includes waste from power generation ie coal combustion ash, ag waste, Concrete products - RCRA does not regulate construction and demolition waste unless hazardous.

cradle to grave

generators - cradle
to transporter to treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDF) - grave

Generators

means any person, by site, whose act or process produces hazardous waste identified or listed, or whose act first causes a hazardous waste to become subject to regulation.

Hazardous waste

wast w/ properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health and/or the environment.

TSDF

Treatment storage and disposal facilites

Treatment

physical, chemical or biological change the nature of hazardous waste. neutralize waste, recover energy or material resource, render waste non-hazardous or less hazardous.

storage

holding HW for a temporary period, after which waste is treated, disposed of or stored elsewhere.

Disposal

Site where HW is intentionally placed and will remain. does not include a corrective action management unit for remediation wastes.

CAMU

Corrective action management units

Regulations pertaining to TSDFs

more stringent than those for generators, facility standards, unit specific design and operating criteria, goal is to prevent release

Treatment methods

Chemical reduction, adsorption, incineration, neutralize

Storage

Surface Impoundments-liquid, double layer liner, leachate collection, waste piles - double liner more solid, landfills - top liner, leak detection system and leachate removal first and second degree, second liner on top of low permeability soil.

LTU

Land Treatment Units - application of HW on soil surface or incorporation into upper layers
Treatment - degradation, transformation, immobilization
no liners usually
treatment demonstrations - provide design standards

LDR

Land Disposal Restricitons -
RCRA details strict requirements for land disposal units - surface impoundments landfills
LDR adds a second measure of protection - requires HW to meet specific treatment standards to reduce mobility or toxicity before disposal
EPA establishes treatment standards for each type of waste

In regards to LDR, BDAT

Best demonstrated available technoligies - for specific waste
Specific concentration levels allow owner to choose appropriate technology
Most cases once treated can be land disposed, some exceptions Fo24 wastes must be incinerated.

Corrective Action

EPA moves sites into corrective action program - authority is threough permit
owner may also volunteer to perform corrective action
3750 active RCRA corrective action sites in us

SWMU

Solid waste management units

Corrective action process

No comprehensive cleanup regulations
EPA provides guidance and enforcement
The passing of HSWA changed CA progress and EPA's authority

In regards to corrective action, CA components - 5 elements

1. initial site assessment - RCRA facility assessment (RFA)
2. Site characterization - RCRA facility investigations (RFI)
3. Interim Measures
4. Evaluation of Remedial Alternatives - Corrective measures study (CMS)
5. Implementation of selected remedy - Corrective measures implemetnation

(RFA) objective

RCRA facility assessment -identify potential and actual releases from SWMU
Identify need for CA and interim measures
Conducted by regulator

RFI Purpose

RCRA Facility Investigation - Characterize contamination, hydrology, contaminants released, sources, extent of contamination

Interim measures

stabalize serious and immediate hazards
short term actions
immediate threats to human health
prevent contaminant migration to environment

CMS

Corrective Measures Study - identification and evaluation of cleanup alternative
includes measures to control the source
Received by state and EPA
EPA selects best alternatives

Corrective action

design, construction, O and M, monitoring

Establishing MCLs for TSDFs 3 phases

Detection monitoring, compliance monitoring, and corrective action monitoring

Ground water protection standards

established in facility permit
hazardous constituents need to be designated
determine concentration limits
Determine point of compliance
determine compliance period

Setting Concentration Limits

Background level fund found at facility
MCL in Table 1 264.74
Alternative concentraion limits

EPA in establishing MCLs

EPA will use MCLs promulgated under SWDA that have not been codified in Table 1 and designate them as ACLs

USTs

Underground Storage Tanks
Any one or combination of tanks+connected underground piping
Contain an accumulation of regulated substances
>10% beneath ground surface
Does not include -
septic tanks, home heating oil<1000 gal
farms or residential <1000 gal
more

UST Regulations

Requires owners to prevent releases, detect releases, and implement corrective action for leaking USTs (LUSTs)

Why CERCLA

Love Canal, Niagra Falls, NY
Toxic waste fire Bridgepond, NJ
Valley of the Drums, KY

CERCLA

Comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act

CERCLA Purpose

Cleanup of the nations most contaminated sites
Law created tax on petroleum and chemical industries to pay for cleanup
Tax expired in 1995
Funding moved to the general Fund

CERCLA purpose 2

Provides federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases that my endanger public health or env

CERCLA lead agencies

non-federal sites = EPA
Federal Sites = Federal land management agency

CERCLA Major Principles

Established Liability
Responsible parties for releases so called "joint and several"
Superfund to provide funding when no responsible parties identified

National Contingency Plan

Established NPL
List of priorities among the known releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants
Intended to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation

NPL

National Priority list

NPL based off HRS

Hazard Ranking System
Numerical ranking system for NPL
Prelim Assessment/info

CERCLA cleanup process

Site discovery
Preliminary assessment/site investigation
NPL Listing
Remedial Investigation (RI)
and feasibility study (FS)
Proposed plan and comment period
Record of decision (ROD)
Remedy Design and implementation
NPL delisting
Long Term Monitoring and Review

HRS

Hazard Ranking System - Primary screening tool for determining inclusion on NPL

Evaluate on 4 pathways

Ground water migration
Surface Water Migration- drinking water, human food chain, environmental
Soil Exposure - resident population, nearby population
Air Migration

Scoring of HRS three factors

Likelihood of release or exposure
Waste Characteristics
Targets
0-100
best to worst
Site added to NPL if >28.5

Site assessment purpose

Evaluate site conditions to identify appropritaet responses to releases
collect data for NPL
Not intended to fully assess site which is a different process

NFRAP

No Further Remedial Action Required

No Clean up alternatives

Seek state concurrence
Complete HRS package
Propose site for listing on NPL

Yes Cleanup Alternatives

Pursue non-NPL cleanup alternatives
Provide Information to states and other regulatory programs

Cleanup alterntaives

1. NPL
2. EPA Emergency Response and Removall (Fires, explosions, other catastrophic events that involve haz waste)
3. Superfund Alternative Approach (EPA enters into a contractural agreement with PRP)
4. Other Cleanup actions (state, tribe, or other federal agencies)
5. Deferred to RCRA (EPAs preferred choice to hand the site off to RCRA)
6. Deferred to NRL (EPA will not handle contaminated sites that have NRC license for nuclear material)

NRC

Nuclear regulatory comission

PRP

potentially responsible party

RI

Remedial Investigation -
Under taken by lead agency
Determine nature and extent of problem
Emphasizes data collection and site characterization
Performed concurrently with feasibility study
Determine necessity for remedial action
"Collect data to adequately characterize the site for the purpose of developing and evaluating remedial alternatives"
Conduct field investigations, treatability studies, baseline risk assessment
May be conducted in phases to the sampling effort can be more focused on collecting data to achieve each element of the RI

Data collected in RI

Physical characteristics
Classifications of air, SW and GW
Characterization of waste
Extent the source can be identified and characterized
Actual and potential exposure pathways though environmental media
Actual and Potential exposure routes: inhalation and ingestions
Other factors such as sensitive populations

FS purpose

Feasibility study
Ensure the appropriate remedial alternatives are developed and evaluated
Decision makers use evaluate to select remedy

FI developing/screening alternatives

factors to include:
contaminants of concern (COC)
Media
Potential exposure pathways
remediation goals

Lead agency shall include:
ARAR

ARAR

Applicable or Relevant and appropriate requirements

Source Control Actions

Groundwater response actions: no action alternative

Source control actions 3 criteria used to guide development and screening of remedial alternatives

effectiveness - reduce toxicity, mobility, volume
implementability
Cost

Detailed analysis on limited # of alternatives for source control actions

1. overall protection
2. Compliance with ARARS
3. Long term effectiveness
4. Reduction of toxicity and mobility and volume
5. Short Term Effectiveness
6. Implementability
7. Cost
8. State Acceptance
9. Community acceptance

Remedy Selection

EPA and Supportin agency select
Present to community
Make final decision
Remedial design/remedial action

HW generators

First Cradle or produce HW

Important destinction in HW decleration

Is the waste a listed or characteristic Hazardous waste

Characteristic HW

Ignitable, Corrosive, Reactive, Toxic

Ignitable (EPA Waste Code D001)

liquids with flash points <60 C, 140 F, solids that comnust spontaneously, compressed gases with pressure > 1 atm that are flammable

acetone, benzene, waste gasoline

Corrosive (D002)

conc. acids or bases (pH<2 or pH>12.5), liquid capable of corroding metal containers, liq that dissolve steel at rate of 0.25 in/yr, solids that corrode steel at > 1 1/8 in/yr

acid from lead acid battery, etching soln’s

Reactive (D003)

Reacts Violently with water, forms explosive mixture with water, generates toxic gas when mixed with water, contains cyanides or sulfides that are released when exposed to acid or alkaline, explosive

cyanide plating wastes, waste concentrated bleaches, pressurized aerosol cans

Toxic (D004-D043)

harmful or fatal when ingested or adsorbed through skin

painting wastes that contain toxic metal pigments and/or certain solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone. Test method is TCLP

TCLP

Toxic Characteristic leaching procedure - determines mobility of organic/inorganic contaminants in waste. Basis of D-list

4 different Listed wastes

F-list, k-List, P-list, U-List

F-list

waste form nonspecific sources. Identifies wastes that are f=generated in multiple different industries. Manufacturing Process wastes

K-list

wastes from specific sources. chemicals that have been used for intended purpose. List of 13 industries. Target more specific waste streams than F-list. Industries that generat k list wast can also generate F-list waste

P and U lists

hazardous pure or commercial grade formlations of certain unused chemicals. must meet the following criteria: Waste must contain 1 of the chemicals on P and U list. Must be unused. Chemical in the waste must be in the form of a “commercial chemical product” as EPA defines it. (Pure form that is commercial grade.

The “Pure and Highly Concentrated” thing

consider the pesticide heptachlor. If unused it is listed as PU59. Also unsused pesticide toxaphene P123. If an unused pesticide contains a mixture of 50% heptachlor and 50% toxaphene, not listed waste when discarded

Difference between P and U

P list is acutely more toxic than U list. P list family member are pesticides, pharmaceuticals (cannot be used or sold though)

Mixed Wastes

HW mixed w low level radioactive waste. Regulated jointly by EPA and NRC