§ 265.71 - Use of manifest system.

§ 265.71 Use of manifest system.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 60733, July 26, 2024.

(a)

(1) If a facility receives hazardous waste accompanied by a manifest, the owner, operator or his/her agent must sign and date the manifest as indicated in paragraph (a)(2) of this section to certify that the hazardous waste covered by the manifest was received, that the hazardous waste was received except as noted in the discrepancy space of the manifest, or that the hazardous waste was rejected as noted in the manifest discrepancy space.

(2) If the facility receives a hazardous waste shipment accompanied by a manifest, the owner, operator, or his agent must:

(i) Sign and date, by hand, each copy of the manifest;

(ii) Note any discrepancies (as defined in § 265.72(a)) on each copy of the manifest;

(iii) Immediately give the transporter at least one copy of the manifest;

(iv) Within 30 days of delivery, send a copy (Page 2) of the manifest to the generator;

(v) Paper manifest submission requirements are:

(A) Options for compliance on June 30, 2018. Beginning on June 30, 2018, send the top copy (Page 1) of any paper manifest and any paper continuation sheet to the e-Manifest system for purposes of data entry and processing, or in lieu of submitting the paper copy to EPA, the owner or operator may transmit to the EPA system an image file of Page 1 of the manifest and any continuation sheet, or both a data file and image file corresponding to Page 1 of the manifest and any continuation sheet, within 30 days of the date of delivery. Submissions of copies to the e-Manifest system shall be made at the mailing address or electronic mail/submission address specified at the e-Manifest program website's directory of services. Beginning on June 30, 2021, EPA will not accept mailed paper manifests from facilities for processing in e-Manifest.

(B) Options for compliance on June 30, 2021. Beginning on June 30, 2021, the requirement to submit the top copy (Page1) of the paper manifest and any paper continuation sheet to the e-Manifest system for purposes of data entry and processing may be met by the owner or operator only by transmitting to the EPA system an image file of Page 1 of the manifest and any continuation sheet, or by transmitting to the EPA system both a data file and the image file corresponding to Page 1 of the manifest and any continuation sheet, within 30 days of the date of delivery. Submissions of copies to the e-Manifest system shall be made to the electronic mail/submission address specified at the e-Manifest program website's directory of services; and (vi) Retain at the facility a copy of each manifest for at least three years from the date of delivery.

(3) The owner or operator of a facility that receives hazardous waste subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H from a foreign source must:

(i) Additionally list the relevant consent number from consent documentation supplied by EPA to the facility for each waste listed on the manifest, matched to the relevant list number for the waste from block 9b. If additional space is needed, the owner or operator should use a Continuation Sheet(s) (EPA Form 8700-22A); and

(ii) Send a copy of the manifest to EPA using the addresses listed in 40 CFR 262.82(e) within thirty (30) days of delivery until the facility can submit such a copy to the e-Manifest system per paragraph (a)(2)(v) of this section.

(b) If a facility receives, from a rail or water (bulk shipment) transporter, hazardous waste which is accompanied by a shipping paper containing all the information required on the manifest (excluding the EPA identification numbers, generator's certification, and signatures), the owner or operator, or his agent, must:

(1) Sign and date each copy of the manifest or shipping paper (if the manifest has not been received) to certify that the hazardous waste covered by the manifest or shipping paper was received;

(2) Note any significant discrepancies (as defined in § 265.72(a)) in the manifest or shipping paper (if the manifest has not been received) on each copy of the manifest or shipping paper;

[Comment: The Agency does not intend that the owner or operator of a facility whose procedures under § 265.13(c) include waste analysis must perform that analysis before signing the shipping paper and giving it to the transporter. Section 265.72(b), however, requires reporting an unreconciled discrepancy discovered during later analysis.]

(3) Immediately give the rail or water (bulk shipment) transporter at least one copy of the manifest or shipping paper (if the manifest has not been received);

(4) Within 30 days after the delivery, send a copy of the signed and dated manifest or a signed and dated copy of the shipping paper (if the manifest has not been received within 30 days after delivery) to the generator; and

[Comment: Section 262.23(c) of this chapter requires the generator to send three copies of the manifest to the facility when hazardous waste is sent by rail or water (bulk shipment).]

(5) Retain at the facility a copy of the manifest and shipping paper (if signed in lieu of the manifest at the time of delivery) for at least three years from the date of delivery.

(c) Whenever a shipment of hazardous waste is initiated from a facility, the owner or operator of that facility must comply with the requirements of part 262 of this chapter. The provisions of §§ 262.15, 262.16, and 262.17 of this chapter are applicable to the on-site accumulation of hazardous wastes by generators. Therefore, the provisions of §§ 262.15, 262.16, and 262.17 only apply to owners or operators who are shipping hazardous waste which they generated at that facility or operating as a large quantity generator consolidating hazardous waste from very small quantity generators under § 262.17(f).

(d) As per 40 CFR 262.84(d)(2)(xv), within three (3) working days of the receipt of a shipment subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H, the owner or operator of a facility must provide a copy of the movement document bearing all required signatures to the foreign exporter; to the competent authorities of the countries of export and transit that control the shipment as an export and transit shipment of hazardous waste respectively; and on or after the electronic import-export reporting compliance date, to EPA electronically using EPA's Waste Import Export Tracking System (WIETS), or its successor system. The original copy of the movement document must be maintained at the facility for at least three (3) years from the date of signature. The owner or operator of a facility may satisfy this recordkeeping requirement by retaining electronically submitted documents in the facility's account on EPA's Waste Import Export Tracking System (WIETS), or its successor system, provided that copies are readily available for viewing and production if requested by any EPA or authorized state inspector. No owner or operator of a facility may be held liable for the inability to produce the documents for inspection under this section if the owner or operator of a facility can demonstrate that the inability to produce the document is due exclusively to technical difficulty with EPA's Waste Import Export Tracking System (WIETS), or its successor system, for which the owner or operator of a facility bears no responsibility.

(e) A facility must determine whether the consignment state for a shipment regulates any additional wastes (beyond those regulated Federally) as hazardous wastes under its state hazardous waste program. Facilities must also determine whether the consignment state or generator state requires the facility to submit any copies of the manifest to these states.

(f) Legal equivalence to paper manifests. Electronic manifests that are obtained, completed, and transmitted in accordance with § 262.20(a)(3) of this chapter, and used in accordance with this section in lieu of the paper manifest form are the legal equivalent of paper manifest forms bearing handwritten signatures, and satisfy for all purposes any requirement in these regulations to obtain, complete, sign, provide, use, or retain a manifest.

(1) Any requirement in these regulations for the owner or operator of a facility to sign a manifest or manifest certification by hand, or to obtain a handwritten signature, is satisfied by signing with or obtaining a valid and enforceable electronic signature within the meaning of 40 CFR 262.25.

(2) Any requirement in these regulations to give, provide, send, forward, or to return to another person a copy of the manifest is satisfied when a copy of an electronic manifest is transmitted to the other person.

(3) Any requirement in these regulations for a manifest to accompany a hazardous waste shipment is satisfied when a copy of an electronic manifest is accessible during transportation and forwarded to the person or persons who are scheduled to receive delivery of the hazardous waste shipment.

(4) Any requirement in these regulations for an owner or operator to keep or retain a copy of each manifest is satisfied by the retention of the facility's electronic manifest copies in its account on the e-Manifest system, provided that such copies are readily available for viewing and production if requested by any EPA or authorized state inspector.

(5) No owner or operator may be held liable for the inability to produce an electronic manifest for inspection under this section if the owner or operator can demonstrate that the inability to produce the electronic manifest is due exclusively to a technical difficulty with the EPA system for which the owner or operator bears no responsibility.

(g) An owner or operator may participate in the electronic manifest system either by accessing the electronic manifest system from the owner's or operator's electronic equipment, or by accessing the electronic manifest system from portable equipment brought to the owner's or operator's site by the transporter who delivers the waste shipment to the facility.

(h) Special procedures applicable to replacement manifests. If a facility receives hazardous waste that is accompanied by a paper replacement manifest for a manifest that was originated electronically, the following procedures apply to the delivery of the hazardous waste by the final transporter:

(1) Upon delivery of the hazardous waste to the designated facility, the owner or operator must sign and date each copy of the paper replacement manifest by hand in Item 20 (Designated Facility Certification of Receipt) and note any discrepancies in Item 18 (Discrepancy Indication Space) of the replacement manifest,

(2) The owner or operator of the facility must give back to the final transporter one copy of the paper replacement manifest,

(3) Within 30 days of delivery of the hazardous waste to the designated facility, the owner or operator of the facility must send one signed and dated copy of the paper replacement manifest to the generator, and send an additional signed and dated copy of the paper replacement manifest to the EPA e-Manifest system, and

(4) The owner or operator of the facility must retain at the facility one copy of the paper replacement manifest for at least three years from the date of delivery.

(i) Special procedures applicable to electronic signature methods undergoing tests. If an owner or operator using an electronic manifest signs this manifest electronically using an electronic signature method which is undergoing pilot or demonstration tests aimed at demonstrating the practicality or legal dependability of the signature method, then the owner or operator shall also sign with an ink signature the facility's certification of receipt or discrepancies on the printed copy of the manifest provided by the transporter. Upon executing its ink signature on this printed copy, the owner or operator shall retain this original copy among its records for at least 3 years from the date of delivery of the waste.

(j) Imposition of user fee for electronic manifest use.

(1) As prescribed in § 265.1311, and determined in § 265.1312, an owner or operator who is a user of the electronic manifest system shall be assessed a user fee by EPA for the submission and processing of each electronic and paper manifest. EPA shall update the schedule of user fees and publish them to the user community, as provided in § 265.1313.

(2) An owner or operator subject to user fees under this section shall make user fee payments in accordance with the requirements of § 265.1314, subject to the informal fee dispute resolution process of § 265.1316, and subject to the sanctions for delinquent payments under § 265.1315.

(k) Electronic manifest signatures.

(1) Electronic manifest signatures shall meet the criteria described in § 262.25 of this chapter.

(l) Post-receipt manifest data corrections. After facilities have certified to the receipt of hazardous wastes by signing Item 20 of the manifest, any post-receipt data corrections may be submitted at any time by any interested person (e.g., waste handler) shown on the manifest.

(1) Interested persons must make all corrections to manifest data by electronic submission, either by directly entering corrected data to the web based service provided in e-Manifest for such corrections, or by an upload of a data file containing data corrections relating to one or more previously submitted manifests.

(2) Each correction submission must include the following information:

(i) The Manifest Tracking Number and date of receipt by the facility of the original manifest(s) for which data are being corrected;

(ii) The Item Number(s) of the original manifest that is the subject of the submitted correction(s); and

(iii) For each Item Number with corrected data, the data previously entered and the corresponding data as corrected by the correction submission.

(3) Each correction submission shall include a statement that the person submitting the corrections certifies that to the best of his or her knowledge or belief, the corrections that are included in the submission will cause the information reported about the previously received hazardous wastes to be true, accurate, and complete.

(i) The certification statement must be executed with a valid electronic signature; and

(ii) A batch upload of data corrections may be submitted under one certification statement.

(4) Upon receipt by the system of any correction submission, other interested persons shown on the manifest will be provided electronic notice of the submitter's corrections.

(5) Other interested persons shown on the manifest may respond to the submitter's corrections with comments to the submitter, or by submitting another correction to the system, certified by the respondent as as specified in paragraph (l)(3) of this section, and with notice of the corrections to other interested persons shown on the manifest.

[45 FR 33232, May 19, 1980, as amended at 45 FR 86970, 86974, Dec. 31, 1980; 50 FR 4514, Jan. 31, 1985; 61 FR 16315, Apr. 12, 1996; 70 FR 10823, Mar. 4, 2005; 75 FR 1260, Jan. 8, 2010; 79 FR 7560, Feb. 7, 2014; 81 FR 85727, 85827, Nov. 28, 2016; 83 FR 457, Jan. 3, 2018; 88 FR 54112, Aug. 9, 2023]