[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8576]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 11, 1994]
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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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
