EPA to require incineration of VC/EDC wastes

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

...not quite an absolute requirement, under RCRA Land Disposal
Restriction's  Universal Treatment Standards, but to all practical effects
& purposes it is...  So, e.g., that octa-CDD/F under this rule would be
added to the list of RCRA wastes  for the 1st time (because EPA is using
the TEF in dioxin regulations, see next p'graph) could well be a bad thing,
as it may cause more cholorinated wastes to be burned.  Nothing new--e.g.
the whole country is now laboring under the same scenario for the hundreds
of pentachlorophenol production and superfund wastes sites, where as of
last year the only (actual or practical, not sure which) treatment allowed
under the LDR's is incineration.  Chlorine in = O-cl's out...  So I suppose
it's "good" some of these wastes are going to be allowed to be managed in
landfills instead of being land disposal banned.

EPA again shows it is moving away from dioxin regulations based on
2,3,7,8-TCDD alone (due to its relatively well characterized risk) to regs
based on the 17 2,3,7,8-substituted congeners (as these all all thought to
have a common mechanism of action, binding the Ah receptor, that activates
toxicity; their different ability to bind the receptor indirectly allows
them to be assigned relative toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs), from 0 to
1.0).  So again, an otherwise positive move'll mean that more dioxin
bearing wastes will be incinerated.  Moreover, the risk assessment this
propossal is based on incorporates the newly revised WHO TEFs (tho it still
regards 2,3,7,8-TCDD as a B2 carcinogen).
The other 2 dioxin EPA regs I know of that are based on the TEFs are a
Great Lakes Water Quality rule and a court mandated EPA listing of CWA
toxics for California (here in MT I'm working on getting the state's
ambient water quality criteria to be based TEFs).

The proposed includes descriptions of the aliphatic (1-5 carbon chain) O-Cl
industry--specifically the VC industry, its wastes, the waste's toxicity,
risk assessments, and how such wastes will and wont be regulated.  Find the
whole rule at www.epa.gov/fedregstr  (click on 25 August '99).
--

For RTK watchers:  The CERCLA RQs for unanticipated releases of these new
wastes would be in the millions of pounds of the waste, due to the
relatively low concentrations of the hazardous constituents that are
assumed 9based on sampling) to reach the 1 lb RQ's.  This may contrast with
EPA's pending TRI reporting thresholds for persistent bioaccumalatives,
which EPA has announced it is going to lower to a yet to be announced level
from the typical TRI repoorting threshold of 10,000 lbs of releases.  For
the chlor-alkali industries listed wastes, Hg also gets an RQ of

For RCRA watchers:
"Historically, the Agency's listing program captured entire quantities of
targeted wastestream posing unacceptable risks to human health and the
environment. Today's proposed listing approach for two wastestreams (i.e.,
EDC/VCM wastewater treatment sludges and one alternative option for VCM-A
wastewater treatment sludges) proposes listing as hazardous only those
quantities of the waste that are managed in a manner that reflects
unacceptable risks.

In addition, today's action proposes to change a long-standing Agency
policy of exempting from RCRA regulation the management of hazardous wastes
in wastewater treatment units regulated under Sec. 402 or Sec. 307(b) of
the Clean Water Act. To address the risks associated with the wastewaters
proposed to be listed as hazardous under today's action, the Agency
believes that it is necessary to regulate these management units when used
to manage chlorinate aliphatic wastewaters, to ensure against hazardous air
emissions from this wastestream."
---


[Federal Register: August 25, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 164)] [Proposed Rules]
[Page 46475-46539][DOCID:fr25au99-39]

40 CFR Parts 148, 261, 264, 265, 268, 271, and 302      [SWH-FRL-6413-4]
RIN 2050-AD85

Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Hazardous
Waste; Chlorinated Aliphatics Production Wastes; Land Disposal Restrictions
for Newly Identified Wastes; and CERCLA Hazardous Substance Designation and
Reportable Quantities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to list three of six wastes from the
chlorinated aliphatics industry as hazardous wastes under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which directs EPA to determine
whether certain wastes from the chlorinated aliphatics industry present a
hazard to human health or the environment. The effect of listing these
three wastes will be to subject them to stringent management and treatment
standards under RCRA and to subject them to emergency notification
requirements for releases of hazardous substances to the environment. EPA
is proposing a contingent-management listing approach for one of these
wastes, and as one of two options for another of these wastes, such that
waste generators will have the option of their waste not being listed if it
is sent to a specific type of management facility.

DATES: EPA will accept public comments on this proposed rule until November
23, 1999. Comments postmarked after this date will be marked ``late'' and
may not be considered. Any person may request a public hearing on this
proposal by filing a request by September 8, 1999.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment on this proposed rule, you must send an
original and two copies of the comments referencing docket number F-
1999-CALP-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 in the fourth paragraph of
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. You also may submit comments electronically by
sending electronic mail through the Internet to:
rcradocket@epamail.epa.gov. See the beginning of SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
for instructions on electronic submission.
You should not submit electronically any confidential business information
(CBI). You must submit an original and two copies of CBI 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. See the beginning of
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for information on viewing public comments and
supporting materials.
Address requests for a hearing to Mr. David Bussard at: Office of Solid
Waste, Hazardous Waste Identification Division (5304W), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20460, (703)
308-8880.

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 the rule, contact Ross
Elliott of the Office of Solid Waste (5304W), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20460. [E-mail addresses and
telephone numbers: elliott.ross@epamail.epa.gov, (703) 308-8748.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You should identify comments in electronic
format with the docket number F-1999-CALP-FFFFF. You must submit all
electronic comments as an ASCII (text) file, avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption. If you do not submit comments
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. Supporting documents in the
docket for this Notice are also available in electronic format on the
Internet. Follow these instructions to access these documents.

WWW: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id FTP: ftp.epa/gov
Login: anonymous
Password: your Internet address
Files are located in /pub/gopher/OSWRCRA.

EPA will keep the official record for this action in paper form.
Accordingly, we 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 maintained at the address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of
this document.
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. We 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.
You may view public comments and supporting materials 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, we recommend that you make an appointment by calling (703)
603-9230. You 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 first paragraph of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

Customer Service

How Can I Influence EPA's Thinking on This Proposed Rule?

In developing this proposal, we tried to address the concerns of all our
stakeholders. Your comments will help us improve this rule. We invite you
to provide different views on options we propose, new approaches we haven't
considered, new data, how this rule may affect you, or other relevant
information. We welcome your views on all aspects of this proposed rule,
but we request comments in particular on the items indicated at the end of
each section. Your comments will be most effective if you follow the
suggestions below:
<bullet> Explain your views as clearly as possible and provide a
summary of the reasoning you used to arrive at your

[[Page 46477]]

conclusions, as well as examples to illustrate your views, where possible.
<bullet> Provide solid technical and cost data to support your views.
<bullet> If you estimate potential costs, explain how you arrived at
your estimate.
<bullet> Tell us which parts you support, as well as those with which
you disagree.
<bullet> Offer specific alternatives. <bullet> Reference your
comments to specific sections of the proposal, such as the sections or page
numbers of the preamble, or the regulatory citations.
<bullet> Remember that your comments must be submitted by the
deadline in this notice.
<bullet> Include the name, date, and docket number with your comments.


Contents of This Proposed Rule

The contents of the preamble to this proposed rule are listed in the
following outline:

I. Overview
A. Who Potentially Will Be Affected by This Proposed Rule?
B. Why Does This Rule Read Differently From Other Listing Rules?
C. What Are the Statutory Authorities for This Rule?

II. Background
A. Schedule Suit
B. Existing Chlorinated Aliphatics Listings

III. Today's Action
A. Summary of Today's Action
1. Scope of the Listing Determination
2. Summary of the Proposed Listing Determinations
3. Summary of the Remainder of This Preamble
B. Description of the Industry
C. Overview of EPA's Information Collection Activities
1. Field Investigations and Sampling
2. RCRA Section 3007 Survey
D. What Are the Risks Associated With Management of Wastewaters and
Wastewater Treatment Sludges From the Production of Chlorinated Aliphatic
Chemicals?
1. What Are the Risks for Potential Human Receptors?
2. What Are the Potential Risks for Ecological Receptors?
3. Did EPA Conduct a Peer Review of the Risk Assessment?
E. Waste-Specific Listing Determination Rationales
1. Chlorinated Aliphatics Wastewaters
2. EDC/VCM Wastewater Treatment Sludges
3. VCM-A Wastewater Treatment Sludges
4. Methyl Chloride Wastewater Treatment Sludges
5. Allyl Chloride Wastewater Treatment Sludges
F. Constituents Proposed for Addition to Appendix VIII to 40 CFR Part 261

IV. Economic Analysis
A. What Is the Purpose of the Economic Analysis?
B. How May the Public Participate in the Economic Analysis?
C. How Are Chlorinated Aliphatic Chemicals Used in the Economy?
D. Where Are CAHCs Manufactured in the United States?
E. Have CAHCs Been Produced Historically in Other Locations in the United
States?
F. What Are the Estimated Potential Industry Costs of This Listing?

V. Proposed Treatment Standards Under RCRA's Land Disposal Restrictions
A. What Are EPA's Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs)?
B. How Does EPA Develop LDR Treatment Standards?
C. What Kind of Treatment Standards Are Proposed?
D. Other LDR-Related Provisions
E. What Standards Are Proposed for K173?
F. What Standards Are Proposed for K174?
G. What Standards Are Proposed for K175?
H. What Other Land Disposal Restrictions Aspects Are There to the Proposal?
I. Is There Treatment Capacity for the Proposed Wastes?

VI. Compliance Dates
A. Notification
B. Interim Status and Permitted Facilities

VII. State Authority
A. Applicability of Rule in Authorized States B. Effect on State Authorizations

VIII. Designation of Chlorinated Aliphatic Wastes (K173, K174 and K175)
Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA)
A. What Is the Relationship Between RCRA and CERCLA?
B. Is EPA Proposing To Add Chlorinated Aliphatic Wastes to CERCLA?
C. How Does EPA Determine Reportable Quantities?
D. When Do I Need to Report a Release of K173, K174 or K175 Under CERCLA?
E. What if I Know the Concentration of the Constituents in My Waste?
F. How Did EPA Determine the RQs for K173, K174 and K175 and Their
Hazardous Constituents?
G. How Do I Report a Release?
H. What Is the Statutory Authority for This Program?
I. How Can I Influence EPA's Thinking on Regulating K173, K174 and K175
Under CERCLA?

IX. Administrative Assessments
A. Executive Order 12866
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act
C. Paperwork Reduction Act
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
E. Executive Order 12875: Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership
F. Executive Order 13084: Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental Risks
and Safety Risks
H. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995
I. Executive Order 12898: Environmental Justice