EPA Proposes Safeguards for Hazardous Waste Recycling / Action aims to promote economic, environmental and public health benefits of waste recycling (HQ)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is proposing new safeguards for recycling hazardous materials to
protect public health and the environment. Today’s proposal
modifies EPA’s 2008 Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) rule,
which revised hazardous waste regulations to encourage recycling of
hazardous materials. Today’s proposal will improve
accountability and oversight of hazardous materials recycling,
while allowing for important flexibilities that will promote its
economic and environmental benefits. EPA is opening up this
proposal for public comment.
EPA is also releasing for public comment its draft expanded
environmental justice analysis of the 2008 DSW final rule, which
evaluates the rule’s potential impact on low-income and
minority communities. EPA is also requesting
public comment on the environmental justice analysis as well as on
suggested changes received from peer review. The analysis and peer
review comments will be available in the docket for this rulemaking
once the proposal is published.
“Safe recycling of hazardous materials conserves vital
resources while protecting the environmental and economic health of
our communities,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant
administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency
Response. “Today’s proposed enhancements show
EPA’s commitment to achieving sustainable materials
management through increased recycling, while retaining safeguards
to protect vulnerable communities and the environment.”
EPA’s re-examination of the 2008 DSW final rule identified
areas in the regulations that could be improved to better protect
public health and the environment with a particular focus on
adjacent communities by ensuring better management of hazardous
waste. Today’s proposal includes provisions to address those
areas through increased transparency and oversight and
accountability for hazardous materials recycling. Facilities that
recycle onsite or within the same company under the reduced
regulatory requirements retained under the proposal would be
subject to enhanced storage and recordkeeping requirements as
compared to the 2008 rule. Companies that send their hazardous
materials offsite for recycling would have tailored storage
standards, while being required to send their materials to a
permitted hazardous waste recycling facility. The proposed rule
also creates a level playing field by requiring all forms of
hazardous waste recycling to meet requirements designed to ensure
materials are legitimately recycled and not being disposed of
illegally.
EPA will accept comment on this proposal for 60 days after
publication in the Federal Register. The docket for the rulemaking
is EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0742 and can be accessed at https://www.regulations.gov/ once the proposal is published.
More information about this rulemaking: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/land-waste-and-cleanup-topics
