Characteristically hazardous

While a number of wastes produced at the wellsite are considered characteristic hazardous waste, some wastes fall under the nonhazardous description. The regulation of these fall under RCRA Subtitle D. Initially Subtitle D wastes were regulated to control dumping of domestic trash and city runoff. The EPA is considering promulgating regulation of certain oil and gas wastes under Subtitle D [231]. 

If a waste is generated that is a listed or characteristic, the operator must follow certain guidelines [232]. A listed hazardous waste (i.e., mercury, benzene) is considered hazardous if the concentrations in which they naturally occur are above certain limitations (40 CFR 261.31-261.33), The listed hazardous waste may not be diluted to achieve lesser concentrations and thus become non-hazardous, A characteristic hazardous waste (40 CFR 261.21-261.24) may be diluted to a nonhazardous status. 

Both listed and characteristic hazardous wastes must meet the LDR treatment standards before they are eligible for land disposal. There are, however, some unique situations that arise when dealing with characteristic wastes under the LDR program. 

There are five regulatory exemptions from the derived-from rule. The first of these derived-from rule exemptions applies to materials that are reclaimed from hazardous wastes and used beneficially. Many listed and characteristic hazardous wastes can be recycled to make new products or be processed to recover useable materials with economic value. Such products derived from recycled hazardous wastes are no longer solid wastes. Using the hazardous waste identification process discussed at the beginning of this chapter, if the materials are not solid wastes, then whether they are derived from listed wastes or whether they exhibit hazardous characteristics is irrelevant. A U.S. EPA module10 explains which residues derived from hazardous wastes cease to be wastes and qualify for this exemption. 

Toxicity characteristic maximum concentration of contaminants for the toxicity characteristic (Hazardous Waste No. D008)... 

Includes a wide range of information such as toxicology, characteristics, hazards, protection, and medical response... 

Currently, there is much variability in the United States in establishing treatment standards for PAHs in soil and groundwater. For example, Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) govern the placement of materials destined for any land disposal including landfill, surface impoundments, waste pits, injection wells, land treatment facilities, salt domes, underground mines or caves, and vaults or bunkers. Accordingly, treatment standards for all listed and characteristic hazardous wastes destined for land disposal have been defined (U.S. EPA, 1991) These values thus represent one potential set of treatment standards for PAHs. However, for PAHs,... 

The generator of a waste must determine if the waste is hazardous. To do this, the generator must determine if the waste is specifically listed as a hazardous waste (Article 9, CCR), and/or if it is a characteristic hazardous waste (ignitable, corrosive, toxic, reactive) (Article 11, CCR). Certain wastes are also classified as "extremely hazardous wastes." These are listed in Article 9, CCR and their characteristics are identified in Article 11, CCR. 

Molding - Nonferrous alloy castings, such as brass and bronze, contain lead that may generate wastes which are classified as characteristic hazardous waste due to EP Toxicity. 

Waste that is hazardous because it exhibits the toxicity characteristic also must be treated to remove this characteristic prior to disposal. Techniques to remove the toxicity characteristic include, for example, destruction of organic compounds by incineration or incorporation of the waste in an immobilizing waste form (e.g., grout). However, in contrast to ignitable, corrosive, or reactive waste, a properly treated toxic waste may still be considered hazardous in some cases, even if it is not characteristically hazardous after treatment and does not contain any listed substances. For example, a waste that is toxic because it contains high levels of heavy metals could be treated to reduce the leachability of the metals to acceptable levels by incorporation in an appropriate waste form, but the treated waste may still be considered hazardous when the toxic substances of concern are not destroyed by treatment and the possibility exists that their leachability from the waste form could increase substantially after disposal. 

LDRs specified in RCRA required EPA to develop treatment standards for hazardous chemical waste and established deadlines for EPA to develop treatment standards for those wastes for which treatment standards did not exist. Congress divided LDR hazardous waste into several categories solvents and dioxins California listed wastes first, second, and third listed wastes and characteristically hazardous wastes. 

Under current EPA regulations, a chemical waste is either hazardous or it is not, and there is no further classification of hazardous chemical waste with respect to the degree of hazard. Some states have defined classes of hazardous chemical waste (e.g., extremely hazardous waste) but, in practice, the requirements on management and disposal of all hazardous wastes have resulted in essentially the same approaches being used regardless of hazard. When a hazardous chemical waste is mixed with a nonhazardous solid waste, the entire waste is classified as hazardous unless the former is a characteristically hazardous waste that does not contain any listed waste and mixing with the nonhazardous waste removes the hazardous characteristic. 

For hazardous chemical waste, there is no federal classification system other than a specification that the waste is hazardous or that it can be managed as if it were nonhazardous because it has been shown not to be characteristically hazardous or has been delisted or specifically excluded.14 Hazardous chemical waste that is not... 

Significant parts of the existing waste classification systems are based on intrinsic properties of waste. The system for subclassifying low-level waste in 10 CFR Part 61 (NRC, 1982a) and the determination of whether a chemical waste is characteristically hazardous (see Section 4.2.1.1) are examples of waste classification based on intrinsic properties. 

There are two types of regulated hazardous waste characteristic wastes and listed wastes. A solid waste is classified as a characteristic hazardous waste if it exhibits any of the following ignitability, corrosivity, toxicity, or reactivity. A solid waste is a listed hazardous waste if it is specifically listed by the EPA or a state regulatory body based on certain criteria (40 CFR 261.11). 

One of the critical differences between characteristic hazardous wastes and listed hazardous wastes is that, under RCRA regulations, any wastes derived from the treatment, storage, or disposal of a listed hazardous waste (e.g., treatment residues or secondary wastes from storage) are themselves regulated as listed hazardous waste. In addition, any mixture of a solid waste and a listed hazardous waste is then also designated as a listed hazardous waste. The listed hazardous waste designation applies regardless of the actual hazardous characteristics of the waste. Unlike listed hazardous wastes, wastes that exhibit one or more of the RCRA characteristics are not subject to the mixture... 

In addition, petroleum refining wastes are subject to evaluation as characteristically hazardous waste, including the toxicity characteristic (40 CFR 261, Subpart C) which labels wastes "RCRA hazardous" if a measured constituent concentration exceeds a designated maximum (e.g., a benzene concentration of 0.5 mg/L). 

One of the important differences between characteristic hazardous wastes and listed hazardous wastes is that, under RCRA regulations, any wastes derived from the treatment. 

Environmental restoration activities may be conducted under a RCRA, Part B permit when RCRA hazardous wastes are involved. The RCRA hazardous wastes are identified in 40 CFR 261 and Include characteristic" hazardous wastes as defined in subpart C and "listed" hazardous wastes as defined in subpart D. The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment (HSWA) to RCRA includes prohibitions on land disposal of hazardous waste. Under this statute, the EPA has issued regulations (40 CFR 286) that ban the land disposal of untreated hazardous waste and has established treatment standards based on the BDAT. The way that these standards can be Involved in a CERCLA remedial action was discussed above. In addition, technical standards for environmental restoration activities conducted under a RCRA, Part B permit are given in 40 CFR 264, Including closure requirements and groundwater concentration limits (see 40 CFR 264.94). 

U.S. EPA Region 10, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and U.S. Army Environmental Center (AEC) have used these results for determining the characteristic hazardous waste status of explosives contaminated soil as a reactive waste under RCRA. The basis for the RCRA characteristic hazardous waste status is the assumed explosive reactivity of the soils if subjected to a strong initiating force or if heated under confinement (40 CFR 261.23). These results apply to explosives such as TNT, HMX, DNT, TNB, and DNB, and do not apply to initiating compounds, such as lead azide, lead styphenate, or mercury fulminate. 

Both Ni/MH and Li-ion batteries do contain hazardous materials. Niekel/metal hydride battery packs, of course, contain nickel, which is a suspected carcinogen in some forms. However, the only hazardous material in a Ni/MH battery, as defined by federal regulations, is the potassium hydroxide (KOH)-based electrolyte (corrosive). The only characteristic hazard of any consequence for the electrode materials in these batteries is toxicity. The hazard level is determined by a test called the toxicity characteristic... 

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