Establishment of an Exempt Waste Class

The most profound change in waste classification that would result from implementation of the system proposed in this Report would be the establishment of an exempt class of waste. This class would be defined based on the principle that waste could be regulated as if it were nonhazardous if the hazardous constituents were present in amounts sufficiently low that the risk from disposal would be negligible (de minimis). At present, EPA has not established general provisions for exemption of listed hazardous chemical wastes regulated under RCRA, and efforts by NRC to establish general conditions for exemption of radioactive wastes were halted at the direction of Congress. 

Elimination of source-based waste classifications would also have some impact on classification and management of hazardous chemical wastes. For example, the identification of some listed hazardous wastes under RCRA based on the source of the waste (the F and K lists) and the distinction between hazardous wastes regulated under RCRA and those regulated under TSCA would be eliminated. 

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