Hazardous waste characteristics defining

Pesticides are very much a part of the definition of hazardous wastes (Table 11). In fact, the toxicity characteristic of hazardous waste as defined by RCRA (referred to as extraction procedure or EP toxicity) is based on threshold concentrations of eight metals and six pesticides in an extract of the waste (Table II-A). Sixteen of the specific hazardous waste streams listed by... 

Subtitle C of RCRA is the primary vehicle for managing hazardous waste in the United States. Hazardous waste is defined as any solid waste, or a combination of solid wastes, that because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may ... 

The two classes of hazardous waste as defined by RCRA are characteristic waste and "listed" waste. Characteristic waste is defined by the properties it exhibits. The four characteristic properties are as follows ... 

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). 

Under RCRA, a substance is determined to be a hazardous waste either because it is listed as such in the federal or state regulation (a listed hazardous waste) or because it exhibits one or more characteristics of hazardous waste, as defined in the hazardous waste regulations (e.g., corrosivity), or because it is derived from a listed waste. 

A waste is a solid or liquid material that is no longer used. The EPA defines waste as hazardous if it has certain properties that could pose dangers to human health and the environment after it is discarded. The EPA considers a waste to be hazardous if it possesses certain characteristics (e.g., ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity) or if it is on a list of specific wastes determined by the EPA to be hazardous. RCRA regulations, found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Part 261, present the listed hazardous wastes, describe hazardous waste characteristics, and specify test methods for determining whether waste is hazardous. Complete lists of wastes identified by the EPA as hazardous can also be obtained from the EPA s RCRA/Super-fund Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or from the EPA regional offices. 

Hazardous waste is defined under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as a solid waste (or combination of solid wastes) which, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, may (1) cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating illness or (2) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed. In addition, under RCRA, EPA establishes four characteristics that will determine whether a substance is considered hazardous, including ignitability, corrosiveness, reactivity, and toxicity. Any solid waste that exhibits one or more of these characteristics is classified as a hazardous waste under RCRA and, in turn, as a hazardous substance mider Superfiind. 

Hazardous Wastes The U.S. EPA has defined hazardous waste in RCRA regulations, CFR Parts 260 and 261. A waste may be hazardous if it exhibits one or more of the following characteristics (1) ignitability, (2) corrosivity, (3) reactivity, and (4) toxicity. A detailed definition of these terms was first published in the Federal Register on May 19, 1980, pages 33, 121-122. A waste may be hazardous if listed in Appendix Wll. 

Physical and chemical tests of the final product may need to address two concerns (1) whether the solidified waste exhibits any RCRA defined toxicity characteristics or could be delisted and (2) the potential long term fate of treated materials in the disposal environment. Three tests are available which address the first concern. These are the Extraction Procedure (EP Tox) (40 CFR 261, Appendix II, 1980) and the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) (40 CFR 261, Appendix II, 1986), and the Multiple Extraction Procedure Test (40 CFR 261, Appendix II, January 1989). It is important to note that these tests are not indicators of expected leachate quality but of potentials. A solidified product which cannot pass the appropriate test (EP Tox or TCLP) would be subject to classification as a hazardous waste. 

RCRA was passed to manage nonhazardous and hazardous wastes and underground storage tanks, with an emphasis placed on the recovery of reusable materials as an alternative to their disposal. This act introduced the concept of the separate management of hazardous and nonhazardous wastes, and defined procedures to identify whether a waste is hazardous or nonhazardous. A waste exhibits the characteristic of toxicity, classified as a hazardous material, if the concentration of any of 39 selected analytes in the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) extract exceed regulatory action levels. 

The sources of contamination are usually those hazardous materials that are contained in drums, tanks, surface impoundments, waste piles, and landfills, as well as heavily contaminated media (such as soil) affected by the original leaking or spilling source. The purpose of defining sources of contamination is to help to identify the source location, potential releases, and engineering characteristics that are important in the evaluation of remedial actions, as well as waste characteristics, such as the type and quantity of contaminants that may be contained in or released to the environment, and the physical or chemical characteristics of the hazardous wastes present in the source. 

Under the authority of the RCRA, a solid waste would be defined as hazardous if it exhibits any of the four (ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity) characteristics used to identify hazardous wastes. 

A solid waste containing lead or lead compounds may be defined as a hazardous waste if it exhibits the characteristic of toxicity. The waste is said to exhibit the toxicity characteristic if the lead concentration in the extract obtained by subjecting a sample of the waste to the TCLP exceeds 5.0 mg/L. Tetraethyl and tetraethyl lead are combustible. If they are in sufficient quantity in a waste, tetraethyl lead may show an ignitability characteristic. More details on the regulatory requirements are presented in Chapter 7. 

There are four lists of hazardous wastes in the regulations wastes from nonspecific sources (F list), wastes from specific sources (K list), acutely toxic wastes (P list), and toxic wastes (U list) there are also the four characteristics mentioned before ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and extraction procedure toxicity. Certain waste materials are excluded from regulation under the RCRA. The various definitions and situations that allow waste to be exempted can be confusing and difficult to interpret. One such case is the interpretation of the mixture and derived-from rules. According to the mixture rule, mixtures of solid waste and listed hazardous wastes are, by definition, considered hazardous. Similarly, the derived-from rule defines solid waste resulting from the management of hazardous waste to be hazardous (40 CFR 261.3a and 40 CFR 261.1c). 

The hazardous waste identification regulations that define the characteristics of toxicity, ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and the tests for these characteristics, differ from state to state. In addition, concentration limits may be set out by a state for selected persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances that commonly occur in hazardous substances. For example, the California Hazardous Waste Control Act requires the California State Department of Health Services (CDHS) to develop and adopt by regulation criteria and guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes and extremely hazardous wastes. 

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) is defined by the U.S. EPA as solid wastes, discarded from homes or similar sources, that are either hazardous wastes or wastes that exhibit any of the following characteristics ignitabiUty, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity. A significant fraction of HHW is generated by home mechanics who use such products as motor oil, cleaners and solvents, refrigerants, and batteries. The results indicate that most of the survey respondents perceive automotive products to pose significant health and environmental risks, and they tend to dispose of these wastes in an environmentally conscious manner. There is qnite often a discrepancy between human perception and scientific reality (see table 8.2) (Shorten et al., 1995). 

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,... 

Waste is classified as hazardous by characteristics if it is ignit-able, corrosive, reactive, or toxic, as defined by EPA... 

Discussion of EPA s Hazardous Waste Classification System. Waste that is hazardous because it is ignitable, corrosive, or reactive, as defined above, must be treated to remove these characteristics prior to disposal. Examples of appropriate treatment methods... 

Hazardous chemical waste is defined in RCRA regulations as a solid waste that exhibits the characteristic of ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity, or is a specifically listed waste. The definition of hazardous waste specifically excludes radioactive material (source, special nuclear, or byproduct material) defined in AEA. 

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. 

The proposed framework for risk-based classification of all radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes developed in Section 6.2.2 represents waste classification in its broadest, most general terms. Thus, this classification system can be viewed as the highest level of a possible hierarchy of hazardous waste classifications (e.g., see Figure 4.2). Further subclassification of these broadly defined waste classes may be desirable for such purposes as protection of workers during waste operations, protection of public health and the environment following waste disposal, and development of efficient methods of waste management taking into account the characteristics of actual wastes. 

Development of a comprehensive and risk-based hazardous waste classification system, in which waste classes are defined in relation to types of disposal systems that are expected to be generally acceptable in protecting public health, would not obviate the need to establish waste acceptance criteria at each disposal site based on the characteristics of the site and engineered disposal facility and the properties of wastes intended for disposal therein. The primary purposes of a hazardous waste classification system are to facilitate cost-effective management and disposal of waste and effective communication on waste matters. 

The last characteristic, the Extraction Procedure Toxicity Characteristic (EPRC), identifies hazardous waste by evaluating the potential of a waste to release toxic constituents to the ground water. The Toxicity Characteristic entails use of a leaching test to measure the tendency of a waste to leach, coupled with extract concentrations above which the waste is defined to be a regulated, or hazardous, waste. 

Subtitle C establishes the hazardous-waste management system, which includes defining hazardous. According to RCRA, solid waste is determined to be hazardous because its quantity, concentration, or characteristics (referring to ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity) may ... 

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