Hazardous waste response

Criminal liability for improper disposal of hazardous waste. Responsibilities of waste generators, companies, and individuals. 

The EPA Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) has responsibility for managing the analysis programs required under the U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The approved analytical methods are designed to analyze water, soil, and sediment from potentially hazardous waste sites to determine the presence or absence of certain environmentally harmful organic compounds. The methods described here all require the use of GC/MS. 

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)... 

Federal regulations (40 CFR 261) classify acrylonitrile as a hazardous waste and it is Hsted as Hazardous Waste Number U009. Disposal must be in accordance with federal (40 CFR 262, 263, 264), state, and local regulations only at properly permitted faciUties. It is Hsted as a toxic pollutant (40 CFR 122.21) and introduction into process streams, storm water, or waste water systems is in violation of federal law. Strict guidelines exist for clean-up and notification of leaks and spills. Federal notification regulations require that spills or leaks in excess of 100 lb (45.5 kg) be reported to the National Response Center. Substantial criminal and civil penalties can result from failure to report such discharges into the environment. 

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. In response to an EPA mandate in SARA, Ha2ardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) regulations were issued. These address emergency responders, training of those working at Superfund sites, and cleanup operations. 

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and LiabiHty Act (CERCLA)/RCRA regulations in effect at the end of 1986 bromine is regulated as a hazardous waste or material. Therefore, it must be disposed of in an approved hazardous waste faciHty in compliance with EPA and/or other appHcable local, state, and federal regulations and should be handled in a manner acceptable to good waste management practice. The reportable quantity is 45.4 kg for corrosivity (62). 

Hazardous Wastes When hazardous wastes are generated, special containers are usually provided, and trained personnel (OSHA 1910.120 required such workers to have HAZWOPER training) are responsible (or should be) for the handling of these wastes. Hazardous wastes include solids, sludges, and hquids hence, container requirements vary with the form of waste. 

Assign responsibilities and authority at plant and headquarters for tbe storage, coUection, treatment, and disposal of all types of hazardous wastes. 

The responsible party and associated regulatory responsibility to generate a hazardous waste manifest. 

Are the hazards associated with handling hazardous wastes disclosed to the disposal facility If yes, does the disclosure include information on proper spill response measures and is it protective of employees, transporters and waste handlers. 

Hazardous Waste Operations And Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)—29 CER 1910.120... 

This section provides an overview of important definitions and terminology that the Hazardous Materials Worker and Emergency Response Personnel should know. Emergency response at sites other than hazardous waste clean-up sites are emphasized. Under OSHA s 29 CFR1910.120 emergency response personnel (that will take some action to control the situation other than call for help) shall be trained to a competence to protect themselves and other employees in ... 

This section provides an overview of the engineering technologies and applications that are currently applicable to the study and remediation of releases of hazardous wastes and constituents from RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) facilities and those sites which parallel Superfund sites. Activities which would be termed removal actions or expedited response actions under CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Recovery-Cleanup and Liability Act) are also covered in this section. Information presented in this section represent excerpts from document EPA/625/4-89/020 (September 1989). 

U.S. EPA. Case Studies Addendum 1-8 Remedial Response at Hazardous Waste Sites. Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1987. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Case Studies No. 1-23 Remedial Response at Hazardous Waste Sites, EPAy540/2/84-002b, March, 1984. 

Facility-specific system including modules for air emissions, calendar, facility and agency processes, groundwater, hazardous waste, incident response, permit tracking, solid (non-hazardous) waste, work orders, and wastewater. 

Emergeney response operations involving the release (or substantial threat of release) of hazardous wastes and substanees [2]... 

All requirements of Part 1910 and Part 1926 of Title 29 of the Code of Eederal Regulations apply pursuant to their terms to hazardous waste and emergeney response operations whether eovered by this seetion or not. If there is a eonfliet or overlap, the provision more proteetive of employee safety and health shall apply without regard to 29 CER 1910.5... 

Determine if HAZWOPER needs to be applied or if applying its eon-eepts or prineiples would suflfiee. This determination should be made by a eompetent individual responsible for hazardous waste aetivities. 

Any site-related activities such as bench-scale laboratory and R D activities should comply with the OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CER 1910.1450). R D activities involving pilot- or full-scale field operations should comply with HAZWOPER when there is reasonable possibility for worker exposure to hazardous wastes or substances or emergency response. 

Under the hazardous waste standard, on-site emergeney responders, on-site eollateral-duty emergeney responders, and off-site emergeney responders are trained to one or more of five levels of eompeteney, depending on the type of response they perform as speeified in 29 CFR 1910.120 (q). 

The use of proper PPE is an integral part of many jobs when dealing with hazardous waste. OSHA standard 1910.132 of 1998 requires an assessment be eondueted to determine the appropriate PPE for eyes, faee, head, and extremities whenever hazards eneountered are eapable of eausing injury or impairment in the funetion of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation, or physieal eontaet. Aeeording to the PPE standard, it is the employer s responsibility to determine if hazards are present (or likely to be present). If the employer determines that hazards are present, the employer should ehoose the types of PPE that will proteet affeeted employees from the hazards identified in the hazard assessment [1]. 

Unless employers ean demonstrate that their operation does not involve employee exposure or the reasonable possibility for employee exposure to safety or health hazards, they should eomply with the standard. To determine if your partieular situation is eovered by the emergeney response provisions of the standard, examine the tasks of your workers to determine if they will be assigned a role or funetion as part of a response to a release of hazardous waste [2]. 

Workers on a hazardous waste site are not allowed to partieipate in any emergeney response aetivity unless they are in eomplianee with the requirements of 29 CER 1910.120 (e.g., responders to the seene would have to be eovered, but operators sueh as truek drivers would not have to be eovered unless they beeome aetively involved in the response aetion). 29 CER 1910.120 (q) applies to all organizations that respond... 

All employees who are injured, beeome ill or develop signs or symptoms due to possible overexposure involving hazardous substanees or health hazards from an emergeney response or hazardous waste operation and [OSHA Referenee. 120(f)(1), (f)(2)(iii)]... 

The physician s opinion as to whether the employee has any detected medical conditions which would place the employee at increased risk of material impairment of the employee s health from work in hazardous waste operations or a emergency response, or from respirator use [OSHA Reference, 120(f)(7)(i)(A)]... 

General funetions and responsibilities of all other personnel needed for hazardous waste aetivities and [OSHA Referenee. 120.(bX2)(i)(D)]... 

An emergency action plan is established and implemented for the entire plant in accordance with the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.38(a) and may be subject to the hazardous waste and emergency response provisions contained in 29 CFR 1910.120 (a), (p) and (q). 

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