National capacity variance

While national capacity variances, when needed, are automatically granted to all affected hazardous waste management facilities, the other five exemptions, variances, and extensions require a facility to specifically petition U.S. EPA. 

National capacity variance When developing a treatment standard, U.S. EPA examines the available treatment capacity to determine whether it is sufficient to handle current and future waste management needs. If U.S. EPA determines that nationally there is not enough capacity to treat a waste, it can automatically extend the effective date of the waste s treatment standard. Such an extension to the effective date is intended to give the waste treatment industry more time to develop the capacity to handle the waste. Wastes under a national capacity variance can be disposed of, without meeting the treatment standards, in landfills and surface impoundments that meet minimum technical requirements (e.g., liners, leachate collection and removal systems, and leak detection systems). 

Case-by-case extensions A facility may petition U.S. EPA for a case-by-case extension to delay the effective date of a waste s treatment standard upon showing that capacity does not exist for that particular waste. Similar to national capacity variances, wastes granted case-by-case extensions can be disposed of without meeting the treatment standards in landfills and surface impoundments that meet minimum technical requirements. 

Generators must send a notification with the initial shipment of every waste. If the waste, process, or receiving facility changes, another notification is required. The information that the notification must include varies according to the status of the waste. For example, the notification requirements will differ slightly if the waste meets its treatment standard or is subject to a national capacity variance. 

In addition to promulgating the treatment standards for most mixed waste in 1990, EPA established a 2 y National Capacity Variance for mixed waste for which there was no available treatment or... 

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