Solid waste RCRA definition

Hazardous waste identification begins with an obvious point in order for any material to be a hazardous waste, it must first be a waste. However, deciding whether an item is or is not a waste is not always easy. For example, a material (like an aluminum can) that one person discards could seem valuable to another person who recycles that material. U.S. EPA therefore developed a set of regulations to assist in determining whether a material is a waste. RCRA uses the term solid waste in place of the common term waste. Under RCRA, the term solid waste means any waste, whether it is a solid, semisolid, or liquid. The first section of the RCRA hazardous waste identification regulations focuses on the definition of solid waste. For this chapter, you need only understand in general terms the role that the definition of solid waste plays in the RCRA hazardous waste identification process. 

Materials that are recycled are a special subset of the solid waste universe. When recycled, some materials are not solid wastes, and therefore not hazardous wastes, but others are solid and hazardous waste, but are subject to less-stringent regulatory controls. The level of regulation that applies to recycled materials depends on the material and the type of recycling (Figure 13.2). Because some types of recycling pose threats to human health and the environment, RCRA does not exempt all recycled materials from the definition of solid waste. As a result, the manner in which a material is recycled will determine whether or not the material is a solid waste, and therefore whether it is... 

Dioxin-containing wastes considered inherently waste-like. Dioxin-containing wastes are considered inherently waste-like because they pose significant threats to human health and the environment if released or mismanaged. As a result, RCRA does not exempt such wastes from the definition of solid waste even if they are recycled through direct use or reuse without prior reclamation. This is to ensure that such wastes are subject to the most protective regulatory controls. 

A material cannot be a hazardous waste if it does not meet the definition of a solid waste. Thus, wastes that are excluded from the definition of solid waste are not subject to the RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste regulation. There are 20 exclusions from the definition of solid waste ... 

The hazardous waste listings, the hazardous waste characteristics, and the mixture and derived-from rules are all essential parts of the definition of hazardous waste, but these key elements are all described in different sections of the RCRA regulations. Only one regulatory section unites all four elements to establish the formal definition of hazardous waste. This section is entitled Definition of Hazardous Waste, which states that all solid wastes exhibiting one of the four hazardous characteristics are hazardous wastes. This section also states that all solid wastes listed on one of the four hazardous waste lists are hazardous wastes. Finally, this section explains in detail the mixture and derived-from rules and the regulatory exemptions from these rules. Thus, although the section is entitled Definition of Hazardous Waste, it serves primarily as a guide to the mixture and derived-from rules. 

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 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was enacted in 1976 and was revised substantially by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment (HSWA) of 1984 (40 CFR pts. 260-280). The RCRA regulates the management of solid wastes that are hazardous. The definition of solid wastes in these regulations generally encompasses all discarded materials (including solid, liquid, semisolid, and contained gaseous materials) and many secondary materials (e.g., spent solvents, byproducts) that are recycled or reused rather than discarded [3]. Products such as commercial pesticides are not ordinarily solid wastes, but they become solid wastes if and when they are discarded or stored, treated, or transported prior to such disposal. 

The definition of solid waste in RCRA specifically excludes source, special nuclear, and byproduct materials as defined in AEA. Therefore, radioactive constituents of wastes that arise from operations of the nuclear fuel cycle are excluded from regulation as hazardous waste under RCRA. 

Given the definition of solid waste described above, Section 1004(5) of RCRA (1976) then defines hazardous waste as follows ... 

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. 

The United States EPA, in implementing RCRA, has further clarified and broadened the definition of solid waste in a series of definitions and sub-definitions [21,26], as follows ... 

US EPA (1994) Reengineering RCRA for recycling - draft Definition of Solid Waste Task Force, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, US EPA, Washington, DC, pp428... 

The RCRA definition of hazardous waste has been most frequently used in the field. It defines a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may (1) cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or, (2) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health... 

Finalized Rule — definition of solid waste. 2014. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0742-0019. 

In short, a hazardous waste is any material that meets the RCRA definition of a solid waste and is not excluded as a hazardous waste. 

Several wastes important to DOE are excluded from the RCRA definition of solid wastes (40 CFR 261.2). They include source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the AEA [Section 11(e), (z), (aa)] waste from extraction, beneficiation, and processing of ores and minerals, including overburden from mining uranium ores utility wastes oil and gas drilling muds and brines and some wastes that are reused or recycled. 

Defining what constitutes a hazardous waste requires consideration of legal and scientific factors. The basic definitions used in this chapter are derived from (a) the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA), and (b) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). These definitions are given below. 

Wastes must be an RCRA hazardous waste in order to be subject to the LDR program. In other words, unless a waste meets the definition of a solid and hazardous waste, its disposal is not regulated under the LDR program. Once a generator identifies its waste as hazardous (either listed, characteristic, or both), the waste is assigned a waste code. When U.S. EPA establishes a treatment standard for the waste code, the waste will then become restricted (i.e., subject to the LDR requirements). RCRA requires that U.S. EPA establish treatment standards for hazardous wastes within six months of promulgating a new listing or characteristic. Until U.S. EPA establishes a treatment standard for a waste, this newly identified or newly listed waste (i.e., waste for which U.S. EPA is yet to establish a treatment... 

Another type of an action level is a regulatory definition of hazardous waste that allows identifying hazardous materials and determining the waste disposal alternatives. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which is the law for disposal of solid and hazardous wastes, regulates hazardous waste in its Subtitle C. The RCRA, promulgated in 1976 and amended in 1984, today primarily focuses on regulating the operation of hazardous waste sites and on land disposal activities. 

By definition, under RCRA, the materials to be treated are a waste. Consequently, the materials that remain after destruction of the agent and munition are considered secondary waste, which may take the form of solids, liquids, or gases. Phase changes may occur. For example, generated gases may be converted to solid form via adsorption or to liquids via condensation. The... 

Quantities of hazardous wastes produced each year are not known with certainty and depend on the definitions used for such materials. In the United States, there are around 17,000 RCRA-regulated sites that generate approximately 30 million tons of wastes. However, most of this material is water, with only a few million tons consisting of solids. Some high-water-content wastes are generated directly by processes that require large quantities of water in waste treatment, and other aqueous wastes are produced by mixing hazardous wastes with wastewater. 

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