TSDFs regulated

Figure 23.1 provides a compilation of information on reported emergency incidents at hazardous waste combustion facilities and other TSDFs regulated under the RCRA. It covers emergency incidents such as fires, explosions, hazardous waste spills, or unauthorized releases of hazardous waste. The reported incidents at 24 hazardous waste combustion units and 26 other TSDFs... 

As mentioned above, interim status BIFs must be operated much in the same way as those facilities with permits. As with permitted BIFs, owners/operators of interim status BIFs must comply with all applicable TSDF regulations in Part 265. In addition, because interim status facilities have not yet conducted trial burns to ensure compliance with the standards, U.S. EPA has placed some restrictions on their use and what types of hazardous waste these facilities may burn. These restrictions are discussed below. 

The USEPA estimates that over 6000 facilities are currently operated as treatment, storage, or disposal facilities (TSDFs) regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which assigns the responsibility of corrective action to facility owners and operators and authorizes the USEPA to oversee corrective actions. Unlike the Superfund, RCRA responsibility is delegated to states. The USEPA and authorized states have completed initial assessment of potential environmental contamination at over 70% of RCRA facilities, as required by statute to address corrective action. Environmental contamination at many RCRA facilities is expected to be less severe than at Superfund sites however, the total number of RCRA facilities exceeds the number of Superfund sites. The USEPA developed a computer-based system known as the RCRA National Corrective Action Prioritization System (NCAPS) to help establish priorities for corrective action activities. Among the factors considered in NCAPS are the history of hazardous waste releases, the likelihood of human and environmental exposure, and the type and quantity of waste handle at the facility. 

Under the RCRA exemption, wastes intrinsically associated with the exploration and development of oil and gas do not have to follow Subtitle C regulations for disposal. Under Subtitle C, hazardous wastes must follow strict guidelines for storage, treatment, and transportation and disposal. The cost of handling materials under the Subtitle C scenario is overwhelming. Under the exemption, the operator is allowed to dispose of wellsite waste in a prudent manner and is not obliged to use licensed hazardous waste transporters and licensed Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDF). 

Enforcement To ensure that RCRA-regulated facilities, from generators to TSDFs, comply with these regulations, RCRA provides U.S. EPA with the authority to enforce provisions of the Act. 

Universal waste destination facilities are facilities that treat, dispose of, or recycle a particular category of universal waste. These facilities are subject to the same requirements as fully regulated hazardous waste TSDFs. Full regulation includes permit requirements, general facility standards, and unit-specific standards. The universal waste program includes only two additional specific universal waste requirements for destination facilities. These requirements are procedures for rejecting shipments of universal waste and the documentation of the receipt of universal waste. 

HAZARDOUS WASTES REGULATIONS GOVERNING GENERATORS, TRANSPORTERS, AND TSDFs... 

U.S. EPA has also developed organic air emission regulations for TSDFs and LQGs under RCRA. However, these RCRA regulations have been designed to minimize, to the extent possible, any overlap with CAA regulations. 

RCRA cleanup activities and hazardous waste operations at generator facilities and TSDFs may need to comply with HAZWOPER regulations... 

TSDFs). U.S. EPA promulgated both general facility standards that apply to all TSDFs and requirements for specific types of units (e.g., incinerators, landfills, and surface impoundments) in 40 CFR Parts 264 and 265. The regulations under Parts 264 and 265, Subpart O, apply to owners and operators of facilities that incinerate hazardous waste.4... 

All commercial TSDFs and all chemical agent disposal facilities must adhere to permit operating parameters, including feed rates, temperatures, and other combustion criteria. In addition, all commercial TSDFs and chemical agent disposal facilities must meet both the RCRA and the MACT air emission limitations. There is little difference in the treatment of commercial TSDFs and chemical agent disposal facilities under MACT. Under the RCRA regulations... 

As outlined above, RCRA is a preventative legislature regulating current/future hazardous-waste management. Conversely, CERCLA s goal is to rectify problems caused by the previous mismanagement of hazardous waste (i.e., it addresses past sins). There are three general areas in which RCRA and CERCLA statutes overlap disposal of CERCLA-waste sites reactions to imminent hazards and corrective actions (CA) for releases from TSDFs. 

Waste disposal from CERCLA sites must be managed in accordance with regulations outlined in subtitle C of RCRA. For instance, generator/regulator statutes would regulate wastes taken off-site for treatment. This would entail the proper labeling of all material as well as hazardous-waste manifests. In addition, any waste treated or stored on-site must be handled in accordance with TSDFs. 

An imminent hazard is a clearly identifiable threat. Imminent hazards from either current or previously existing (whether still operational or abandoned) TSDFs are regulated by section 7003 of RCRA as well as section 106 of Superfund. Both statutes require the PRPs to take immediate action for cleanup. As Superfund is a comprehensive authority, it is the primary authority for imminent hazards. Duplication in RCRA is used to bolster government action for maintaining the statutes and enforcement of penalties. 

Solids from the munitions treatment unit (MTU) include munitions bodies and burster wells as well as residue (e g., paint chips) generated during periodic cleaning of the MTU. Decontaminated munitions bodies will be sent offsite and can be recycled for scrap metal under Colorado regulations (PMACWA, 2006).2 The characterization of residue includes an analysis for toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) metals. It is subsequently drummed and shipped offsite to an appropriate TSDF. 

Waste shipments are to be managed in accordance with DOT regulations for appropriate state and local emergency response actions.... The CMA facility needs to work in concert with the receiving TSDF and the waste shipper to ensure that there are adequate response capabihties to respond to an emergency in route. 7... 

Recommendation 6-4. The PMACWA should prepare a prototypical emergency response plan for hydrolysate slupment, including the possibility of a fire or the occurrence of natural disasters such as floods. Tliis plan would be the starting point for setting contractual requirements for the TSDF and the shipper. The prototype plan needs to be completed to facilitate discussions with the public and regulators about the hydrolysate offsite shipment alternative. 

On the basis of discussions with state regulators, Mitretek concluded that if offsite shipment of hydrolysate is adopted, neither BGCAPP nor PCAPP would be allowed to begin operations until an appropriate TSDF had been selected and a contract for receipt of the waste was in place (Bizzigotti et al., 2006). 

To ship secondary hydrolysate offsite, the receiving TSDF must have a complete characterization of the waste to be received and a determination that the treatment is sufficient to meet its own permit conditions, which can include wastewater discharge, air emissions, and land disposal of treated waste residue. Hydrolysate from both BGCAPP and PCAPP will be a listed waste under state RCRA regulations. 

A detailed examination of the interim status regulations is beyond the scope of this chapter. The circumstances under which TSDF owner/operators must comply with the generator pretransport procedures, including DOT labeling requirements, are described in the following section. 

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