Hazardous waste generators - Vermont

Scope

All businesses must evaluate their waste streams to determine if that waste is a regulated solid or hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is regulated from cradle (the point it is generated) to grave (its ultimate destruction or disposal).

Regulatory citation

• 40 CFR 260 — Hazardous Waste Management System: General
• 40 CFR 261 — Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste
• 40 CFR 262 — Standards Applicable to Generators of Hazardous Waste
• 40 CFR 265 — Interim Status Standards for Owners and Operators of Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities
• 40 CFR 268 — Land Disposal Restrictions
• Vermont Hazardous Waste Management ReVermont Hazardous Waste Management Regulations

Key definitions

• Acute hazardous waste means any hazardous waste with a “P” waste code (or certain “F” waste codes). These wastes are subject to stringent accumulation and management requirements.
• Accumulate means to store hazardous waste on-site for a regulated amount of time before shipping it off-site. Generators have accumulation time limits as well as quantity limits.
• Biennial Report means a report submitted by hazardous waste LQGs and TSDFs (and SQGs after 2020) to enable EPA and the states to track the quantities of hazardous waste generated and the movements of those hazardous wastes.
• Central Accumulation Area (CAA) means an area where a hazardous waste generator collects marked and dated hazardous waste. Waste in a CAA may only be accumulated for 90 days or 180 days, depending on the generator’s hazardous waste category.
• Characteristic waste means waste that is considered hazardous under RCRA because it exhibits any of four different properties: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity.
• Containers means portable devices in which a material is stored, transported, treated, or otherwise handled.
• Cradle to grave means the time period from the initial generation of hazardous waste to its ultimate disposal.
• Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid or hazardous waste on or in the land or water.
• E-Manifest means EPA’s hazardous waste electronic manifest system. (EPA plans to have an electronic manifest system in place by 2018.)
• EPA identification number means the unique number assigned by EPA to each hazardous waste generator, transporter, or treatment, storage, and disposal facility.
• Episodic generation means the situation in which a generator’s status changes from one month to the next, as determined by the amount of waste generated in a particular month. If a generator’s status does in fact change, the generator is required to comply with the respective regulatory requirements for that class of generators for the waste generated in that particular month.
• Generator means any person, by site, whose act first creates or produces a hazardous waste or used oil, or first brings such materials into RCRA regulation.
• Hazardous waste means waste with properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health and the environment. Under RCRA, hazardous wastes are specifically defined as wastes that meet a particular listing description or that exhibit a characteristic of hazardous waste.
• Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) means the prohibitions on the land disposal of hazardous waste that has not been adequately treated to reduce the threat posed by such waste.
• Large Quantity Generators (LQGs) means facilities that generate more than 1,000 kg of hazardous waste per calendar month, or more than 1 kg of acutely hazardous waste per calendar month.
• Listed wastes means wastes that are considered hazardous under RCRA because they meet specific listing descriptions. These lists are found in 40 CFR 261, Subpart D.
• Manifest (aka universal hazardous waste manifest) means the paperwork that accompanies hazardous waste from the point of generation to the point of ultimate treatment, storage, or disposal. Each party involved in the waste’s management retains a copy of the RCRA manifest, which contains specific information about the waste.
• RCRA means the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which is the nation’s solid and hazardous waste management law.
• Satellite Accumulation Area (SAA) means the accumulation of up to 55 gallons of hazardous waste at or near the point of generation that is under the control of the operator.
• Small Quantity Generator (SQG) means a facility that generates between 100 kg and 1,000 kg of hazardous waste per calendar month.
• Solid waste means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community activities. For the purposes of hazardous waste regulation, a solid waste is a material that is discarded by being:
  • Abandoned,
  • Inherently waste-like,
  • A certain waste military munition, or
  • Recycled.
• Tanks means stationary containers used to store or treat hazardous waste.
• Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) means facilities engaged in the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste.
• Underground storage tank (UST) means a tank and any underground piping connected to the tank that is used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances and that has at least 10 percent of its combined volume underground.
• Very Small Quantity Generator (VSQG) means a generator who never accumulates more than 2,200 pounds of hazardous waste or 2.2 pounds of acute hazardous waste at any one time. Formerly known as Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG).

Summary of requirements

• Make a waste determination on all of your waste streams (e.g., compact fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, used oil, production wastes, wastewater, used oil, spent solvents, etc.).
• Count the total amount of hazardous waste generated in a calendar month.
• Determine your hazardous waste generator category (i.e., VSQG, SQG, or LQG).
• Notify EPA of your waste activities and obtain an EPA ID Number (SQGs and LQGs only).
• Manage the waste according to your hazardous waste generator category.
• Make sure containers are in good condition, not leaking, rusting, or bulging.
• Do not mix incompatible wastes.
• Keep all containers closed unless adding or removing waste.
• Mark and label waste containers with the words “Hazardous waste” and the accumulation start date, and identify the hazards of the waste. Use one of the following methods:
  • Identify the hazardous characteristics of the waste (Ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic);
  • Use an OSHA Hazard Communication label or GHS pictogram;
  • Follow the DOT labeling requirements at 49 CFR 172;
  • Use an NFPA-approved label; or
  • Other marking that will be easily understood by emergency responders.
• Train employees to work safely with and around the hazardous waste at the facility according to their particular job duties. Training must be done within six months of the employee beginning work or transferring to a new job and must be repeated annually. Training may be classroom, on-the-job, or electronic, but must be tailored to the specific responsibilities of the employee.
• Prepare the waste for transport. Add the hazardous waste number to the hazardous waste label. Be sure the waste is packaged, labeled, marked, and placarded according to DOT’s requirements at 49 CFR Parts 172, 173, 178, and 179, as well as EPA’s pre-transport requirements at 40 CFR 262 Subpart C.
• Ship the waste offsite within the required time limit for your generator category. Use a transporter that has an EPA ID Number.
• Ship waste to a qualified facility. SQGs and LQGs must use a manifest.
• Prepare for emergencies. Become familiar with your state and national reporting requirements for spills of hazardous materials.
• Ensure your hazardous waste accumulation area is equipped with the following:
  • Internal communication or alarm system capable of providing immediate emergency instruction via voice or signal;
  • A device, such as a telephone, or a hand-held two-way radio, capable of summoning emergency assistance from local police departments, dire departments, or state and/or local emergency response teams;
  • Portable fire extinguishers, fire control equipment, spill control equipment, and decontamination equipment; and
  • Water at adequate volume and pressure to supply water hose streams, or foam producing equipment, or automatic sprinklers, or water spray systems.
• Test and maintain the equipment to ensure proper operation.
• Develop a contingency plan. Share the contingency plan along with a summary of the plan with local emergency responders.
• Maintain copies of the contingency plan in the facility.
• Assign an emergency coordinator capable of putting the contingency plan into action.
• Post next to the telephone:
  • The name and telephone number of the emergency coordinator;
  • The location of fire extinguisher and spill control materials, fire alarms, etc; and
  • The telephone number of the local fire department.
• Keep all required reports, records, and documents for at least three years, including:
  • Waste characterization reports,
  • Manifests,
  • Land disposal restriction paperwork, and
  • Personnel training records.
• Fill out and submit biennial reports every two years for LQGs (SQGs re-notify the state of their waste activities every four years).
• Check to see if your state requires annual reporting. Annual reporting also applies to certain exports and imports of hazardous waste.