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The universal waste regulations streamline hazardous waste management standards for specific, federally designated wastes. The rule is designed to reduce the amount of hazardous waste items to landfills, to encourage recycling and proper disposal of certain common hazardous wastes, and to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses that generate these wastes.
In Alabama, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), Land Division, enforces the universal waste (UW) management regulations.
Scope
The federal regulations identify five specific categories of materials that can be managed as universal wastes: batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, lamps, and non-empty aerosol cans. The part 273 regulations define the type of materials that fall under the universal waste categories and specify in what situations that material can be considered a universal waste.
Wastes that are eligible to be handled as universal wastes in Alabama are the same as federal universal wastes.
Very small quantity generators of hazardous waste are exempt from the universal waste regulations but should check to see if there are additional state or local prohibitions on disposal.
Regulatory citation
40 CFR 273 — Standards for Universal Waste Management
Key Definitions
- Aerosol can means a non-refillable receptacle containing a gas compressed, liquefied, or dissolved under pressure, the sole purpose of which is to expel a liquid, paste, or powder and fitted with a self-closing release device allowing the contents to be ejected by the gas.
- Battery means a device consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells which is designed to receive, store, and deliver electric energy. An electrochemical cell is a system consisting of an anode, cathode, and an electrolyte, plus such connections (electrical and mechanical) as may be needed to allow the cell to deliver or receive electrical energy. The term battery also includes an intact, unbroken battery from which the electrolyte has been removed.
- Generator means any person, by site, whose act or process produces hazardous waste identified or listed in part 261 of this chapter or whose act first causes a hazardous waste to become subject to regulation.
- Lamp, also referred to as “universal waste lamp,” is defined as the bulb or tube portion of an electric lighting device. A lamp is specifically designed to produce radiant energy, most often in the ultraviolet, visible, and infra-red regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Examples of common universal waste electric lamps include, but are not limited to, fluorescent, high intensity discharge, neon, mercury vapor, high pressure sodium, and metal halide lamps.
- Large Quantity Handler of Universal Waste means a universal waste handler (as defined in this section) who accumulates 5,000 kilograms or more total of universal waste (batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, or lamps, calculated collectively) at any time. This designation as a large quantity handler of universal waste is retained through the end of the calendar year in which the 5,000-kilogram limit is met or exceeded.
- Mercury-containing equipment means a device or part of a device (including thermostats, but excluding batteries and lamps) that contains elemental mercury integral to its function.
- Pesticide means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, or intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
- Small Quantity Handler of Universal Waste means a universal waste handler (as defined in this section) who does not accumulate 5,000 kilograms or more of universal waste (batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, or lamps, calculated collectively) at any time.
- Universal Waste Transporter means a person engaged in the off-site transportation of universal waste by air, rail, highway, or water.
Summary of Requirements
- Identify waste eligible for the UW program in Alabama.
- Store UW in appropriate containers.
- Label containers with the words “Universal Waste,” and the type of universal waste (e.g., waste batteries, waste lamps, etc.).
- Ship universal wastes to another universal waste handler or a permitted receiving facility.
- Immediately contain all releases of UW and determine if the release is a hazardous waste.
- Train employees: A SQHUW must inform all employees who handle or have responsibility to managing UW. A LQHUW must ensure that all employees are thoroughly familiar with proper waste handling and emergency procedures, relative to their responsibilities during normal facility operations and emergencies.
- Ship the waste offsite within one year. Mark the container with the date accumulation began or have some other way to demonstrate when accumulation began. A handler may accumulate UW for longer than one year if such activity is solely for the purpose of accumulation of enough waste to facilitate proper recovery, treatment, or disposal. The handler bears the responsibility for proving the extra time is necessary.
- Notify the ADEM: LQHUWs must notify the ADEM and receive an EPA Identification Number before meeting or exceeding the 5,000-kilogram storage limit. No renotification is necessary if the handler already has an EPA ID Number.
- Track UW shipments: LQHUWs must keep a record of each shipment of UW received at or shipped from the facility. This may be a log, invoice, manifest, bill of lading, or other form of documentation. Records must be retained for at least three years.