Used oil - Pennsylvania

Scope

Under many circumstances, used oil is a hazardous waste and must be managed as such if it is to be disposed of. However, EPA’s used oil management program allows the handling of used oil under less stringent standards as long as it is managed according to the regulations and the oil is ultimately sent to a recycler, recycled, or burned for fuel.

Regulatory citations

• 25 Pa. Code Chapter 298

Key definitions

• Waste oil: One of the following:
  (i) Oil refined from crude oil or synthetically produced, used and, as a result of the use, contaminated by physical or chemical impurities.
  
  (ii) A liquid, petroleum-based or synthetic oil, refined from petroleum stocks or synthetically produced which is used in an internal combustion engine as an engine lubricant, or as a product used for lubricating motor vehicle transmissions, gears or axles which, through use, storage or handling, has become unsuitable for its original purpose due to the presence of chemical or physical impurities or loss of original properties.
• Waste oil burner: A facility where waste oil not meeting the specification requirements in 298.11 (relating to waste oil specifications) is burned for energy recovery in devices identified in 298.61(a) (relating to restrictions on burning).
• Waste oil collection center: A site or facility that is registered, licensed, permitted and accepts, aggregates and stores waste oil collected from waste oil generators regulated under Subchapter C (relating to waste oil generators) who bring waste oil to the collection center in shipments of no more than 55 gallons under 298.24 (relating to offsite shipments). Waste oil collection centers may also accept waste oil from household do-it-yourselfers.
• Waste oil fuel marketer: A person who conducts one of the following activities:
  1. Directs a shipment of off-specification waste oil from the person’s facility to a waste oil burner.
  2. First claims that waste oil that is to be burned for energy recovery meets the waste oil fuel specifications in 298.11.
• Waste oil generator: A person, by site, whose act or process produces waste oil or whose act first causes waste oil to become subject to this chapter.
• Waste oil processing: Chemical or physical operations designed to produce from waste oil, or to make waste oil more amenable for production of, fuel oils, lubricants or other waste oil-derived products. Waste oil processing includes: blending waste oil with virgin petroleum products, blending waste oils to meet the fuel specification, filtration, simple distillation, chemical or physical separation and rerefining.
• Waste oil processor/rerefiner: A facility that processes waste oil.
• Waste oil transfer facility: A transportation related facility including loading docks, parking areas, storage areas and other areas where shipments of waste oil are received or held, or both, during the normal course of transportation.
• Waste oil transporter: A person who transports waste oil and a person who collects waste oil from more than one generator and transports the collected oil. Transportation may include consolidation or aggregation of loads of waste oil on the vehicle or in transportation containers. Transporters may conduct incidental waste oil separation that occurs in the normal course of waste oil transportation—for example, settling and water separation.

Summary of requirements

Pennsylvania state requirements regarding used oil management include some regulatory information beyond the federal requirements. A summary of the additional requirements includes the following:

• Waste oil processors/rerefiners must keep a record of each waste oil shipment, following the regulations at 298.56.
• Before a burner accepts the first shipment of off-specification waste oil fuel from a generator, transporter, transfer facility or processor/rerefiner, the burner shall provide to the generator, transporter, transfer facility or processor/rerefiner a one-time written and signed notice certifying the following:
  1. The burner has notified EPA stating the location and general description of its waste oil management activities.
  2. The burner will burn the waste oil only in an industrial furnace or boiler identified in 298.61(a) (relating to restrictions on burning).
  The certification shall be maintained for three years from the date the burner last receives shipment of off-specification waste oil from that generator, transporter, transfer facility or processor/rerefiner. 
• Waste oil transporters and transfer facilities must follow the notification requirements at 298.42.
• Waste oil processors and rerefiners must follow the notification requirements at 298.51.