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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

WASHINGTON, D.C . 20460 

FEB 1 1 2011 

OFFICE OF 

SOLID WASTE AND 

EMERGENCY RESPONSE 

The Honorable Devin Nunes 

U.S . House of Representatives 

Washington, D.C . 20515 

Dear Congressman Nunes: 

Thank you for your letter of January 4, 2011, to U.S . Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, regarding EPA's proposed rule, "Identification of NonHazardous Secondary Materials that are Solid Waste." Your constituent, Mr. John E. Zylstra, 

expresses concern that the rule may seriously impact the current used oil management system 

and could have unintended negative consequences. I appreciate your interest in these important 

issues, and want to assure you that EPA shares your interests in continuing the legitimate 

recycling of used oil . 

Used oil is one of many non-hazardous materials discussed in the proposed rule. The 

preamble to the proposed rule specifically discussed used oil that meets on-specification criteria 

under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 40 CFR Part 279 management 

standards, as well as the management standards for off-specification used oil that does not meet 

those standards. Under the proposal, on-specification used oil is considered to be a traditional 

fuel . Traditional fuels, in the proposal, are considered those fuels that have been historically 

managed as valuable fuel products rather than being managed as waste materials, and are not 

considered to be solid wastes under the proposed rule. Thus, on-specification used oil would not 

be considered a solid waste when burned as a fuel under the proposed rule and would be subject 

to the section 112 Clean Air Act (CAA) standards . 

Off-specification used oil, on the other hand, is considered a solid waste under the 

proposed rule, and combustion units burning off-specification used oil would be subject to the 

appropriate standards under section 129 of the CAA for solid waste incinerators . This proposed 

approach would provide an additional measure of control to address the higher level of 

contaminants that could be present in off-specification used oil. The proposed rule also indicated 

that off-specification used oil that is processed into on-specification used oil would not be 

considered a solid waste. The definition of processing includes the blending of off-specification 

used oil with virgin fuel products or on-specification used oil. 

RCRA and the regulations that have been promulgated in 40 CFR Part 279 ensure that 

used oil that is recycled is done so in a manner that protects human health and the environment. 

However, your constituent states in his letter that small businesses will be unwilling to incur the 

Internet Address (URL) e http ://www .epa.gov 

Recycled/Recyclable e Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled Paper 
cost of testing oil. The proposed rule does not require testing for generators of used oil, nor do 

the used oil management standards promulgated under 40 CFR Part 279 require such testing. 

Rather, generators of used oil, including those that collect used oil for do-it-yourself oil 

changers, can use other information, such as existing data or process knowledge, to determine 

whether or not the used oil they generate would be considered on-specification or offspecification. 

Nevertheless, the Agency has received a number of similar comments as it relates to offspecification used oil, and its impact on automotive maintenance facilities accepting such do-ityourself oil. Therefore, we will consider his comments, as well as the comments submitted by 

others in deciding how best to address off-specification used oil in the final rule . 

Again, thank you for your letter . If you have further questions, please contact me or have 

your staff contact Raquel Snyder, in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental 

Relations, at (202) 564-9586 . 

Sincerely, 

Mathy Stanislaus 

Assistant Administrator