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.C. 20460 

## FEB 1 1 2011

OFFICE OF SOLIDWASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE The Honorable Devin Nunes U .S. Houseof Representatives Washington, D

.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Nunes: Thankyoufor your letter ofJanuary 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, andwant to assure you that EPAshares your interests in continuing the legitimate recycling of used oil . Used oil is oneof 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 CFRPart 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 solidwastes under the proposed rule. Thus, on-specification used oil would not be considered a solid wastewhen burned as a fuel under the proposed rule andwould be subject to the section 112 CleanAirAct (CAA) standards. Off-specification used oil, on the other hand, is considered a solidwaste under the proposed rule, and combustion units burning off-specification used oil would be subject to the appropriate standards under section 129ofthe CAAfor solidwaste incinerators. This proposed approach would provide an additional measure ofcontrol 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 ofoff-specification used oil with virgin fuel products or on-specification used oil . RCRAand the regulations that have been promulgated in 40CFRPart 279ensure 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 VegetableOil Based Inks on 100%Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled Papercost oftesting 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-yourselfoil changers, can useother 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, thankyou for your letter. If you have further questions, please contact me or have your staff contact Raquel Snyder, in the Office ofCongressional and Intergovernmental Relations, at (202) 564-9586. Sincerely, Mathy Stanislaus Assistant Administrator