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c9 e 2 'yT q~ PROStG UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

## JAN - 7 2011

OFFICE OF SOLIDWASTE AND EMERGENCYRESPONSE The Honorable Steve Cohen U .S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Cohen: Thankyou for your letter of December 7, 2010, to U .S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, regarding EPA's proposed rule, "Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials that are Solid Waste." In your letter, you express concerns regarding the proposed rule's classification of used oil as a waste and how this could affect space heaters that are currently allowed to burn used oil, provided certain conditions are met. I appreciate your interest in this important issue andwant to assure you that EPAdoes not want to reduce 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 40 CFR Part 279management standards, as well as the management standards for offspecification 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 wastewhen burned as a fuel under the proposed rule andwould be subject to the section 112 Clean AirAct (CAA) standards. Off-specification used oil 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 ofthe CAAfor solid waste incinerators. This proposed approach would provide an additional measure of control to address the higher level ofcontaminants 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. Thedefinition of processing includes the blending of off-specification used oil with virgin fuel products or on-specification used oil .

Internet Address (URL) 0 http://www .epa.gov Recycled/Recyclable * Printed with VegetableOil Based Inks on 100%Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled PaperThe Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the regulations that have

been promulgated in 40 CFRPart 279ensure that used oil that is recycled is done so in a manner that protects human health and the environment. The proposed rule does not require testing for generators of used oil, nor does the used oil management standards promulgated under 40CFR Part 279require testing. Rather, generators of used oil, including those that collect used oil for do-it-yourselfoil generators, can useother information, such as existing data or process knowledge, to determine whether or not the used oil they generate would be considered onspecification or off-specification. Again, thankyoufor your letter. We are continuing to evaluate all ofthe comments we received on the proposed rule. Ifyou have further questions, please contact me or have your staffcontact Raquel Snyder, in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, at (202) 564-9586. Sincerely, 

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# 4 ~ 0__ Mathy Stanislaus Assistant Administrator