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6560-50-P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 260, 261-267, 271 and 273 

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2015-0147; FRL-XXX-X] 

RIN 2050-AG77 

Hazardous Waste Export-Import Revisions Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

_______________________________________________________________ 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to amend existing regulations in 40 CFR Parts 260-267, 271 and 

273 regarding the export and import of hazardous wastes from and into the United States. EPA is 

proposing these changes to: (1) provide greater protection to human health and the environment 

by making existing export and import related requirements more consistent with the current 

import-export requirements for shipments between members of the Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development (OECD); (2) enable electronic submittal of all export and importrelated documents (e.g., export notices, export annual reports); and (3) enable electronic 

validation of consent in the Automated Export System (AES) for export shipments subject to 

RCRA export consent requirements prior to exit. 

DATES: Comments must be received on or before [insert date 60 days after publication in the 

Federal Register]. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, comments on the information collection 

provisions are best assured of having full effect if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
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receives a copy of your comments on or before [insert date thirty days after date of publication in 

the Federal Register]. 

 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2015-

0147, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. Comments may not be edited once submitted, and may 

publish in the docket without changes by the EPA. Do not submit electronically any information 

you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. If you need to include CBI as part of your comment, please 

visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html for instructions. Multimedia submissions 

(audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make.

For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, and general guidance 

on making effective comments, please visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html. 

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Coughlan, Materials Recovery and 

Waste Management Division, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (5304P), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: (703) 308-0005; e-mail: coughlan.laura@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information presented in this preamble is 

organized as follows: 
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I. GENERAL INFORMATION 

 A. List of acronyms used in this proposed rule 

 B. What are the statutory authorities for this proposed rule? 

 C. Does this proposed rule apply to me? 

 D. What is the purpose of this proposed rule? 

II. BACKGROUND 

A. RCRA general hazardous waste export and import requirements 

B. RCRA OECD regulations 

 B. RCRA hazardous waste export integration with ITDS 

III. SUMMARY OF THIS PROPOSED RULE 

 A. Changes to Section 260.10 

 B. Changes to Section 260.11(g)(1) 

 C. Changes to Sections 261.4(d) and 261.4(e) 

 D. Changes to Section 261.6(a) 

 E. Changes to Section 261.39(a)(5) 

 F. Changes to Section 262.10(d) 

 G. Changes to Section 262.12 

 H. Changes to Section 262.41(b) 

 I. Changes to 40 CFR part 262 subpart E 

 J. Changes to 40 CFR part 262 subpart F 

 K. Changes to 40 CFR part 262 subpart H 

 L. Changes to the Appendix to Part 262 

 M. Conforming Changes to Parts 263-267, 271, and 273 
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IV. COSTS AND BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED RULE 

 A. Introduction 

 B. Analytical Scope 

 C. Cost Impacts 

 D. Benefits 

V. STATE AUTHORIZATION 

 A. Applicability of Rules in Authorized States 

 B. Effect on State Authorization 

VI. STATUTORY AND EXECUTIVE ORDER REVIEWS 

 A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive Order 

13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review 

 B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

 C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

 D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 

 E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

 F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments 

 G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks 

and Safety Risks 

 H. Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect 

Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use 

 I. National Technology Transfer Advancement Act (NTTAA) 
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 J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations 

 K. Executive Order 13659: Streamlining the Export/Import Process for America’s 

Businesses 

VII. 2013 CEC Report on Spent Lead Acid Batteries and Related Analysis 

I. GENERAL INFORMATION 

A. List of acronyms used in this proposed rule 

Acronym Meaning 

ACE Automated Commercial Environment 

AES Automated Export System 

AOC Acknowledgment of Consent (issued by EPA) 

CBI Confidential Business Information 

CBP United States Customs and Border Protection 

CDX Central Data Exchange 

CEC Commission for Environmental Cooperation 

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

CROMERR Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation 

CRT Cathode Ray Tube 

CY Calendar Year 

EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency 

FR Federal Register 
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FTR U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Regulations 

HSWA Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments 

ICR Information Collection Request 

ITDS International Trade Data System 

ITN Internal Transaction Number (issued by AES) 

LAB Lead-Acid Battery 

NAICS North American Industrial Classification System 

NCEDE Notice and Consent Electronic Data Exchange 

NTTAA National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 

NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement 

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

OSWER Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response 

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act 

SIC Standard Industrial Classification 

SLAB Spent Lead-Acid Battery 

SBREFA Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 

TRI Toxics Release Inventory 

UMRA Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

B. What are the statutory authorities for this proposed rule? 

 The authority to propose this rule is found in sections 1002, 2002(a), 3001-3004, and 

3017 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery 
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Act (RCRA), and as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments, 42 U.S.C. 6901 

et.seq., 6912, 6921-6924, and 6938. 

C. Does this proposed rule apply to me? 

The revisions to export and import requirements in this proposed rule generally affect 

four (4) groups: (1) all persons who export or import (or arrange for the export or import) 

hazardous waste for recycling or disposal, including those hazardous wastes subject to the 

alternate management standards for (a) universal waste for recycling or disposal, (b) spent leadacid batteries (SLABs) being shipped for reclamation, (c) industrial ethyl alcohol being shipped 

for reclamation, (d) hazardous waste samples of more than 25 kilograms being shipped for waste 

characterization or treatability studies, and (e) hazardous recyclable materials being shipped for 

precious metal recovery; (2) all recycling and disposal facilities who receive imports of such 

hazardous wastes for recycling or disposal; (3) all persons who export or arrange for the export 

of conditionally excluded cathode ray tubes being shipped for recycling; and (4) all persons who 

transport any export and import shipments described above. Potentially affected entities may 

include, but are not limited to: 
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NAICS CODE NAICS DESCRIPTION 

211 Oil and Gas Extraction

212 Mining (except Oil and Gas) 

213 Support Activities for Mining 

311 Food Manufacturing 

324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing 

325 Chemical Manufacturing 

326 Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing 

327 Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing 

331 Primary Metal Manufacturing 

332 Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing 

333 Machinery Manufacturing 

334 Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing 

335 Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing 

336 Transportation Equipment Manufacturing 

339 Miscellaneous Manufacturing 

423 Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods 

424 Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods 

441 Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers 

482 Rail transportation 

483 Water transportation 

484 Truck transportation 

488 Support Activities for Transportation 

531 Real Estate 

541 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 

561 Administrative and Support Services 

562 Waste Management and Remediation Services 

721 Accommodation 

924 Administration of Environmental Quality Programs 
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The lists of potentially affected entities in the above tables may not be exhaustive. The 

Agency’s aim is to provide a guide for readers regarding those entities that potentially could be 

affected by this action. However, this action may affect other entities not listed in these tables. If 

you have questions regarding the applicability of this proposed rule to a particular entity, consult 

the person listed in the preceding section entitled FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 

CONTACT. 

D. What is the purpose of this proposed rule? 

EPA is proposing certain amendments to the current RCRA regulations governing 

imports and exports of hazardous waste and certain other materials in part 262 in order improve 

protection of public health and the environment by achieving greater consistency in both 

procedures and documentation. Specifically, the proposed revisions of the existing regulations 

will consolidate and streamline some of the requirements and enhance the documentation of the 

movement and disposition of hazardous wastes and other materials, improving the Agency’s 

ability to monitor compliance with applicable legal requirements; will enable regulated parties 

and the government to benefit from the electronic submission of data; and will consolidate the 

notification process with foreign governments for efficiency under a unified regulation, 

consistent with the requirements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development Council Decision (OECD) controlling transboundary movements of hazardous 

waste. Finally, certain other revisions to the regulations are needed in order to fulfill the direction 

set forth in Executive Order 13659 concerning the electronic management of international trade 

data by the US Government as part of the International Trade Data System (ITDS). 
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EPA’s determination that some revisions to the import/export regulations are needed is 

bolstered by the 2013 Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) report and its 

recommendations. The CEC report found that U.S. net exports of spent lead acid batteries 

(SLABs) to Mexico for recycling had increased by an estimated 449-525 percent, and that there 

were significant discrepancies between summary data on export shipments reported to the EPA 

annually and individual export shipment data collected under U.S. Census Bureau (Census) 

authority. Based on its findings, the CEC report recommended that the U.S. require the use of 

manifests for each international shipment of SLABs, require exporters to obtain a certificate of 

recovery from foreign recycling facilities, explore establishing an electronic export annual 

report, and better share import and export data between environmental and border agencies. For a 

more complete discussion of the report and EPA’s related analysis, see Section VII. 

II. BACKGROUND 

A. RCRA general hazardous waste export and import requirements 

EPA’s general hazardous waste export and import regulations were originally 

promulgated in 1986 and are currently found in 40 CFR Part 262 Subparts E and F. 40 CFR Part 

262 Subpart E established export requirements for manifested hazardous waste. These 

requirements include submitting an export notice to EPA, receiving EPA’s Acknowledgement of 

Consent (AOC) letter documenting consent by the country of import and any countries of transit, 

RCRA manifest related requirements for export shipments, submittal of export annual reports 

summarizing export shipments made in the previous calendar year, and recordkeeping. 40 CFR 

Part 262 Subpart F established manifest related requirements for hazardous waste import 

shipments. Conforming requirements related to the AOC letter and the RCRA manifest were 

added to Parts 263 (i.e., for transporters), 264 and 265 (i.e., for treatment, storage, and disposal 
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facilities). While some limited changes have been made since 1986, the requirements related to 

individual shipment tracking remain solely based on RCRA manifest requirements. 

B. RCRA OECD regulations 

1. What is the OECD? 

The OECD is an international organization established in 1960 to assist Member 

countries in achieving sustainable economic growth, employment, and an increased standard of 

living, while simultaneously ensuring the protection of human health and the environment. 

OECD Member countries are concerned with a host of international socio-economic and political 

issues, including environmental issues. To address these issues, the OECD Council may 

negotiate Council Decisions, which, except as otherwise provided, are international agreements 

that create legally-binding commitments on the United States and other OECD member countries 

under the terms Article 5 of the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 

Development (OECD Convention). A series of Council decisions, collectively referred to here as 

the “Amended 2001 OECD Decision,” addresses the transboundary movement of wastes, which 

is the subject of this proposed rule. Of the thirty-four Member countries of the OECD, all but 

Chile participate in the Amended 2001 OECD Decision. These participating Member countries 

are as follows: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, 

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, 

Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, 

Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the 

United States. The OECD country website for each Member country may be found at 

http://www.oecd.org/infobycountry/. 
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2. What OECD Decisions formed the basis for the existing regulations in 40 CFR part 262, 

subpart H? 

On March 30, 1992, the OECD Council adopted the “Decision of the Council 

C(92)39/FINAL Concerning the Control of Transfrontier Movements of Wastes Destined for 

Recovery” (hereinafter referred to as the 1992 Decision), which applied to the transboundary 

movements of wastes destined for recovery operations between OECD Member countries. The 

1992 Decision provided a framework for OECD Member countries to control the transboundary 

movement of recoverable wastes in an environmentally sound and economically efficient 

manner. These revisions were implemented within RCRA in the April 12, 1996 direct final rule 

(61 FR 16290) that established 40 CFR part 262 subpart H (hereinafter referred to as OECD 

regulations or Subpart H regulations), and added a section to 40 CFR Part 262 Subpart E to detail 

when exporters and importers needed to comply with 40 CFR Part 262 Subpart H in lieu of 

complying with 40 CFR Part 262 Subpart E or F. As with the general RCRA export and import 

requirements, conforming requirements for exports and imports required to comply with 40 CFR 

Part 262 Subpart H were added to 40 CFR Parts 263-265. 

On June 14, 2001, the OECD Council amended the 1992 Decision by adopting “Revision 

of Decision C(92)30/FINAL on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Wastes Destined for 

Recovery Operations”(hereafter referred to as the 2001 OECD Decision). The goal of the 2001 

OECD Decision was to harmonize the procedures and requirements of the OECD with those of 

the Basel Convention1 and to eliminate duplicative activities between the two international 

 

1

 The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is a 

comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes. The Convention has 181 Member 

countries, also known as Parties, and aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects 

that may result from the generation, management, transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other 

wastes. The United States is a signatory, but has not yet ratified the Convention. More information on the Basel 

Convention may be found at www.basel.int. 
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organizations as much as practical. These changes included significant revisions to the original 

established framework (such as reducing the levels of control from a three-tiered system to a 

two-tiered system), while also adding entirely new provisions (for example, the new 

confirmation of recovery requirement). Subsequent to the 2001 OECD Decision, an addendum, 

C(2001)107/ADD1 (hereafter referred to as the 2001 OECD Addendum), which consists of 

revised versions of the notification and movement documents and the instructions to complete 

them, was adopted by the OECD Council on February 28, 2002. The addendum was 

incorporated into the 2001 OECD Decision as section C of Appendix 8, and the combined 

version was issued in May 2002 as C(2001)107/FINAL. On March 30, 2004, the OECD Council 

adopted C(2004)20 (hereafter referred to as the 2004 OECD Amendment), which updated the 

OECD waste lists, entitled “Appendix 3: List of Wastes Subject to the Green Control Procedure” 

(hereafter referred to as the Green list) and “Appendix 4: List of Wastes Subject to the Amber 

Control Procedure” (hereafter referred to as the Amber List). To the extent possible, the Green 

and Amber Lists were revised based on the amendments made to Annexes II, VIII, and IX of the 

Basel Convention in November 2003. The 2001 OECD Decision was further amended in 

November 2005 and November 2008. The OECD Council decisions are collectively referred to 

as the Amended 2001 OECD Decision, and the consolidated text is in the guidance manual for 

the Amended 2001 OECD Decision, available online at 

http://www.oecd.org/environment/waste/42262259.pdf. 

EPA published a final rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER entitled, “Revisions to the 

Requirements for: Transboundary Shipments of Hazardous Wastes Between OECD Member 

Countries, Export Shipments of Spent Lead-Acid Batteries, Submitting Exception Reports for 

Export Shipments of Hazardous Wastes, and Imports of Hazardous Wastes” (75 FR 1236, 
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January 8, 2010) amending 40 CFR Part 262 Subpart H and making conforming requirements in 

40 CFR Parts 263-266 and 271 to implement the specific provisions of the Amended 2001 

OECD Decision. Under the OECD regulations, all export and import shipments for recycling of 

RCRA hazardous waste between the U.S. and an OECD member country other than Canada or 

Mexico are required to be shipped using notice and consent procedures, covered by contracts or 

equivalent arrangements that require the parties (e.g., exporter, destination facility) to comply 

with all the applicable requirements in the OECD regulations, accompanied by an international 

tracking document or movement document from the shipment’s starting point in the country of 

export to the destination facility in the country of import, and recycled within one year of 

shipment delivery. For example, the contract with the foreign destination facility must specify 

that it sends copies of the signed movement document back to the exporter and to the competent 

authorities of the countries of export, import and transit to confirm receipt of the waste shipment. 

Further, the contract must specify that the foreign destination facility will subsequently send 

confirmation back to the exporter and to the competent authorities of the countries of export, 

import and transit that it has completed recycling the shipment. 

3. Why did EPA retain the general RCRA export and import requirements along with the OECD 

regulations? 

 The OECD regulations apply to shipments of RCRA hazardous waste2 sent for recovery 

between the United States and OECD member countries other than Canada and Mexico. 

Although Canada and Mexico are both OECD member countries, the U.S. has separate bilateral 

agreements with these countries that cover shipments for disposal in the U.S. and Canada, in 

 

2

 This includes import and export shipments of hazardous waste subject to the alternate management standards for 

universal waste, SLABs being shipped for reclamation, hazardous recyclable materials being shipped for precious 

metal recovery, industrial ethyl alcohol being shipped for reclamation, and hazardous waste samples of more than 25 

kg being shipped for characterization or treatability studies. 
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addition to shipments for recycling in the U.S., Canada or Mexico. Because the bilateral 

agreements covered shipments for disposal and some import and export shipments occurred with 

non-OECD countries, EPA kept hazardous waste shipments with those countries subject to the 

general RCRA export and import requirements in 40 CFR Part 262 Subparts E and F. 

In its comments on the proposed revisions to the OECD regulations in 2008, the Basel 

Action Network (BAN) commented that the U.S. had not yet implemented the 1986 OECD 

Decision-Recommendation,3

 and should do so immediately. The 1986 OECD DecisionRecommendation stated that OECD member countries should regulate hazardous waste 

movements with non-OECD countries no differently from movements with OECD member 

countries. BAN’s comment was outside of the scope of the proposed rulemaking, and was noted 

as such by EPA in the January 8, 2010, final rule and the related response to comments 

document. EPA, at that time, considered the regulatory requirements in 40 CFR Part 262, subpart 

E to be sufficiently similar to those in 40 CFR Part 262, subpart H to comply with the legally 

binding elements of the 1986 OECD Decision-Recommendation. EPA concluded that this 

approach was reasonable as EPA had no data indicating that there were significant exports of 

RCRA hazardous waste that proceeded without consent of any kind. 

4. Why is EPA proposing to require that all exports and imports of hazardous waste comply with 

OECD-based requirements? 

While EPA has updated the RCRA OECD regulations and some limited changes have 

been made to the general RCRA export and import regulations since 1996, EPA has determined 

that a more complete revision is needed at this time for a number of reasons. 

 

3

 “Decision-Recommendation of the Council on Exports of Hazardous Wastes from the OECD area”, C(86)64/ 

FINAL, issued June 5, 1986. 
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First, the regulations are quite complex. Different procedures apply depending on 

whether the shipment is destined for recycling or disposal, whether the other country is a 

member of the OECD, and if so, whether the U.S. has a separate bilateral agreement with the 

OECD member country. In addition, the applicability of conforming requirements in 40 CFR 

Parts 263-266 and 273 related to the general RCRA export and import regulations and the OECD 

regulations are sometimes unclear. The complexity of having two sets of export and import 

requirements creates confusion for the regulated community and leads to decreased compliance 

with RCRA requirements. In general, over ninety percent of the quantity of hazardous waste that 

is shipped between the United States and other countries occurs between the U.S., Canada and 

Mexico. Canada and Mexico are both OECD countries and under the same obligation to 

implement the Amended 2001 OECD Decision. Additionally, hazardous waste shipments 

between the United States and OECD countries other than Canada and Mexico already follow 

the Amended 2001 OECD Decision. Only 137 of the 54,152 hazardous waste import and export 

shipments in 2011 were between the United States and non-OECD countries. 

Second, the general RCRA regulations in 40 CFR Part 262 Subparts E and F do not 

provide for complete tracking of individual shipment transport and management. As stated 

previously, under the OECD regulations an international movement document must accompany 

the shipment from the starting site in the country of export to the destination site in the country 

of import, and copies of the signed movement document must be sent by the foreign destination 

facility to the exporter and to the countries of export, import, and transit to confirm receipt of the 

shipment. Such confirmation reduces the risk of shipments being misdirected to countries or 

facilities not approved to receive the shipments for disposal or recovery. It also highlights any 

incidents where the shipments are interrupted or misdirected, as the exporter and competent 
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authorities will not receive the confirmation from the approved destination facility within 

expected timeframes. 

While shipments of RCRA hazardous waste are already required to be accompanied by a 

RCRA hazardous waste manifest under the general RCRA export and import regulations, the 

focus of the RCRA manifest is domestic cradle-to-grave tracking. As a result, while it requires 

listing the foreign generator and U.S. port of entry for imports, and the foreign destination 

facility and U.S. port of exit for exports, it does not capture all of the information needed to track 

international shipments moving across two or more countries. For example, the RCRA manifest 

does not have the capability to capture customs processing in the countries of export, transit and 

import, and the RCRA manifest requires solely listing RCRA hazardous waste codes and U.S. 

biennial report management codes rather than requiring listing the applicable domestic and 

internationally accepted OECD/Basel Convention waste codes and the internationally accepted 

OECD/Basel Convention disposal/recycling operation codes. Moreover, the RCRA manifest is 

only required to be initiated for import shipments upon the first act of transportation within the 

United States or its territories. 

Rather than try to further modify the RCRA manifest to capture all the required 

international items in addition to all the domestic items it already tracks (especially while EPA is 

in the midst of developing the e-manifest system) EPA is proposing to require the use of an 

international movement document for all export and import shipments of hazardous waste. This 

would include universal waste, SLABs being shipped for reclamation, hazardous recyclable 

materials being shipped for precious metal recovery, industrial ethyl alcohol being shipped for 

reclamation, and hazardous waste samples of more than 25 kg being shipped for characterization 

or treatability studies. 
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Allowing the use of any international movement document, including but not limited to 

the widely accepted OECD/Basel Convention movement document or the Canadian movement 

document, will reduce the incremental burden of this requirement and prevent duplicative 

international tracking requirements. As when using the RCRA manifest, the movement 

document must list the name, address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail of the location from 

which the export shipment initiates if it is different from that of the exporter. This is currently 

required in 40 CFR 262.84(b)(2). 

As listed above, management (i.e., treatment and disposal, recovery) of each shipment 

will be required to be completed within one year of shipment delivery, and the destination 

facility will be required to send confirmation of completing such management back to the 

exporter and to the competent authorities of the countries of export and import. This requirement 

should minimize speculative accumulation or abandonment of the waste shipments, and decrease 

the potential for associated damage to human health and the environment. Destination facilities 

can easily confirm completing management by signing and dating Block 19 of the OECD/Basel 

movement document, but may also use another document for this purpose, including but not 

limited to the Canadian “Confirmation of Disposal or Recycling” form.4

Taking these factors into consideration along with all the others discussed previously 

leads EPA to conclude that consolidating the RCRA import-export requirements under a unified 

regulation wholly consistent with the Amended 2001 OECD Decision is the best approach in this 

proposed rule. EPA is therefore proposing to make all imports and exports of hazardous waste, 

whether subject to manifest requirements or not (e.g., universal waste, SLABs being shipped for 

reclamation, hazardous recyclable materials being shipped for precious metal recovery, industrial 

 

4

 Available for free download at http://www.ec.gc.ca/gdd-mw/8BBB8B31-BFDD-49AA-872D1C1E8C46CB15/Certificate%20of%20disposal-Recycling-July%202010.pdf. 
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ethyl alcohol being shipped for reclamation, and hazardous waste samples of more than 25 kg 

being shipped for characterization or treatability studies) subject to the RCRA OECD regulations 

implementing the Amended 2001 OECD Decision. This will ensure that all RCRA hazardous 

wastes that were previously subject to different export and import requirements will now be 

subject to more uniform procedures consistent with the 1986 OECD Decision-Recommendation, 

the Amended 2001 OECD Decision, and the Basel Convention. 

Under the proposed revisions, all export and import shipments of RCRA hazardous waste 

will be required to be shipped using notice and consent procedures, covered by contracts or 

equivalent arrangements that require the parties (e.g., exporter, destination facility) to comply 

with all the applicable requirements implementing the OECD procedures, accompanied by an 

international tracking document or movement document from the shipment’s starting point in the 

country of export to the destination facility in the country of import, and recycled or disposed of 

within one year of shipment delivery. 

5. Why is EPA proposing to change the text of the OECD regulations rather than propose to 

expand the applicability of the OECD regulations? 

EPA is proposing to reorganize the OECD regulations and clarify certain portions of the 

OECD regulations, such as the contract requirements, to articulate more explicitly EPA’s 

original intent in those regulations and to eliminate any confusion on the part of the regulated 

community. We are also deleting older import and export requirements that are duplicative of or 

inconsistent with the OECD procedures (in the cases of exports to non-OECD countries), and 

clarifying certain definitions or requirements that are still needed. 

An example of a duplicative regulation is 40 CFR 264.12(a)(1) in which a U.S. treatment, 

storage and disposal facility must submit the one-time notice to the Regional Administrator four 
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Page 20 of 141 

weeks before the anticipated delivery of the first shipment of a hazardous waste from a foreign 

source. This regulation will be deleted, as it is duplicative with the notice and consent 

requirements that will now be required. More fundamentally, under the OECD procedures 

currently in subpart H of part 262, notice and consent is always required, so EPA receives notice 

of the U.S. facility’s intent to receive the hazardous waste import even in cases where the 

country of export does not control the proposed shipments as hazardous waste exports under 40 

CFR 262.82(a)(2)(ii)(B). Under the proposed rule, U.S. importers will be required to submit an 

export notice directly to EPA, requesting consent to the proposed shipments in place of the 

foreign exporter, in those instances when a country of export does not control the proposed 

shipments as hazardous waste exports subject to notice and consent requirements. Maquiladora5

shipments of hazardous waste from Mexico are a good example of shipments that will be 

affected by this provision. Mexico considers them to be return shipments to the United States 

(and thus, not subject to any notice and consent requirements) while the U.S. regulates them as 

import shipments (and thus subject to notice and consent requirements). As with export notices, 

these import notices will be able to cover multiple shipments over a 12-month period. 

Because under this proposed rule EPA will get notices for all import and export 

shipments subject to the OECD regulations in Subpart H, the 264.12(a)(1) notice is no longer 

necessary. The requirement for the U.S. importer/receiving country to submit a notice to EPA 

should only impact proposed import shipments from Mexico and non-OECD countries that the 

 

5

 In general, a maquiladora is a Mexican assembly or manufacturing operation that can be partly or wholly foreignowned. Maquiladora facilities typically import raw materials and equipment under reduced or zero Mexican duties 

so long as the facilities comply with special requirements under Mexican law. One such requirement is that 

hazardous wastes generated during the production process must be returned to the country of origin. U.S.-owned 

maquiladoras must therefore ship hazardous wastes back to the United States for treatment and disposal or recycling. 

More information is available at http://www.bordercenter.org/mexico/mexgenreturn.htm and 

http://www.borderplexalliance.org/regional-data/ciudad-juarez/twin-plant/maquiladora-faq. 
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country of export does not control as hazardous waste exports. Canadian regulations6 currently 

require submittal of export notices (including the intended U.S. destination facility) for all 

proposed exports even in cases when only the country of import regulates the waste as 

hazardous. Similarly, proposed import shipments from OECD countries other than Canada and 

Mexico are already subject to 40 CFR 262.82(a)(2)(ii)(B). Based on the RCRA manifests for 

import shipments from Mexico and non-OECD countries that could not be matched to an EPA 

consent to a foreign notice, we estimate that importers/receiving facilities will need to submit 

roughly 28 notices per year due to this change. We ask for comment on the accuracy of this 

estimate. 

Another proposed change is to delete the requirement for an exporter providing a copy of 

EPA’s Acknowledgment of Consent (AOC) letter for the transporter to carry with each shipment 

in 40 CFR 262.52(c). Instead, under this proposed rule the movement document will list the 

notification/consent number under which the shipment is covered and include a signed 

certification statement that all contracts are in place and all necessary consents have been 

obtained. The information in the movement document will therefore include all the necessary 

information for the countries of export, transit and import to match the movement documents for 

the individual shipments with the relevant notification and consent documents. Because RCRA 

manifests track certain domestic items (e.g., biennial reporting management codes) that are not 

captured by the OECD movement document, we are not proposing to delete the RCRA manifest 

requirements for import and export shipments. However, we are proposing to replace the 

requirement to attach copies of the relevant EPA import consent documentation to RCRA 

 

6

 See item (1)(g) in the Canadian definition of hazardous waste and item 2(g) in the Canadian definition of 

hazardous recyclable material, “Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material 

Regulations,” Canada Gazette Part II, Vol. 139, No. 11, June 1, 2005. More information on the Canadian regulations 

are available at http://ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/eng/regulations/detailReg.cfm?intReg=84. 
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manifests for import shipments in 40 CFR 264/265.71(a)(3), with a requirement that the U.S. 

importer list the relevant consent number for each waste stream in the RCRA manifest section 

titled “Special Handling Instructions and Additional Information”. EPA should have consented 

in all cases, either to a notice forwarded by the country of export or a notice submitted by the 

U.S. importer/receiving facility; therefore, requiring the receiving facility to list the consent 

numbers will provide the needed information to enable EPA to match the RCRA manifest for the 

import shipment with the relevant consent information. While EPA will continue to send copies 

of its consent to the listed U.S. destination facility for imports, these facilities will no longer be 

required to make copies of the documentation and attach a copy to the RCRA manifest for each 

import shipment. 

EPA considered proposing to limit the number of RCRA waste codes that can be listed in 

an export or import notice or an export annual report for a specific hazardous waste. Currently, 

the regulations do not limit the number of RCRA hazardous waste codes that can be submitted 

on a notice of intent to export or import or on an export annual report, which means an exporter 

can submit an export or import notice or an export annual report listing every RCRA hazardous 

waste code for each specific hazardous waste. Of the 1,684 export notices received by EPA in 

calendar year 2013, at least 200 notices were submitted with hundreds of RCRA hazardous waste 

codes listed for each of the hazardous wastes in the notice. EPA does not believe that all (or 

close to all) of the RCRA hazardous waste codes could actually apply to a single waste stream. 

Listing more (or all) hazardous waste codes for a waste stream does not appreciably increase the 

quality of the waste stream data or prevent the destination facility from rejecting a poorly 

characterized hazardous waste. This practice does impair EPA’s oversight and tracking accuracy 

of exported hazardous wastes. 
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However, the export notices and export annual reports that list all (or close to all) the 

RCRA waste codes for each waste stream are describing proposed or actual hazardous waste 

export shipments to Canada. Canadian import and export regulations require Canadian importers 

and exporters to list the applicable RCRA hazardous waste codes7

, and do not limit the number 

of waste codes to list per waste stream. EPA is concerned that limiting the waste codes per waste 

stream could inadvertently omit information for some waste streams that Canada would expect to 

see on U.S. export notices and would need to fully evaluate the notice of proposed shipment(s) to 

the intended receiving facility. As a result, EPA is not proposing to limit the number of RCRA 

hazardous waste codes listed for a waste stream on export notices, import notices and export 

annual reports. However, EPA asks for feedback from exporters on what waste streams would 

actually require listing all (or close to all) RCRA hazardous waste codes and why. EPA also 

seeks to learn what steps those exporters are taking to review their practices in this regard in 

order to produce a more limited and accurate listing of the RCRA hazardous waste codes that 

actually pertain to the shipments they propose to make, for the purposes of reducing the burden 

on their own operations as well as on the operations of the governments involved in the 

transboundary control process in order for the process to operate more efficiently. Based on the 

feedback received, EPA may consider finalizing a limit on the number of RCRA hazardous 

waste codes listed for a specific hazardous waste, or finalizing the conditional submittal of 

information justifying the listing of all (or close to all) RCRA hazardous waste codes for a waste 

stream at the time the export notice, import notice, or export annual report is submitted. 

 

7

 See item 8(j)(v) under Part 1 of the Canadian regulations, “Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous 

Recyclable Material Regulations,” Canada Gazette Part II, Vol. 139, No. 11, June 1, 2005. More information on the 

Canadian regulations are available at http://ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/eng/regulations/detailReg.cfm?intReg=84. 
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EPA also considered proposing to limit the number of notice amendments that an 

exporter could submit within the one-year period of consent established by EPA’s AOC letter. 

Under the existing notice requirements in 40 CFR 262.53, exporters are required to submit a 

notice amendment and obtain an amended consent concerning any changes to information listed 

in the notice other than changes to the exporter’s contact phone number, changes to the means of 

transportation, or decreases to the planned export quantity. Under existing notice requirements in 

40 CFR Part 262 Subpart H and the proposed revisions, the ports of exit and transporter 

companies the exporter plans to use during the consent period are required to be listed in the 

export notice, and exporters will have to submit a notice amendment requesting consent before 

using any additional ports or transporters not listed in the original notice and EPA AOC letter. 

Because amendments may be necessary, and even multiple amendments may be unavoidable, 

EPA decided not to propose limiting the number of amendments that an exporter can submit to 

request changes to the terms of an issued AOC letter during the one-year consent period. 

However, it is important to note that EPA must prioritize export documents it receives to help 

ensure that the system continues to operate efficiently and avoid delays in shipments. Because 

having consent to ship is most critical, processing by EPA of initial export notices to obtain 

consent to ship is the highest priority, and processing amendments to add ports or transporters to 

an issued AOC is a much lower priority. EPA therefore encourages exporters to submit notices 

that contain all potential ports and transporters reasonably expected to be used, to avoid the need 

to request amendments to add ports or transporters, particularly because there is no limit to the 

number of transporters or ports that can be listed in the export notice. 

EPA is not proposing to expand the applicability of the revised Subpart H regulations 

beyond those RCRA hazardous wastes already subject to the current export requirements in 40 
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CFR Part 262. Under RCRA Section 3017, EPA’s authority to prohibit exports and establish 

regulatory requirements to implement international waste agreements is limited to waste 

regulated as hazardous under RCRA. This proposed rule does not affect wastes that are not 

regulated as RCRA hazardous waste (i.e., not subject to Part 262), but that may still be 

considered amber wastes (i.e., internationally hazardous) under the Amended 2001 OECD 

Decision, such as municipal solid waste or medical waste. The 1992 OECD Decision and the 

Amended 2001 OECD Decision both include provisions that make allowances for individual 

member countries controlling various OECD amber wastes as green (i.e., internationally nonhazardous) wastes. This was discussed in more detail in the April 12, 1996, preamble to the 

original OECD rule (61 FR 16290– 16316). 

EPA is also not proposing to address transit shipment requirements beyond what is 

currently required for return of shipments transiting the United States in subpart H. The OECD 

Decision (see Chapter II, Section (D)(2)(Case 1)(j)) and the Basel Convention (see Article 4, 

Section (7)(c)) both require movement documents from the starting point in the country of export 

to the recycling or disposal facility in the country of import. Shipments that transit the United 

States should therefore be accompanied by an international movement document while in transit 

in the United States under requirements established by the country of export and/or the country 

of import. 

Lastly, EPA would like to note that the existing U.S.-Canada bilateral agreement, the 

U.S.-Mexico bilateral agreement, and the three import-only bilateral agreements between the 

United States and Malaysia, Costa Rica, and the Philippines remain in place and are not affected 

by these proposed revisions. While the proposed revisions, if finalized, would change the 
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applicable requirements for hazardous waste shipments with these countries, the additional 

requirements being proposed are fully consistent with the bilateral agreements. 

6. Why is EPA proposing to require electronic submittal of nine major export and import 

documents? 

Currently all import and export submittals to EPA are paper-based. As part of EPA’s 

Next Generation Compliance initiative and electronic reporting policy,8 EPA is working to 

convert paper submittals to EPA with electronic submittals that comply with the applicable 

requirements in EPA’s Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation (CROMERR).9 Under 40 

CFR Parts 261-262, 264-266, and 273, the following paper documents are required to be 

submitted to EPA related to imports and exports: 

(a) Export notices for hazardous waste (40 CFR 262.53 and 262.83) or CRTs being 

shipped for recycling (40 CFR 261.39(a)(5)); 

(b) Import notices for cases where country of export does not control as hazardous 

waste export and EPA has not received notice from country of export (40 CFR 

262.82(a)(2)(ii)(B)); 

(c) Export annual reports for hazardous waste (40 CFR 262.56 and 262.87(a)) or 

CRTs being shipped for recycling (40 CFR 261.39(a)(5)(x)); 

(d) Export exception reports (40 CFR 262.55 and 262.87(b), in lieu of exception 

reporting required under 40 CFR 262.42); 

(e) Export confirmations of receipt (submittal by foreign recycling facility required in 

40 CFR 262.54(f), 262. 84(e), and required implicitly by 40 CFR 262.85); 

 

8 http://www2.epa.gov/compliance/next-generation-compliance-delivering-benefits-environmental-laws 9 http://www.epa.gov/cromerr/epa.html 
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(f) Export confirmations of completing recovery (submittal by foreign recycling 

facility required implicitly by 40 CFR 262.85); 

(g) Import confirmations of receipt (40 CFR 262.60(e), 262.84(e), 264.12(a)(2), 

265.12(a)(2), 264.71(a)(3), 265.71(a)(3), 264.71(d), 265.71(d)); 

(h) Import confirmations of completing recovery (40 CFR 262.83, 264.12(a)(2), 

265.12(a)(2)); 

(i) Import notifications regarding need to make alternate arrangements or need to 

return waste shipment (40 CFR 262.82(d)(1), 262.85(c)(1)); 

(j) Import notifications of expected initial import shipment of a specific hazardous 

waste from a specific foreign source (40 CFR 264.12(a)(1)); and 

(k) Transporter notifications regarding need to return shipment transiting US to 

country of export (40 CFR 262.83(e)(1)). 

Not all of the items listed above occur in sufficient numbers to justify converting to 

electronic submittal. For example, EPA has never received a transporter notification listed in 

item (k) regarding the need to return a shipment transiting the United States to the country of 

export, likely because there are so few transboundary shipments that solely transit the United 

States. Additionally, EPA is proposing to delete the one-time import notification requirement 

listed in item (j). We are therefore not proposing to require electronic submittal of items (j) and 

(k). But the remaining nine submittals do occur regularly, and for these nine existing submittals 

EPA is proposing a mandatory requirement that submittal be made electronically on or after the 

effective date of the final rule. As part of this proposal, EPA will consider exemptions to this 

requirement if most regulated entities impacted by this rule are expected to be located in areas 
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with limited broadband access as defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or 

there are unique circumstances that make paper submittals more efficient. 

EPA’s waste import/export database is currently used to process and track all import 

notices annually transmitted to EPA by foreign governments or U.S. importers (when the country 

of export does not regulate as hazardous waste export subject to notice and consent 

requirements), and all export notices submitted annually to EPA by U.S. exporters. EPA received 

769 import notices and 1,684 export notices in Calendar Year (CY) 2013. When EPA receives a 

paper export or import notice, an EPA notice officer must first review it for completeness, and 

then once it is deemed complete, manually enter the data from the notice into the tracking 

system. The 718 import notices transmitted by Canada and Mexico in CY2013 were received 

electronically through the Notice and Consent Electronic Data Exchange (NCEDE) using EPA’s 

Central Data Exchange (CDX),10 but all other import notices and all export notices must be 

manually entered by an EPA notice officer. Export notices often are missing required 

information, and require lengthy communications with the exporter via phone, email or fax to 

correct missing or invalid entries. Converting to an electronic web-based notice entry will enable 

automating checks for all required information and the use of drop down lists (i.e., a list of valid 

entries from which the submitter will be able to choose one or more entries) to reduce invalid 

entries. Assuming a web-based notice entry process, EPA estimates that the submitter will need 

to enter the following: 

(a) Three initial fields for receiving country, disposal or recovery, and general waste 

material type, using radio buttons and drop down lists, to determine the required fields for the 

notice; 

 

10 http://www.epa.gov/cdx/about/index.htm 
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(b) Eight required fields on the notice page: first departure date (calendar); last 

departure date (calendar); technology employed (open text); name of notice signer (open text); 

signature date (calendar); import, exporter, and receiving facility (drop down list from type 

ahead feature or open text for facilities not already in the system – open text has roughly nine 

required fields for each: company name, address, EPA ID number, zip code, country, city, 

phone, fax, email); 

(c) Six required fields on the transportation page: mode of transport (drop down list); 

packaging type (drop down list), shipment frequency (number field); ports of entry (drop down 

list), ports of exit (drop down list); transporter (drop down list – but allows for manual entry of 

the nine required fields for transporters not already in the system); 

(d) Nine fields (eight required) for each waste stream: Waste material type (drop 

down list); management method code (drop down list); DOT/UN ID, shipping name, and hazard 

class (drop down list – one entry selected populates all three); EPA waste codes (drop down list); 

Basel Convention codes (optional entry, uses drop down list); OECD codes (drop down list); 

waste description (open text); waste quantity (number); unit of measure for waste quantity (drop 

down list); and 

(e) three required fields on the transit country page: transit country (drop down list); 

port of entry (drop down list); and port of exit (drop down list). 

Reduced errors and electronic submittal of notice data will substantially decrease the time 

needed for EPA to review and process the notices, and the time needed for the U.S. submitter to 

correct the notice deficiencies, which will make the notice process more efficient for the U.S. 

exporter and U.S. importer submitting notices to EPA. Additionally, U.S. exporters and 

importers submitting notices electronically will be able to duplicate previous notices when 
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Page 30 of 141 

seeking to renew consent to export with a minimum of changes, and then simply edit the fields 

which would change. EPA estimates that as many as 60 percent of submitted export notices 

would benefit from the duplication feature, which would reduce the required data entry down to 

editing roughly 2-14 fields. Additional benefits to the U.S. submitter will be the elimination of 

mailing or courier fees needed to submit the notices, the elimination of the risk of losing the 

submittal in the mail, and the ability for the U.S. submitter to log in and obtain information on 

the status of all submitted notices without needing to request the information from EPA via 

phone or email. Lastly, electronic export notices will enable the transmittal of all EPA reference 

data needed to validate consent for each shipment under ITDS (see Section II.C. for more 

information on ITDS). EPA requests comment on this potential notice entry process, and further 

requests comment on how many exporters currently use an automated system to generate notices 

and the estimated burden reduction if EPA developed an option to submit notices electronically 

using a system-to-system based approach using XML through EPA’s CDX. 

Export annual reports must be submitted to EPA by March 1 of each year and detail all 

export shipments made under consent during the previous calendar year. Currently, exporters 

must generate these reports and submit them in paper form. In order to conduct any meaningful 

analysis of the quantity and types of waste exported, EPA must review the export annual reports 

submitted each year for completeness and manually enter the data from the export annual 

reports. EPA received 378 export annual reports concerning shipments made in CY2011. 

Converting to electronic submittal of the data will again reduce EPA’s review time and manual 

entry time, and will reduce the time needed for U.S. exporters to correct any export annual report 

deficiencies. An additional benefit to converting to electronic submittal of the export annual 

report would be that the tracking system could build a draft report listing the required 
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information regarding all wastes under consent that were approved to ship during the previous 

calendar year. The exporter could then simply enter the total quantities for each waste using the 

same reporting units of measurement listed in the notice. The tracking system could potentially 

also build a draft report listing the total quantities exported for each waste based on the data EPA 

will receive from the AES on successfully validated export shipments that were cleared for 

departure during the previous calendar year. The exporter would still need to review the draft 

report, and either edit it to reflect any returns or corrections needed, or electronically confirm 

that the generated draft report was accurate and complete. Either approach would also require the 

exporter to enter a description of the efforts undertaken during the year to reduce the volume and 

toxicity of the waste generated in an open text field, and a description of the changes in volume 

and toxicity of the waste actually achieved during the year (in comparison to previous years to 

the extent such information is available for years prior to 1984) in an open text field, consistent 

with the biennial reporting requirements in 40 CFR 262.41(a)(6)-(7) and required for export 

annual reports in 40 CFR 262.56(a)(5) and 262.87(a)(5). The electronic process should save the 

exporter considerable time by creating the draft report for the exporter, and should additionally 

eliminate the cost of sending the report via U.S. mail or courier service and the risk of losing the 

report in the mail. With respect to EPA, electronic reporting will reduce the time currently 

needed to review and manually enter the export annual report data. EPA asks for feedback from 

exporters on the hours and costs they currently incur to prepare paper export annual reports. 

Export exception reports occur less frequently, but the roughly 20 reports submitted to 

EPA each year must still be matched to the relevant consent and filed by EPA. Converting this 

submittal to electronic assuming a web-based entry would require entry of the following data 

fields: (i) manifest tracking number, (ii) EPA consent number, (iii) check box for one of the three 
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exception report types (see 40 CFR 262.87(b)(1)-(3)), and (iv) an open text field for the exporter 

to describe the situation. Electronic submittal should save EPA the time needed to match the 

exception report to the relevant consent and file the paper report, and for the exporter would 

again save at a minimum the costs of mailing the exception report to EPA, and eliminate the risk 

of losing the exception report in the mail. EPA asks for comment on the accuracy of the 

estimated number of exception reports submitted annually, and the expected benefits. 

Under the Amended 2001 OECD Decision and the current contract provisions of subpart 

H in 40 CFR 262.85, the exporter is required to have contract terms with all other parties 

involved in the transaction to ensure that the OECD procedures are carried out. With respect to 

export shipments, the contract should therefore require the foreign facility to submit copies of 

export confirmations of receipt and confirmations of completing recycling to EPA and the U.S. 

exporter. The foreign facility is supposed to submit the confirmation of receipt within three days 

of shipment delivery, and submit the confirmation of completing recycling as soon as possible, 

but no later than thirty (30) days after the completion of recovery and no later than one (1) 

calendar year following shipment delivery. Based on export annual reports on 2011 export 

shipments, 2,466 export shipments were subject to part 262 subpart H requirements, and 48,752 

export shipments were subject to part 262 subpart E requirements. Under this proposal, EPA 

expects to receive one confirmation of receipt and one confirmation of completing disposal or 

recycling for each of the 48,752 shipments that would now be subject to the OECD regulations. 

Converting submittals to electronic, and assuming a web-based approach, foreign facilities 

would simply enter the EPA consent number and then upload a PDF copy of the confirmation of 

receipt or confirmation of completing recycling/disposal. Given that the likelihood that the 

facility would wish to submit multiple confirmations at a single time, the planned design would 
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include the option to upload multiple confirmations of receipt and multiple confirmations of 

completing recycling/disposal in one action. Benefits to electronic submittal for EPA would be 

the reduced time needed to match incoming paper confirmations with the relevant consents and 

file the paper documents. Benefits to the foreign facility would be more timely submittals to 

EPA, elimination of the costs for mailing the confirmations to EPA, and elimination of the risk 

of losing the exception report in the international mail. Importantly, exporters would be able to 

view all submitted confirmations submitted under their consents, improving their oversight of the 

foreign facility’s compliance with the terms of the contract or equivalent arrangements. EPA 

asks for comment on the planned approach and expected benefits, and on foreign facilities 

submitting these confirmations system-to-system using XML through EPA’s CDX. 

U.S. importers/recycling facilities are similarly required to submit confirmations of 

receipt and completing recycling to EPA under the current OECD regulations. Based on the 

RCRA manifests submitted to EPA for import shipments received in CY2011, 62 import 

shipments were subject to part 262 subpart H requirements, and 2,872 import shipments were 

subject to part 262 subpart F requirements. Under this proposal, U.S. importers/receiving 

facilities for all hazardous waste import shipments would become subject to these requirements, 

resulting in the submittal of confirmations of receipt and completing recycling or disposal for an 

additional 2,872 shipments. Converting these submittals to electronic would use the same data 

entry-upload approach as for the export confirmations. Expected benefits to EPA of electronic 

submittal would be the reduced time needed to match the incoming paper confirmations with the 

relevant consent and file the documents. Expected benefits to the importer/receiving facility 

would be more timely submittals to EPA, elimination of the costs for mailing the confirmations 

to EPA via U.S. mail or courier service, and elimination of the risk of losing the exception report 
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in the mail. EPA asks for comment on the accuracy of the estimated increase in confirmations, 

the expected benefits, and the possibility of the facilities submitting these confirmations systemto-system using XML through EPA’s CDX. 

U.S. importers/recycling facilities are required under current Subpart H regulations to 

notify EPA in writing of the need to make alternate arrangements to manage a given shipment of 

waste or to return the shipment to the country of export when it cannot be managed per the terms 

of the notice and consent. Based on the three notifications submitted to EPA between 2011-2013 

concerning the need to make alternate arrangements for a shipment, and the lack of such 

notifications concerning the need to return a shipment to the country of export, EPA estimates 

that one such notification will be made each year. Converting this submittal to electronic means 

would, assuming a web-based approach, require the entry of the following data fields: (i) 

manifest tracking number, (ii) EPA consent number, (iii) check box for one of the two 

notification types (i.e., need for return or alternate arrangements), and (iv) an open text field for 

the importer/receiving facility to describe the situation. Electronic submittal should enable 

sharing of the notification with the relevant EPA regional office import-export personnel, and 

would enable forwarding to the relevant state agency contacts. Expected benefits for the 

importer/receiving facility would again be eliminating the costs of mailing the import 

notification to EPA, and eliminating the risk of losing the notification in the mail. EPA asks for 

comment on the accuracy of the estimated number of notifications submitted annually, and the 

expected benefits. 

Electronic submittal would require that all submitters register within EPA’s CDX system. 

Doing so would then register them for any subsequent electronic submittal under any EPA 

program office’s e-reporting requirement. The registration is done for the individual submitting 
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the electronic documents, so any change in the employee submitting the information would 

require CDX registration for the new submitting employee. But any employee already registered 

in CDX to submit other program office’s e-reporting (e.g., Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) ereporting) would not need to re-register to submit RCRA export and import documents 

electronically. When contact information for U.S. RCRA exporters and importers was compared 

with contact information for current CDX registrants, 84 out of the total 423 current exporters 

and importers appeared to be already registered in CDX. All others would need to become 

registered within CDX, which can be done via a fully online registration and identity verification 

process, or via a paper process if/when the online process is unable to verify identity (according 

to the Office of Environmental Information, roughly 80% of U.S. submitters successfully 

registered via the online process). In order to be able to submit confirmations electronically per 

their contract requirements with the U.S. exporter, foreign submitters might also need to register 

in CDX, probably using the paper process. EPA asks for comment on the number of exporter and 

importer submitters that are currently registered in CDX due to e-reporting for another EPA 

program office (e.g., TRI e-reporting, Chemical Data Reporting under Section 8(a) of the Toxic 

Substances Control Act). 

EPA is proposing to require electronic submittal of the nine major import and export 

documents on or after the effective date of the final rule. This assumes that the necessary system 

changes will be able to be completed in 2015 and tested by volunteer companies before the 

issuance of the final rule. Electronic submittals established in the final rule will be compliant 

with CROMERR to the extent that it applies. Other EPA e-reporting rulemakings, such as the 

July 30, 2013, proposed rule concerning e-reporting under the National Pollutant Discharge 
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Elimination System (NPDES)11 proposed a two-year transition period, and EPA requests 

comment on the need for any transition period, and the appropriate length of such a transition 

period. 

EPA estimates that all exporters and almost all importers have broadband internet access, 

given that exporters or U.S. authorized agents currently file data electronically into the AES, and 

many exporters and importers currently file electronic data under another EPA program such as 

TRI. But in case there are RCRA exporters or importers that do not have broadband internet 

access, or have other unique circumstances that would prevent them from being able to submit 

RCRA import and export data electronically, or would experience an unreasonable burden or 

economic impact to their company if required to submit the data electronically after the transition 

period, EPA is proposing to allow these companies to request a temporary waiver from the 

electronic reporting requirements being proposed. 

Similar to the process established by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [17 

CFR 232.202(a)] to its (rare) granting of continued hardship exemptions for electronic filing, 

EPA could grant temporary waivers from e-reporting for each exporter or importer that meets 

criteria demonstrating that such electronic reporting of RCRA export or import information 

would pose an unreasonable burden or expense to the exporter or importer. The SEC process 

requires the submission of a written request made at least ten business days before the required 

due date of the submission. As identified in 17 CFR 232.202(b), this written request shall 

include, but not be limited to: (i) the reason(s) that the necessary hardware and software are not 

available without unreasonable burden and expense; (ii) the burden and expense associated with 

using alternative means to make the electronic submission or posting, as applicable; and/or (iii) 

 

11 http://www2.epa.gov/compliance/proposed-national-pollutant-discharge-elimination-system-npdes-electronicreporting-rule 
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Page 37 of 141 

the reasons for not submitting the document, group of documents or Interactive Data File 

electronically, or not posting the Interactive Data File, as well as the justification for the 

requested time period. Under the SEC process, the temporary exemption is not deemed granted 

until the SEC notifies the applicant. Although the SEC has successfully required electronic 

reporting from various sized companies for the majority of its reports since 1993, it is still 

possible that a small number of RCRA exporters or importers might claim that they either do not 

have computers on-site, do not have computer-savvy individuals available, or are a considerable 

distance away from a location where they could get computer access. EPA is therefore 

considering the possible use of temporary waivers from electronic reporting of RCRA import 

and export information for such entities, although technological advances and computer access 

are such that there may be few valid instances of such situations. EPA may consider establishing 

a similar procedure for such temporary waivers if the criteria for such temporary waivers are 

broadened, in response to comments, beyond that in the proposed rule. 

In addition to these possible temporary “continued hardship” waivers for RCRA 

exporters and importers from electronic reporting, EPA also recognizes that there may be a need 

for incident-specific one-time waivers or other adjustments for situations that are beyond the 

control of the reporting facility (e.g., tornados, floods, EPA or state data system disruptions). In 

17 CFR 232.201, the possibility of a temporary hardship exemption from electronic reporting to 

the SEC is described. In the SEC regulations, under this temporary hardship exemption, the 

electronic filer may instead file a written copy of the report or, preferably, be granted the use of a 

one-time change to the filing due date rather than rely upon a temporary hardship exemption 

where the situation is beyond the control of the filer. EPA proposes to utilize one-time changes 

to due dates rather than waivers from electronic reporting in these types of emergency situations. 
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EPA requests comment on the need for such temporary waivers or exemptions, as well as 

which criteria should apply for the granting of such temporary exemptions. For comparison, 

while EPA's August 13, 2010 proposed rule (75 FR 49656) regarding Toxic Substance Control 

Act (TSCA) Inventory Update Reporting Modifications requested comment on whether there 

were any circumstances in which a company may not have Internet access to report the required 

data electronically, the August 16, 2011 final rule (76 FR 50815) required electronic reporting 

with no exceptions or process for requesting a waiver from electronic reporting. 

7. Why is EPA proposing to require that recognized traders obtain EPA ID Numbers before 

arranging for import or export? 

 Recognized traders are those persons that only arrange for the import or export of RCRA 

waste subject to notice and consent requirements and do not otherwise physically generate, 

transport, store, treat or dispose of the waste. As such, a recognized trader is not required or even 

typically able to obtain EPA ID numbers under current RCRA regulations, even though he or she 

is subject to existing RCRA export and import requirements and plays a central role in the 

transboundary movement of the waste. EPA is proposing to require that such persons notify EPA 

of their hazardous waste activity as recognized traders and obtain EPA ID numbers to better 

track recognized trader activities and their compliance with the hazardous waste import and 

export process. 

EPA ID numbers are issued by authorized state agencies and EPA Regional Offices, and 

provide a consistent, reliable way for state agencies and EPA to track companies or individuals 

based on their site (or business) address and activities declared in EPA’s Notification of 

Regulated Waste Activity (EPA Form 8700-12). Matching company names and addresses in an 

electronic system is difficult due to the multiple ways a given company’s name or address can be 
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entered (e.g., “INC” vs. “Inc.”) or address (e.g., “123 Main ST” vs “123 Main Street”). EPA 

proposes to require that all such persons, known as “recognized traders” under the Amended 

2001 OECD Decision, obtain an EPA ID number before arranging for the export or import of 

hazardous waste. Exporters and importers that otherwise physically handle (e.g., generate, 

transport, recycle) hazardous wastes should already have an EPA ID number issued by their 

authorized state agency or EPA Regional Office. We have estimated that roughly one percent of 

all exporters and importers are recognized traders as defined under the Amended 2001 OECD 

Decision, and that four of the current exporters and importers will need to request an EPA ID 

number using EPA Form 8700-12 under this proposed change; EPA requests comment on the 

accuracy of this estimate. 

EPA Form 8700-12 and its associated instructions and information collection request 

(ICR)12 will have to be revised to enable recognized traders to request an EPA ID number based 

solely on arranging for export or import. 

C. RCRA hazardous waste export integration with ITDS 

1. What is ITDS and how does it impact RCRA hazardous waste imports and exports? 

In 2006, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began automating processes for the 

import and export of goods to improve the control of what enters and leaves the US, as well as to 

become much more efficient. Launched under the Security and Accountability for Every Port 

Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act, P.L. 109-347) and the 2007 Import Safety Executive Order (E.O.) 

13439, the multi-agency program called the International Trade Data System (ITDS)13 assists the 

48 Federal agencies with import/export responsibilities in their efforts to integrate import and 

 

12 http://www.epa.gov/osw/inforesources/data/form8700/8700-12.pdf 13 http://www.itds.gov/xp/itds/home.html 
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export cargo processing with CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) for imports, 

and the Automated Export System (AES) for exports. 

Under ITDS, agencies with existing paper-based import and export clearance procedures 

at the port of exit or entry are working with CBP to enable electronic filing and processing of the 

export or import shipments based on one set of submitted data that can then be checked against 

all relevant U.S. agency requirements. 

While RCRA regulates hazardous waste imports, there is no analogous provision in 

RCRA explicitly prohibiting import of hazardous waste absent consent that would enable EPA to 

stop entry of possible hazardous waste shipments at the port unless there is an imminent and 

substantial risk of damage to human health and the environment. As a result, EPA does not 

currently have paper-based entry procedures for hazardous waste import shipments. Because 

there are no entry procedures to automate, EPA’s import-related ITDS work does not include 

automating entry procedures for hazardous waste import shipments. However, EPA does have 

clear authority under RCRA Section 3017 to stop export shipments of RCRA waste subject to 

notice and consent requirements at the port and we are working with CBP to establish automated 

checks in the Automated Export System (AES) against EPA consent-based reference data for all 

shipments declared by the exporter to be subject to RCRA notice and consent requirements. 

On February 19, 2014, the White House issued E.O. 13659 titled “Streamlining the 

Export/Import Process for America’s Businesses”. Under E.O. 13659, participating agencies 

must have all requirements in place and in effect to utilize the ITDS and supporting systems like 

the ACE and the AES for receiving documentation required for the release of imported cargo and 

the clearance of cargo for export no later than December 31, 2016. 

2. How is EPA proposing to integrate RCRA hazardous waste export requirements with ITDS? 
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First, EPA proposes to require that exporters or U.S. authorized agents additionally file 

key export consent data into the Automated Export System (AES) to validate EPA’s consent 

covering each export shipment before each shipment exits the country. (The term “EPA’s 

consent,” in the context of these proposed requirements for exporters to validate key data in the 

AES, means EPA’s AOC letter.) Second, EPA proposes to require that exporters submit 

electronic export notices into EPA’s waste import/export database to enable transmittal of all 

reference data needed for validation from EPA to AES (for more information on electronic 

export notices, see Section II.B.6). 

As discussed previously, the CEC recommended that the U.S. border and environmental 

agencies coordinate more closely on export shipments. Part of the difficulty in sharing data with 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been that CBP has typically based any export 

filing errors or flags on information linked to the Commodity classification number, while EPA’s 

authority to prohibit export absent consent under Section 3017 of RCRA is based on RCRA 

waste type (e.g., RCRA hazardous waste codes) and intended management. In addition to the 

differing basis for prohibiting or flagging export shipments, rail cars, truckloads, or shipping 

containers of hazardous waste do not typically look like containers of hazardous waste needing 

EPA’s consent from the outside. Absent some obvious hazard (e.g., fire, leaking contents), CBP 

has not had an express basis to check shipments for EPA consent. Under current RCRA 

transporter regulations in 40 CFR 263.20(g), the transporter carrying a RCRA manifested 

hazardous waste export shipment to the port of exit must sign and date the RCRA manifest to 

indicate the date the shipment is leaving the country, keep one copy, send one copy back to the 

generator, and give one copy to the CBP official at the “...point of departure from the United 

States.” But this requirement has not enabled meaningful checks for EPA consent at the border. 
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Per the Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) in 15 CFR Part 30, all 

exporters (or their authorized filers) that ship goods subject to an export license, defined in FTR 

section 30.1, 14 are currently required to file Electronic Export Information (EEI) in the AES for 

each export shipment regardless of value or country of ultimate destination. EPA’s AOC letter 

meets the FTR definition of an export license, 15 so all exporters shipping waste subject to RCRA 

notice and consent conditions (i.e., cathode ray tubes being shipped for recycling) or 

requirements (e.g., RCRA manifested hazardous waste, SLABs being shipped for recovery of 

lead) are already required to file export data in the AES. The AES has over 100 elements16 that 

potentially apply to an export shipment. In place of the transporter requirement in 40 CFR 

263.20(g)(4), EPA is proposing to require exporters or U.S. authorized agent to file the following 

EPA data in the AES: 

(a) EPA license code (to declare shipment is subject to RCRA export notice and 

consent requirements) 

(b) Commodity classification code (10 digit, numeric description of the commodity) 

(c) EPA consent number (specific to waste) 

(d) Country of ultimate destination 

(e) Date of export 

(f) RCRA hazardous waste manifest tracking number (if required; universal waste, 

CRTs being shipped for recycling, industrial ethyl alcohol being shipped for reclamation, and 

 

14 Export license. A controlling agency's document authorizing export of particular goods in specific quantities or 

values to a particular destination. Issuing agencies include, but are not limited to, the U.S. State Department; the 

BIS; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and the Drug Enforcement Administration permit to export. 15 Per email dated April 11, 2014 from Joe Cortez, chief of regulations outreach and education branch in the Foreign 

Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, EPA’s AOC letter meets the regulatory definition of an export license in 

15 CFR 30.1. 

16 https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aes/documentlibrary/aesparticipantsdata.html. 
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SLABs being shipped for recovery of lead are exempt from RCRA manifest requirements under 

existing RCRA regulations) 

(g) Quantity of waste in shipment and units for reported quantity (units established by 

commodity classification number) 

(h) EPA net quantity and units for reported quantity (if required, must be reported in 

kilograms if solid waste, and in liters if liquid waste; only required if commodity classification 

number does not require quantity to be reported in weight or volume units) 

Of the items listed above, only the “EPA license code”, “EPA consent number”, “RCRA 

hazardous waste manifest tracking number”, “EPA net quantity”, and “EPA net quantity units of 

measurement” are not already required to be filed in the AES under the FTR. Of these five items, 

one item is only required if the waste is subject to RCRA manifesting requirements and the 

remaining two items are only required in cases where the commodity classification numberbased quantity reporting does not require that the quantity of the commodity in the shipment be 

reported in weight or volumetric units (e.g., kg or L). Because an EPA license, or an EPA 

consent number, is required, AES will require the five additional items to be filed, and will 

validate the import country code and expected date of shipment departure against EPA-supplied 

reference data for the entered EPA consent number. If the consent number is not in the correct 

format, AES will provide a fatal error message for the filer that specifies the error in the filing. 

The filer will then need to correct and resubmit the filing to correct it. If the import country does 

not match the country of import for the consent number, AES will provide a fatal error message 

for the filer that specifies the error in the filing. The filer will then need to correct and resubmit 

the filing. If the expected date of shipment departure does not fall within the start date and end 

date for the consent number, AES will provide a fatal error message for the filer that specifies the 
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error in the filing. The filer will then need to correct and resubmit the filing. If a RCRA manifest 

is required for the consent number and the filer does not enter a correctly formatted RCRA 

manifest number (i.e., nine digits followed by three letters), AES will provide a fatal error 

message for the filer that specifies the error in the filing. The filer will then need to correct and 

resubmit the filing. Lastly, if the EPA net shipping quantity is required to be entered based on the 

commodity classification number entered and the filer does not enter that quantity, the AES will 

provide a fatal error message for the filer that specifies the error in the filing. The filer will then 

need to correct and resubmit the filing. AES will not issue an Internal Transaction Number (ITN) 

to indicate successful completion until the filing passes all validations. The exporter and 

transporter will be in violation of the FTR if the shipment is exported without a valid ITN. When 

the shipment is validated and the ITN issued, the shipment will be cleared to leave the port of 

exit. The AES will transmit the EPA data listed above to EPA’s hazardous waste import/export 

database, so that EPA will get shipment data for each consent number and will be able to track 

total quantity exported against the approved total quantity for that waste stream level consent 

number. In addition, EPA will be able to use the shipment data from AES to build draft export 

annual reports that are required in Section 3017 of the statute (for more information on electronic 

export annual reports, see Section II.B.6). Exporters with valid consents will be able to 

efficiently validate their EPA consent with CBP as part of their regular AES filing, and any 

typographical errors should be able to be quickly corrected and the entry resubmitted. Exporters 

with expiring or expired consent numbers, or exporters that have already met or exceeded their 

approved total export quantity for the consent number, will need to submit an export notice or 

export notice amendment to EPA to renew their consent under a new consent number or increase 

their approved total export quantity for the current consent number. EPA plans to modify its 
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AOC letter to include guidance on how to enter the EPA-only items in the AES once the 

regulations are effective to reduce inadvertent AES filing errors. CBP and EPA have already 

made changes to the AES that reflect this validation, changes that were reflected in the AES 

instructions updated on October 3, 2014.17 However, these changes will remain optional until the 

AES changes have been fully tested, and EPA’s proposed regulations become final and are 

effective. Two SLAB exporters are working with EPA and CBP to pilot test the validation 

process. 

EPA considered attempting to validate exporter names and addresses, but ultimately 

decided against doing so because of the previously discussed problem of trying to match highly 

variable text fields for exporter name and address from EPA export notice data with data filed in 

AES. EPA also considered validating against the commodity classification number expected for 

the waste stream linked to the consent number, but decided against it due to the difficulty in 

uniquely mapping the one waste to one commodity classification number in all cases. As 

discussed in Section VII, the commodity classification numbers may not contain sufficient detail 

to match with the RCRA waste codes and intended management. If commenters know of ways to 

reliably match commodity classification numbers with the combination of EPA waste type and 

intended management, please provide this information, and EPA may consider this in the final 

rule. 

Requiring electronic export notices and filing the additional items in the AES will ensure 

that export shipments of declared RCRA wastes subject to RCRA notice and consent 

requirements only depart the country when going to the approved country within the approved 

window of export, with a minimum of additional burden to the exporter. It should therefore 

 

17 http://www.cbp.gov/trade/aes/aestir/introduction-and-guidelines 
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further reduce illegal exports of hazardous waste and the potential risk to human health and the 

environment that may result. It will also ensure compliance with Executive Order 13659 that 

requires implementation of all ITDS requirements by December 31, 2016. 

III. SUMMARY OF THIS PROPOSED RULE 

A. Changes to Section 260.10 

In order to require that anyone acting as an exporter or importer, who does not otherwise 

physically handle hazardous waste, obtain an EPA ID number prior to arranging for export or 

import, it is necessary to add a definition that EPA Form 8700-12 can then reference. EPA is 

therefore proposing to define such persons as recognized traders, specifically as “a person 

domiciled in the United States, by site of business, who acts to arrange and facilitate 

transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery or disposal operations, either by 

purchasing from and subsequently selling to U.S. and foreign facilities or by acting under 

arrangements with a U.S. waste facility to arrange for the export or import of the wastes.” EPA 

believes that this definition is consistent with the Amended 2001 OECD Decision’s recognized 

trader definition of “a person who, with appropriate authorization of countries concerned, acts in 

the role of principal to purchase and subsequently sell wastes; this person has legal control of 

such wastes from time of purchase to time of sale; such a person may act to arrange and facilitate 

transboundary movements of wastes.” EPA had originally considered establishing a definition 

for “brokers,” but decided to use “recognized trader” to minimize confusion as there are brokers 

who make manifest-related arrangements for wholly domestic shipments of hazardous waste. 

EPA requests comment on these changes and what definitions would be clearest to U.S. 

stakeholders. 

B. Changes to Section 260.11(g)(1) 
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EPA is proposing to replace the obsolete reference to the 1992 OECD Decision waste 

lists with the correct reference to the Amended 2001 OECD Decision waste lists. This is a 

necessary technical correction. 

C. Changes to Sections 261.4(d) and 261.4(e) 

EPA is proposing to add an additional condition for samples being exported to a foreign 

laboratory or imported from a foreign source that the exporter or importer wishes to manage 

under the waste characterization exclusion of §261.4(d) or the treatability study exclusion of 

§261.4(e). Specifically, EPA is proposing to require that any such samples being exported or 

imported be limited to a maximum quantity of 25 kilograms in addition to the other conditions 

already required. This change is being proposed to match the 25 kg limit for samples being 

excluded from the export and import requirements currently in §262.82(g) of the OECD 

regulations, and is thus a clarification and not a new requirement for sample export and import 

shipments currently subject to 40 CFR part 262 subpart H. It will be a new requirement for 

sample export and import shipments being exchanged with Canada, Mexico, and any non-OECD 

country under RCRA regulations. While Canada currently reflects the 25 kg sample exclusion in 

its exclusion to the definition for hazardous waste recyclables in Section 2(2)(d) of the Canadian 

regulations18 when being shipped between Canada and a country that is party to the Amended 

2001 OECD Decision “...for the purpose of conducting measurements, tests or research with 

respect to the recycling of that material,” it is unclear to what extent the Canadian limits have 

impacted U.S. exporters and importers of such samples. EPA requests comments on the number 

of such samples that were exchanged with Canada, Mexico, or a non-OECD country for such 

 

18 “Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations (SOR/2005-149),” 

issued in Canada Gazette on June 5, 2005, available online at http://ec.gc.ca/lcpecepa/eng/regulations/detailReg.cfm?intReg=84. 
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testing in the last three years, and how many were over 25 kg and thus would be required to 

comply with the OECD regulations for exports or imports. 

D. Changes to Section 261.6(a) 

EPA is proposing to revise the text in §261.6(a)(3)(i) concerning imports and exports of 

industrial ethyl alcohol being shipped for reclamation to reflect the proposed removal of Subpart 

E, and the proposal to require all export and import shipments of RCRA hazardous waste and 

recyclable materials currently subject to export and import requirements to comply with subpart 

H. This is a conforming amendment. 

Similarly, EPA is proposing conforming changes to the text in §261.6(a)(5) concerning 

the applicability of subpart H requirements to all exports and imports of hazardous wastes being 

shipped for recycling. 

E. Changes to Section 261.39(a)(5) 

EPA is proposing changes to §261.39(a)(5)(ii), (vi) and (xi) to reflect that export 

notifications, export renotifications and export annual reports concerning CRTs being shipped 

for recycling being submitted to EPA must be submitted electronically using EPA’s hazardous 

waste import/export database on or after the effective date of the final rule. This proposed 

requirement assumes that the system changes can be completed in 2015 and tested by volunteer 

companies before issuance of the final rule. EPA requests comments on whether any transition 

period for electronic submittal into EPA’s system is needed, an appropriate length for a transition 

period if one is needed, and whether any exporter would need a waiver from electronic filing 

requirements due to lack of broadband access or other unique circumstances that would make 

electronic filing an undue financial burden. 
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Additionally, EPA is proposing to add the requirement in §261.39(a)(5)(v) that exporters 

or U.S. authorized agents must file EPA-required information into the AES prior to departure in 

accordance with the deadlines specified in 15 CFR 30.4 (e.g., for truck shipments, no less than 

one hour prior to the arrival of the truck at the U.S. border to go foreign) and provide the ITN 

documenting the successful filing to the outgoing transporter. The same U.S. authorized agents 

that currently file in the AES are intended to be allowed to continue such filings, but the RCRA 

exporter is ultimately responsible for ensuring that such filing occurs and that the ITN is 

provided to the outgoing transporter. AES system changes were made and posted in October 

2014 and testing should be completed in 2015. Exporters or U.S. authorized agents using the 

AES will need to modify their filing software to incorporate the filing changes that will remain 

optional until EPA’s final regulations become effective, but should be able to do so in the 

months between issuance of the final rule and the effective date of December 31, 2016 required 

to comply with Executive Order 13659. EPA is therefore proposing to require filing of EPAspecific information into the AES from the effective date of the final rule without any transition 

period. EPA requests comment on whether exporters currently file shipment data into the AES 

prior to departure, whether they or their U.S. authorized agents use the AES or AESDirect to file 

their shipment data, and whether a transition period would still be appropriate. 

F. Changes to Section 262.10(d) 

EPA is proposing conforming amendments to §262.10(d) concerning the applicability of 

subpart H requirements to all exports and imports of hazardous wastes. 

Additionally, EPA is proposing to add the requirement that all such importers and 

exporters comply with the EPA ID number requirements in §262.12. Currently all importers and 

all exporters who also generate, transport, treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes are already 
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required to obtain an EPA ID number. All importers should be required because §262.10(e) 

explicitly requires importers to comply with the generator requirements. But it is unclear how 

many recognized traders arranging for import actually obtain an EPA ID number from the 

authorized state or EPA Regional office where their place of business is located. Moreover, 

recognized traders arranging for export that do not otherwise generate, transport, treat, store or 

dispose of hazardous wastes have no way to obtain an EPA ID number, as EPA Form 8700-12 

does not cover such persons. This requirement will therefore impact such persons. EPA requests 

comment on how many persons arranging for import or export do not currently have EPA ID 

numbers issued by their authorized state or EPA Regional office. 

G. Changes to Section 262.12 

EPA is proposing to add new paragraph (d) to §262.12 to require that recognized traders 

arranging for export and import obtain an EPA ID number from their authorized state or EPA 

Regional office before arranging for export or import. As discussed above, it is unclear how 

many persons will be affected by this requirement. EPA has assumed 1% of all current exporters 

and importers are recognized traders, and requests comment on the number of recognized traders 

that do not currently have EPA ID numbers. EPA further requests comment on how best to 

include such recognized traders in EPA Form 8700-12 and its associated instructions, and how or 

whether to reflect the recognized trader role in the EPA ID number itself (e.g., disposal facility 

numbers typically have a “D” in the EPA ID number). 

H. Changes to Section 262.41(b) 

EPA is proposing conforming amendments to §262.41(b) to reflect that export annual 

report requirements will be in §262.83(g). 

I. Changes to 40 CFR part 262 subpart E 
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EPA is proposing to remove subpart E and reserve for future use. The export 

requirements that are currently in Subpart E that are still needed but not already covered under 

the current subpart H are proposed to be moved to, and integrated in, the new subpart H. For 

example, the definition in §262.51 for EPA’s AOC letter has been revised to more accurately 

reflect that the letter documents the consent of the importing country and any transit countries 

and moved to §262.81 definitions. While the text of the Amended OECD 2001 Decision and the 

OECD regulations established in 1996 and amended in 2010 included exporters potentially 

receiving responses directly back from the countries of import and transit, in practice the notice 

and consent process under both subpart E and subpart H is solely a government to government 

process and all country responses are sent to EPA, which then documents those consents in the 

EPA AOC letter to the exporter. To more accurately reflect the actual process currently followed 

for both subparts E and H, Sections 262.53(e) and (f) detailing how EPA will forward complete 

notifications in conjunction with State Department as appropriate, address any claims of 

confidentiality made concerning any of the information listed in the notification, send the AOC 

letter to the exporter, and similarly send any country’s objection or withdrawal of previous 

consent have been moved to §262.83(b)(5)-(6). The text was modified slightly to reflect that the 

Amended 2001 OECD Decision requires that the country of import and the countries of transit 

all consent to the notification before shipment occurs. The older subpart E procedures technically 

allowed for issuance of the AOC letter based solely on the country of import’s consent (see 

Section III.B.1 51 FR 28664 issued August 8, 1986). These changes reflect the actual process 

that currently takes place and should have no impact on exporters. 

In addition, the list of OECD member countries that are party to the Amended 2001 

OECD Decision in §262.58(a)(1) has been moved to a new definition for “OECD Member 
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countries” in §262.81. The implicit requirement in §262.52(c) that the exporter obtain an EPA 

AOC letter prior to shipment has been made explicit and moved to §262.83(a)(3). 

Renotification requirements originally listed in §262.53(c) have been modified and 

moved to §262.83(b)(4) to reflect that OECD notification requirements under the Amended 2001 

OECD Decision do not exempt any changes to the original notification from needing consent to 

the changes. Under subpart E, changes to the exporter’s phone number, decreases to the 

maximum requested export quantity and changes to the means of transport for the shipment were 

exempted from requiring renotification so long as nothing else in the notification changed. It is 

unclear how many such changes would be impacted by this requirement (i.e., would be required 

to renotify and obtain consent to the renotification before shipping). EPA assumed zero 

additional renotifications due to this change and requests comment on the number of such 

exempted changes under subpart E that have occurred in the last three years and would be 

subject to renotification requirements under the proposed revisions. 

Currently, §262.84(c) requires exporters to comply with §262.54(a), (b), (c), (e) and (i) of 

the subpart E manifest requirements. Section §262.54 has been moved to §262.83(c) with some 

modifications to reflect that (1) the requirement to attach a copy of the EPA AOC letter has been 

replaced with the requirement to list the consent number specified in the EPA AOC letter for 

each waste listed on the RCRA manifest; (2) in cases where the exporter must instruct the 

transporter to return the waste to a facility in the United States and modify the manifest, such 

instructions must be made via email, fax or mail so that a written record of the instructions exist; 

and (3) the exporter needs to supply an extra copy of the RCRA manifest to the transporter only 

for cases where the exporter has chosen to use paper manifests rather than use the e-manifest 

system, as the requirement for the transporter to give a copy of the paper RCRA manifest to the 
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CBP officer at the port of exit is being replaced with a requirement for the exporter to 

electronically file EPA-specific data in the AES to validate consent data prior to exit. The extra 

copy of the paper manifest is needed so that the transporter can send a copy of the manifest to the 

e-Manifest system using the allowable methods listed in 40 CFR § 264.71(a)(2)(v), thus ensuring 

that the data from the paper manifest is captured in the e-manifest system. 

The exception reporting, annual reporting and recordkeeping sections of subpart E are 

duplicative of current subpart H requirements, and so did not additionally need to be moved to 

the new subpart H. 

 EPA requests comments on these proposed changes. 

J. Changes to 40 CFR part 262 subpart F 

EPA is proposing to remove subpart F and reserve for future use. The import RCRA manifest 

requirements in subpart F are required under the current subpart H, and are therefore proposed to 

be moved to §262.84(d) in the new subpart H, with the added requirement for the importer to 

note that the shipment is an import and the shipment’s point of entry (i.e., port of entry and state) 

into the United States. While this requirement was not listed in subpart F, this is an existing 

requirement listed in the manifest instructions in the Appendix to Part 262 for item 16 of the 

RCRA manifest, and therefore should not result in any new burden. It has been added to the 

manifest requirements for import shipments in the new subpart H for clarity. 

EPA requests comments on these proposed changes. 

K. Changes to 40 CFR part 262 subpart H 

In general, EPA has reorganized and clarified exporter, importer, transporter and receiving 

facility requirements under subpart H. EPA’s intent was to more accurately reflect the current 

procedures, expand applicability to all exports and imports of RCRA hazardous waste, and 
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clearly spell out existing requirements for exports and imports. When the OECD procedures 

were originally incorporated into RCRA in 1996 and then updated in 2008, EPA largely used the 

text from the OECD Decision in the regulations. While this ensured that OECD procedures 

required under the 1992 OECD Decision and the Amended 2001 OECD Decision were fully 

reflected in the regulations, the resulting regulatory text made very generic references to country 

of export and country of import, without always clearly spelling out US exporter and US 

importer obligations and procedures. For example, under the current §262.82(a)(2)(ii)(B), US 

importers are required to assume the duties of the foreign exporter if the proposed waste 

shipment is RCRA hazardous waste but the country of export does not control the shipment as an 

export of hazardous waste. But the current subpart H requirements do not explicitly spell out 

what the US importer would be required to comply with in such cases. Renotifications are not 

explicitly prohibited but neither are they explicitly allowed in the current subpart H, unlike the 

current subpart E. In practice, such renotifications have been done for exports subject to subpart 

H. EPA’s intent in these changes and the others previously discussed is to clarify existing 

responsibilities for exports and imports, and not to increase requirements beyond that which is 

currently required in subpart H. 

In the new subpart H, retitled to reflect covering all transboundary shipments of hazardous 

waste for recovery or disposal, the sections for general applicability, definitions, and general 

conditions not specific to exports or imports remain in §262.80, §262.81, and §262.82 

respectively. But EPA proposes to amend §262.83 from covering generic notification and 

consent to covering exports of hazardous waste, and to amend §262.84 from covering generic 

movement document requirements to covering imports of hazardous waste. Within the new 

§262.83 are subsections for (a) general export requirements, (b) notification requirements, 
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including renotifications and notifications for re-export to a third country, (c) RCRA manifest 

instructions for export shipments, (d) OECD movement document requirements for export 

shipments, (e) the exporter’s duty to return or re-export (to a third country) export shipments of 

waste that cannot be managed in accordance with the terms of the contract or consent and cannot 

be managed at an alternate facility in the country of import, (f) contract requirements, (g) annual 

reporting requirements, (h) exception reporting requirements, and (i) recordkeeping 

requirements. Within the new §262.84 are subsections for (a) general import requirements, (b) 

notification requirements that apply only when the country of export does not control the 

proposed shipment as an export of hazardous waste, (c) RCRA manifest instructions for import 

shipments, (d) OECD movement document requirements for import shipments, (e) duty to return 

or re-export (to a third country) import shipments of waste that cannot be managed in accordance 

with the terms of the contract or consent and cannot be managed at an alternate facility in the 

United States, (f) contract requirements, (g) requirements for U.S. recycling or disposal facilities 

to issue confirmations of recovery or disposal for each import shipment, and (h) recordkeeping 

requirements for import shipments. Sections 262.85, 262.86, 262.87 and 262.88 are reserved for 

future use. Section 262.89 is amended from covering the OECD waste lists to covering the 

incorporations by reference. While it still contains the OECD waste list section where the OECD 

amber and green waste lists, and their associated waste codes, are incorporated by reference, the 

duplicative text on the applicability of the subpart H requirements has been removed. 

Under the revised definitions section, the older subpart H “exporter” definition has been 

broken into [U.S.] “exporter” and “foreign exporter”. Similarly, the “importer” definition has 

been split into [U.S.] importer and foreign importer, as has receiving facility. As under the 

current subpart H, exporters must be domiciled in the United States. To reflect that Canadian 
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regulations uses wording for several recovery and disposal operation codes that differ from the 

description used in the OECD recovery and disposal codes, the list of operation codes included 

in the definitions for recovery and disposal codes have been revised to reflect that such Canadaonly codes will start with a “RC” or a “DC”. 

For export and import notifications, the use of (1) the ISO standard 3166 country name 2-

digit code and (2) OECD/Basel competent authority code are required to be listed for the 

relevant country of import or export and their respective competent authorities. Use of these 

codes is widely accepted internationally and the ISO standard 3166 country name 2-digit code is 

consistent with the country codes required in the AES. 

In cases where shipments cannot be delivered to the foreign receiving facility for any reason, 

the exporter is currently required to submit an exception report to EPA. Under the proposed 

revisions, the exporter is now required to submit the exception report to EPA within 30 days of 

the transporter missing the 45-day deadline to confirm the departure of the shipment from the 

United States or the foreign receiving facility missing the 90-day deadline to confirm receipt of 

the shipment, and required to submit the exception report to EPA within 30 days of being 

notified of the need to return the shipment, or one day prior to the initiation of the return 

shipment, whichever is sooner. EPA requests comments on whether the 30-day period is 

sufficient to ascertain what has happened to the export shipment. 

EPA requests comments on the reorganization and text changes, and whether additional 

revisions are needed to further clarify requirements for exports and imports while still ensuring 

compliance with procedures equivalent to those required for shipments currently subject to 

subpart H. 
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As with the proposed changes to part 261 sections, EPA is proposing changes to export and 

import requirements in subpart H to reflect that export notifications, export renotifications, 

export annual reports, export exception reports, export confirmations of receipt, export 

certifications of recovery or disposal, import notifications, import confirmations of receipt, and 

import certifications of recovery or disposal being submitted to EPA must be submitted 

electronically using EPA’s hazardous waste import/export database on or after the effective date 

of the final rule. EPA requests comments on whether any transition period for electronic 

submittal into EPA’s system is needed, an appropriate length for a transition period if one is 

needed, and whether any exporter would need a waiver from electronic filing requirements due 

to lack of broadband access or other unique circumstances that would make electronic filing an 

undue financial burden. 

Additionally, EPA is similarly proposing to add the requirement in §262.83(a)(6) that 

exporters or U.S. authorized agents must file EPA-required information into the AES prior to 

departure in accordance with the deadlines specified in 15 CFR 30.4 (e.g., for truck shipments, 

no less than one hour prior to the arrival of the truck at the U.S. border to go foreign) and provide 

the ITN documenting the successful filing to the outgoing transporter. The same U.S. authorized 

agents that currently file in AES are intended to be allowed to continue such filings, but the 

RCRA exporter is ultimately responsible for ensuring that such filing occurs and that the ITN is 

provided to the outgoing transporter. AES system changes were made and posted in October 

2014 and testing should be completed in 2015. Exporters or U.S. authorized agents using the 

AES will need to modify their filing software to incorporate the filing changes that will remain 

optional until EPA’s final regulations become effective, but should be able to do so in the 

months between issuance of the final rule and the effective date of December 31, 2016 required 
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to comply with Executive Order 13659. EPA is therefore proposing to require filing of EPAspecific information into the AES from the effective date of the final rule without any transition 

period. EPA requests comment on whether exporters currently file shipment data in the AES 

prior to departure, whether they or their U.S. authorized filing agents use the AES or AESDirect 

to file their shipment data, and whether a transition period would still be appropriate. 

L. Changes to the Appendix to Part 262 

EPA is proposing conforming amendments to revise the instructions for Item 16 of the 

RCRA manifest instructions to reflect that transporters carrying export shipments will no longer 

be required to deliver a signed and dated copy of the RCRA manifest to CBP at the port of exit. 

This requirement is being replaced with the exporter requirement to file EPA consent-specific 

information as part of their Electronic Export Information filing in the AES so that the consent 

can be validated within the AES prior to departure. 

M. Conforming Changes to Parts 263-267, 271, and 273 

1. Conforming Changes to Standards Applicable to Transporters of Hazardous Waste in Part 263 

EPA proposes to delete the last paragraph in the note to §263.10(a). The last paragraph 

was included as part of the note in the original 1980 RCRA rulemaking to ease compliance, but 

was not removed or revised during the 1986 regulation amendments to reflect additional 

requirements in part 263, such as the export provisions in §263.20(a). Additionally, the last 

paragraph cites obsolete regulatory sections in U.S Department of Transportation regulations. 

EPA consulted with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and DOT approves deleting the 

last paragraph in the note19. EPA does not anticipate any change in burden due to this change, 

and requests comment on this change. 

 

19 April 22, 2014 email from Dirk DerKinderen of U.S. Department of Transportation to Bryan Groce of EPA’s 

Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. 
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Additionally, EPA proposes conforming amendments to §263.10(d) to reflect the 

expanded and clarified applicability of subpart H requirements and the new subpart H sections 

for OECD movement document requirements for export and import shipments. EPA also 

proposes conforming amendments to §263.20(a)(2), (c), (e)(2),(f)(2), and (g) to reflect that 

transporters will only be required to carry the OECD movement document and RCRA manifest 

for export and import shipments, will not be required to carry the EPA AOC letter with export 

shipments, and will not be required to give a copy of the RCRA manifest to CBP at the port of 

exit prior to departure. Transporters carrying a paper RCRA manifest for an export shipment will 

however be required to send a copy of the paper manifest to the e-manifest system using the 

allowable methods listed in 40 CFR 264.71(a)(2)(v) to ensure that data from export shipments 

using paper RCRA manifests are captured in the e-manifest system. 

EPA requests comments on these changes and whether any additional clarification is 

needed. 

2. Conforming Changes to Standards for Owners and Operators of Hazardous Waste Treatment, 

Storage, and Disposal Facilities in Part 264 

EPA proposes conforming amendments to §264.12 to reflect the expanded and clarified 

applicability of subpart H requirements, and the importer requirements in §262.84. Additionally, 

EPA proposes deleting the requirement in §264.12(a)(1) as it will be duplicative of notifications 

submitted by either the foreign exporter or the U.S. importer in cases where the country of export 

does not control the shipment as a hazardous waste export as this requirement would now, in this 

rule, apply to hazardous waste imports and exports with all foreign countries (including Canada 

and Mexico), and not just with OECD countries. 
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Under the manifest requirements in §264.71, EPA proposes conforming amendments to 

reflect the expanded applicability of subpart H, and further proposes replacing the current 

requirement (to attach a copy of the relevant EPA documentation of consent to the RCRA 

manifest) with the new requirement (to list the consent number for each waste from the relevant 

EPA documentation of consent in Item 14 of the RCRA manifest followed by the relevant list 

number for the waste from block 9b in parentheses) before submitting the manifest within thirty 

(30) days of shipment delivery to confirm receipt. This conforming amendment should enable 

compliance even when using the e-manifest system in the future, as the consent numbers could 

be typed into the text field for Item 14. Facilities using the e-manifest system to submit the 

RCRA manifest to confirm receipt would not need to send a separate copy to EPA’s 

International Compliance Assurance Division. As under current subpart H procedures, facilities 

would need to submit copies of the signed OECD movement document to confirm tracking from 

the shipment initiation in the country of export to the arrival at the U.S. facility, using the 

allowable submittal methods listed in subpart H. 

EPA requests comments on these changes and whether any additional clarification is 

needed. 

3. Conforming Changes to Interim Status Standards for Owners and Operators of Hazardous 

Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities in Part 265 

EPA similarly proposes conforming amendments to §265.12 to reflect the expanded and 

clarified applicability of subpart H requirements, and the importer requirements in §262.84. 

Additionally, EPA proposes deleting the requirement in §265.12(a)(1) as it is duplicative of 

notifications submitted by either the foreign exporter or the U.S. importer in cases where the 

country of export does not control the shipment as a hazardous waste export under 40 CFR Part 
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262, Subpart H (which will now apply to hazardous waste imports and exports with all foreign 

countries (including Canada and Mexico), and not with OECD countries only). 

Under the manifest requirements in §265.71, EPA proposes conforming amendments to 

reflect the expanded applicability of subpart H, and further proposes replacing the current 

requirement (to attach a copy of the relevant EPA documentation of consent to the RCRA 

manifest) with the new requirement (to list the consent number for each waste from the relevant 

EPA documentation of consent in Item 14 of the RCRA manifest followed by the relevant list 

number for the waste from block 9b in parentheses) before submitting the manifest within thirty 

(30) days of shipment delivery to confirm receipt. This conforming amendment should enable 

compliance even when using the e-manifest system in the future, as the consent numbers could 

be typed into the text field for Item 14. Facilities using the e-manifest system to submit the 

RCRA manifest to confirm receipt would not need to send a separate copy to EPA’s 

International Compliance Assurance Division. As under current subpart H procedures, facilities 

would need to submit copies of the signed OECD movement document to confirm tracking from 

the shipment initiation in the country of export to the arrival at the U.S. facility, using the 

allowable submittal methods listed in subpart H. 

EPA requests comments on these changes and whether any additional clarification is 

needed. 

4. Conforming Changes to the Standards for the Management of Specific Hazardous Wastes and 

Specific Types of Hazardous Waste Management Facilities in Part 266 

EPA proposes conforming amendments to §266.70, §266.80(a) to reflect the expanded 

and clarified applicability of subpart H requirements to exports and imports of precious metal 

bearing hazardous waste and spent lead-acid batteries. With respect to spent lead-acid batteries, 
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RCRA manifesting will continue to not be required, but the OECD movement document 

requirements will apply to import and export shipments. Canadian requirements and current 

subpart H requirements already impose the movement document requirements upon U.S. 

recycling facilities, so this change should only result in additional burden for import shipments 

of spent lead-acid batteries from Mexico and non-OECD countries. 

EPA requests comments on these changes, the number of shipments under part 266 

subparts F and G impacted by these changes, and whether any additional clarification is needed. 

5. Conforming Changes to the Standards for Owners and Operators of Hazardous Waste 

Facilities Operating under a Standardized Permit in Part 267 

EPA proposes conforming amendments to the manifest requirements in §267.71 to reflect 

the expanded applicability of subpart H, and further proposes requiring the facility to list the 

consent number for each waste from the relevant EPA documentation of consent in Item 14 of 

the RCRA manifest (followed by the relevant list number for the waste from block 9b in 

parentheses) before submitting the RCRA manifest to confirm receipt. This conforming 

amendment should enable compliance even when using the e-manifest system in the future, as 

the consent numbers could be typed into the text field for Item 14. Facilities using the e-manifest 

system to submit the RCRA manifest to confirm receipt would not need to send a separate copy 

to EPA’s International Compliance Assurance Division. As under current subpart H procedures, 

facilities would need to submit copies of the signed movement document to confirm tracking 

from the shipment initiation in the country of export to the arrival at the U.S. facility, using the 

allowable submittal methods listed in subpart H. 

EPA requests comments on these changes and whether any additional clarification is 

needed. 
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6. Conforming Changes to the Requirements for Authorization of State Hazardous Waste 

Programs in Part 271 

EPA proposes conforming amendments to §271.1, §271.10 and §271.11 to reflect the 

proposed changes to subparts E, F, and H, and the transfer of required export and import 

responsibilities to the new subpart H. For a more detailed discussion on EPA’s expected impact 

to State authorization as a result of the proposed changes, please see the Authorized State 

discussion in Section V.B of today’s action. 

EPA requests comments on the impact of these changes, and whether any additional 

clarification is needed. 

7. Conforming Changes to the Standards for Universal Waste Management in Part 273 

EPA proposes conforming amendments to §273.20, §273.40, §273.56, and §273.70 to 

reflect the proposed expanded and clarified applicability of subpart H requirements to small and 

large quantity handlers exporting universal waste, transporters and receiving facilities. 

Additionally, EPA proposes to revise §273.39 and §273.62 to explicitly allow large quantity 

handlers and destination facilities to use the movement document to comply with the record 

requirements for individual universal waste shipment tracking. 

EPA requests comments on the impact of these changes, the number of universal waste 

shipments affected by these changes, and whether any additional clarification is needed. 

IV. COSTS AND BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED RULE 

A. Introduction 

 The Agency’s economic assessment conducted in support of this proposed action 

evaluates costs, cost savings, benefits, and other impacts, such as environmental justice, 

children’s health, unfunded mandates, regulatory takings, and small entity impacts. To conduct 
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this analysis, we developed and implemented a methodology for examining impacts, and 

followed appropriate guidelines and procedures for examining equity considerations, children’s 

health, and other impacts. 

B. Analytical Scope 

This economic analysis assesses the costs and cost savings of the proposed rule. It 

estimates the unit costs for each provision of the rule and applies these values to the number of 

affected entities, and it employs a “model entity” approach to estimate the cost and cost savings 

associated with the proposed rule, applying average costs by entity type (i.e., exporter, importer, 

transporter, or recognized trader) and foreign trade partner. The costs (and cost savings) of the 

proposed rule are estimated over a twenty-year time horizon and using a seven percent discount 

rate. 

The analysis conducted for this proposal is a simple cost assessment. We do not attempt 

to estimate the social costs and benefits associated with this action. This is consistent with 

Executive Order 12866, which requires a full Regulatory Impact Analysis only for actions 

having an estimated impact on society of greater than $100 million per year. 

C. Cost Impacts 

Industry will incur costs to familiarize itself with the requirements of the rule and comply 

with each of the provisions described in the summary of the proposed rule and changes. The 

most significant costs to industry under the proposed rule are associated with the movement 

document and the confirmation of recovery/disposal requirements. As a result of the rule, the 

annualized costs to industry are estimated to be about $1.5 million with roughly $450,000 in 

annualized cost savings, or $1.0 million in annualized net costs, using a 7 percent discount rate. 
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EPA will also incur costs review and maintain records of movement documents and 

confirmations of recovery or disposal, issue EPA ID numbers to recognized traders, and develop 

and maintain enhancements to WIETS to facilitate electronic submittal of export and importrelated documents. The one-time, initial WIETS development costs will be between 

approximately $230,000 and $380,000. After the electronic system is fully operational (i.e., after 

the first year), the proposed rule will result in Agency costs of between approximately $760,000 

and $880,000. EPA will also experience Agency cost savings including the burden reduction 

associated with no longer responding to exporter inquiries via telephone and avoided manual 

data entry of export notices and annual reports in WIETS. These cost savings will be 

approximately $230,000 each year. Thus, the proposed rule will result in annualized Agency 

costs of between $770,000 and $890,000 and cost savings of $230,000, or between $530,000 and 

$660,000 in annualized net costs, using a 7 percent discount rate. 

D. Benefits 

In addition to the $450k in savings to the industry and $230k to the Agency, there are a 

number of qualitative benefits associated with the rule. Due to data availability, EPA could not 

quantify all the benefits, such as human health benefits from increased compliance with the rule. 

In addition, the rule will: 

 Enhance EPA tracking of exporter, importer, and recognized trader activities; 

 Reduce risks associated with recovery and disposal of hazardous wastes; 

 Improve the ability to acquire information regarding the quantities of hazardous waste 

shipments exported from the United States and the destination facilities to which the 

shipments are exported; 

 Increase regulatory efficiency; 
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 Achieve full consistency with export and import requirements for OECD countries 

for all exports and imports with Canada, Mexico and non-OECD countries; and 

 Time savings for industry and EPA related to electronic submittal. 

V. STATE AUTHORIZATION 

A. Applicability of Rules in Authorized States 

Under section 3006 of RCRA, EPA may authorize qualified States to administer their 

own hazardous waste programs in lieu of the federal program within the State. Following 

authorization, EPA retains enforcement authority under sections 3008, 3013, and 7003 of RCRA, 

although authorized States have primary enforcement responsibility. The standards and 

requirements for State authorization are found at 40 CFR part 271. 

Prior to enactment of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA), a 

State with final RCRA authorization administered its hazardous waste program entirely in lieu of 

EPA administering the federal program in that State. The federal requirements no longer applied 

in the authorized State, and EPA could not issue permits for any facilities in that State, since only 

the State was authorized to issue RCRA permits. When new, more stringent federal requirements 

were promulgated, the State was obligated to enact equivalent authorities within specified time 

frames. However, the new federal requirements did not take effect in an authorized State until 

the State adopted the federal requirements as State law. 

In contrast, under RCRA section 3006(g) (42 U.S.C. 6926(g)), which was added by 

HSWA, new requirements and prohibitions imposed under HSWA authority take effect in 

authorized States at the same time that they take effect in unauthorized States. EPA is directed by 

the statute to implement these requirements and prohibitions in authorized States, including the 

issuance of permits, until the State is granted authorization to do so. While States must still adopt 
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HSWA related provisions as State law to retain final authorization, EPA implements the HSWA 

provisions in authorized States until the States do so. 

Authorized States are required to modify their programs only when EPA enacts federal 

requirements that are more stringent or broader in scope than existing federal requirements. 

RCRA section 3009 allows the States to impose standards more stringent than those in the 

federal program (see also 40 CFR 271.1). Therefore, authorized States may, but are not required 

to, adopt federal regulations, both HSWA and non-HSWA, that are considered less stringent than 

previous federal regulations. 

B. Effect on State Authorization 

Because of the federal government’s special role in matters of foreign policy, EPA does 

not authorize States to administer Federal import/export functions in any section of the RCRA 

hazardous waste regulations. This approach of having Federal, rather than State, administering of 

the import/export functions promotes national coordination, uniformity and the expeditious 

transmission of information between the United States and foreign countries. 

Although States do not receive authorization to administer the Federal government’s 

export functions in 40 CFR Part 262, Subpart E, import functions in 40 CFR Part 262, subpart F, 

import/export functions in 40 CFR Part 262, subpart H, or the import/export relation functions in 

any other section of the RCRA hazardous waste regulations, State programs are still required to 

adopt the provisions in today’s rule to maintain their equivalency with the Federal program (see 

40 CFR 271.10(e) which will also be amended in this rule). 

Today’s rule contains many amendments to 40 CFR Part 262, subpart H, both for clarity 

and organization, and replaces the regulations that are currently in 40 CFR Part 262, Subpart E 

and F with the more stringent subpart H regulations. The rule also contains conforming import 
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and export-related amendments to 40 CFR parts 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 271 and 

273, almost all of which are more stringent. 

The States that have already adopted 40 CFR Part 262, Subparts E, F and H, 40 CFR Part 

263, 40 CFR Part 264, 40 CFR Part 265, and any other import/export related regulations must 

adopt the provisions listed above. 

When a State adopts the import/export provisions in this rule (if final), they must not 

replace Federal or international references or terms with State references or terms. 

The provisions of today’s rule, if final, would take effect in all States on the effective date 

of the rule, since these import and export requirements will be administered by the Federal 

government as a foreign policy matter, and will not be administered by States. 

Finally, EPA would make conforming amendments to 40 CFR 271.10(e) of EPA’s state 

authorization regulations to remove the references to 40 CFR Part 262 Subparts E and F, and to 

replace them with a reference to 40 CFR Part 262 Subpart H. As currently written, state 

programs are required to provide “requirements respecting international shipments which are 

equivalent to those at 40 CFR Part 262 Subparts E and F, except that ...” This current language 

would no longer be accurate since this rule, if final, would eliminate Subparts E and F and 

replace them with Subpart H, along with any other import/export related regulations. 

VI. STATUTORY AND EXECUTIVE ORDER REVIEWS 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive Order 13563: 

Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review 

This action is a significant regulatory action that was submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for review, because it may raise novel legal or policy issues 

[3(f)(4)] arising out of legal mandates, although it is not economically significant. Any changes 
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made in response to OMB recommendations have been documented in the docket. The EPA 

prepared an economic analysis of the potential costs and benefits associated with this action. 

This analysis, “Assessment of the Potential Costs, Benefits, and Other Impacts of the Hazardous 

Waste Export-Import Revisions Rule”, is available in the docket. Interested persons are 

encouraged to read and comment on this document. 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

The information collection activities in this proposed rule have been submitted for 

approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the PRA. The Information 

Collection Request (ICR) document that the EPA prepared has been assigned EPA ICR number 

2519.01. You can find a copy of the ICR in the docket for this rule, and it is briefly summarized 

here. 

The requirements covered in this ICR are necessary for EPA to oversee the international 

trade of hazardous wastes. EPA is promulgating the above regulatory changes/amendments 

under the authority of Sections 1006, 1007, 2002(a), 3001-3010, 3013-3015, and 3017 of the 

Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

(RCRA), and as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments, 42 U.S.C. 6905, 

6906, 6912, 6921-6930, 6934, and 6938. 

The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. EPA, uses the information 

provided by each U.S. exporter, receiving facility, transporter, and recognized trader to 

determine compliance with the applicable RCRA regulatory provisions. In addition, the 

information is used to determine the number, origin, destination, and type of exports from and 

imports to the U.S. for tracking purposes and for reporting to the OECD. This information also is 

used to assess the efficiency of the program. 
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Most of the information required by the regulations covered by this ICR is not available 

from any source but the respondents. In certain occasions, such as the notification of intent to 

export hazardous waste, EPA allows the primary exporter to submit one notice that covers 

activities over a period of twelve months. 

Except as described below, the proposed rule does not result in the collection of duplicate 

data. Although some of the information required for the hazardous waste manifest and the 

movement document is substantively the same, up to six pieces of additional information are 

required for the movement document. In addition, these two documents serve different purposes. 

A signed copy of the hazardous waste manifest, which is not valid beyond U.S. borders, is 

dropped off at the U.S. Customs check point when the shipment leaves the U.S. to verify 

pertinent information, including point of departure, date, destination, and contents of the 

shipment. The movement document must accompany the shipment until it reaches the foreign 

recovery facility. The signed movement document is subsequently returned to EPA and the U.S. 

exporter to acknowledge receipt of the shipment. 

In certain cases, some of the information on the tracking document also may be collected 

by the Department of Commerce in its Census Bureau form titled "Shipper's Export Declaration" 

(15 CFR Part 30). This form, which is required for all shipments that have a value in excess of 

$2,500, must be filed at the U.S. port of exit, similar to the current export requirements. 

However, the information currently contained in the Census Bureau's form is not adequate for 

EPA's purpose of tracking and identifying the export of hazardous waste from the U.S. For 

example, the wastes are identified by tariff codes that are less precise than the waste codes 

required by the tracking document. 
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Section 3007(b) of RCRA and 40 CFR Part 2, subpart B, which defines EPA’s general 

policy on public disclosure of information, contain provisions for confidentiality. However, the 

Agency does not anticipate that businesses will assert a claim of confidentiality covering all or 

part of the proposed rule. If such a claim were asserted, EPA must and will treat the information 

in accordance with the regulations cited above. EPA also will assure that this information 

collection complies with the Privacy Act of 1974 and OMB Circular 108. 

Respondents/affected entities: Importers, exporters, and recycling and disposal facilities. 

Respondent’s obligation to respond: Mandatory (RCRA 3002 (42 USC 6922) and RCRA 3003 

(42 USC 6923)). 

Estimated number of respondents: 1,305. 

Frequency of response: Annual or on occasion. 

Total estimated burden: 43,212 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). 

Total estimated cost: $1,128,472, includes $12,677 annualized capital or operation & 

maintenance costs. 

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 

collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB 

control numbers for the EPA’s regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9. 

Submit your comments on the Agency’s need for this information, the accuracy of the 

provided burden estimates and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden to the 

EPA using the docket identified at the beginning of this rule. You may also send your ICRrelated comments to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs via email to 

oria_submissions@omb.eop.gov, Attention: Desk Officer for the EPA. Since OMB is required to 

make a decision concerning the ICR between 30 and 60 days after receipt, OMB must receive 
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comments no later than [insert date 30 days after publication in the Federal Register]. The EPA 

will respond to any ICR-related comments in the final rule. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities under the RFA. The small entities subject to the requirements of this 

action are exporters, importers, transporters, and recognized traders. The Agency has determined 

that between 30 and 45 percent of exporters, importers, and recognized traders, and 

approximately 80 percent of transporters, are small entities, for a total of 596 small entities, may 

experience an impact of approximately $40 to $22,000 per year, or between 0.1 and 0.3 percent 

of annual revenues. Thus, the average costs of the proposed rule, on a per entity basis, will not 

exceed one percent of annual revenues for any respondent. Details of this analysis are presented 

in “Assessment of the Potential Costs, Benefits, and Other Impacts of the Hazardous Waste 

Export-Import Revisions Rule” which is available in the docket. 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 

This action does not contain an unfunded mandate of $100 million or more as described 

in UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531–1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect small governments. 

Further, UMRA does not apply to the portions of this action concerning application of OECD 

import and export procedures because those portions are necessary for the national security or 

the ratification or implementation of international treaty obligations (i.e., the 1986 OECD 

Decision-Recommendation and the Amended 2001 OECD Decision). 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This action does not have federalism implications because the state and local 

governments do not administer the export and import requirements under RCRA. It will not have 
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substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between the national government and 

the states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 

government. 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments 

This action does not have tribal implications as specified in Executive Order 13175. No 

exporters, importers or transporters affected by this action are known to be owned by Tribal 

governments or located within or adjacent to Tribal lands. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not 

apply to this action. 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 

Risks 

The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those regulatory actions 

that concern environmental health or safety risks that the EPA has reason to believe may 

disproportionately affect children, per the definition of “covered regulatory action” in section 2-

202 of the Executive Order. This action is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it is not 

economically significant as defined in Executive Order 12866, and because the EPA does not 

believe the environmental health or safety risks addressed by this action present a 

disproportionate risk to children. The procedural requirements in this action should prevent 

mismanagement of hazardous wastes in foreign countries and better document proper 

management of imported hazardous wastes in the United States. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect Energy 

Supply, Distribution, or Use 

This action is not a “significant energy action” because it is not likely to have a 

significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution or use of energy. This action will have little 
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to no effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy, as this action is intended to prevent 

mismanagement of hazardous wastes in foreign countries and better document proper 

management of imported hazardous wastes in the United States. 

I. National Technology Transfer Advancement Act (NTTAA) 

This rulemaking does not involve technical standards. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low-Income Populations 

The EPA believes the human health or environmental risk addressed by this action will 

not have potential disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on 

minority, low-income or indigenous populations because this action should prevent 

mismanagement of hazardous wastes in foreign countries and better document proper 

management of imported hazardous wastes in the United States. Specifically, this action is 

designed to increase tracking of individual hazardous waste import and export shipments, 

improve regulatory efficiency and improve information collection on imports and exports of 

hazardous wastes subject to RCRA notice and consent requirements. 

K. Executive Order 13659: Streamlining the Export/Import Process for America’s Businesses 

Executive Order 13659, titled “Streamlining the Export/Import Process for America’s 

Business” (79 FR 10657, February 25, 2014), establishes federal executive policy on improving 

the technologies, policies, and other controls governing the movement of goods across our 

national borders. It directs participating agencies to have capabilities, agreements, and other 

requirements in place by December 31, 2016, to utilize the ITDS and supporting systems as the 

primary means of receiving from users the standard set of data and other relevant documentation 

(exclusive of applications for permits, licenses, or certifications) required for the release of 
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imported cargo and clearance of cargo for export. To meet the requirement of the E.O., portions 

of this proposed action directly propose requiring exporters subject to RCRA export consent 

requirements to electronically file consent related data within the AES, the supporting IT system 

for exports under the ITDS. Additionally, this action improves regulatory efficiency related to 

hazardous waste imports and exports by consolidating import and export procedures for 

hazardous waste into one set of procedures that are widely accepted by other countries, and by 

replacing existing submittals to EPA of paper documentation related to hazardous waste imports 

and exports with electronic submittal into EPA’s hazardous waste import/export database. Thus, 

this action is consistent with the purpose of Executive Order 13659, and is a necessary first step 

in complying with it. 

VII. 2013 CEC Report on Spent Lead Acid Batteries and Related Analysis 

On February 8, 2012, the Secretariat for the CEC20 began to examine the environmental 

and public health issues associated with the transboundary movement of SLABs across North 

America. EPA provided data to the CEC and submitted technical comments on the CEC’s draft 

report released on November 30, 2012. The CEC’s final report,21 issued on April 15, 2013, 

included the following conclusions: Mexico’s existing regulatory framework covering secondary 

lead smelters has significant gaps and is the furthest from the United States’ standards, which has 

the most stringent overall regulatory framework of the three countries; between 2004 and 2011, 

U.S. net exports to Mexico increased by an estimated 449-525 percent; and, there were 

significant discrepancies between summary data on export shipments reported to the EPA 

 

20 The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an international organization created by Canada, 

Mexico and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The 

CEC was established, among other things, to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade 

and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. The Agreement 

complements the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). More 

information on the CEC is available on its website at www.cec.org. 21 http://www.cec.org/Storage/149/17479_CEC_Secretariat-SLABs_Report_may7_en_web.pdf
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annually and individual export shipment data collected under U.S. Census Bureau (Census) 

authority. 

The CEC’s review of the EPA and Census data found that the Census data on SLAB 

exports to Mexico in 2011 was 47.35 million kg lower than the data from EPA, which could 

indicate that exporters of SLABs may not be correctly applying the proper harmonized tariff 

code. Additionally, the CEC’s review found that 2.1 million kg of SLABs were exported to 47 

countries where EPA had no record of having obtained consent from those countries to receive 

SLABs while 571.55 million kg of SLABs total were exported with EPA and the receiving 

country’s consent. 

The final report recommended that the U.S. require the use of manifests for each 

international shipment of SLABs, and require exporters to obtain a certificate of recovery from 

recycling facilities to better track individual shipments and thereby ensure that shipments go to 

the approved destination facility and are recycled in a timely manner. Further, the report 

recommended that the U.S. explore establishing a system to allow exporters to submit export 

annual report data electronically to reduce the time and resources needed by the agency to 

manually enter the data from the paper export annual reports. Lastly, the report recommended 

that the U.S. work to share the import and export data maintained by its respective environmental 

and border agencies to identify trends that may require a policy response or that may raise 

compliance issues. 

After reviewing the CEC report, EPA independently compared SLAB export annual 

report data submitted to EPA and Census data on exports of SLABs being shipped for recovery 
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of lead22 from 2012. The results were very similar to the analysis of the 2011 EPA and Census 

data conducted by the CEC. While most of the tons of SLABs exported for recycling in 2012 

occurred with the consent of Mexico, Canada, Korea and Spain, a much smaller total quantity of 

SLABs was shipped to 48 countries apparently without consent. Specifically looking at SLAB 

export shipments to Mexico, 51,805 tons of SLABs were exported with consent but without 

declaring the correct Schedule B commodity classification number. Export shipment declarations 

that misclassify the hazardous waste are of concern because the misclassification can cause 

confusion for the Customs offices in the various countries. Also, if the misclassification is shared 

with the shipping company taking the shipment out of the United States, the misclassification 

can complicate any emergency response to an incident involving the shipment while it is in 

transit. The data appear to indicate that misclassification accounts for most or nearly all of the 

discrepancies in the case of SLAB exports to Mexico. Nevertheless, significant discrepancies on 

SLAB shipment data when comparing export annual report data reported to EPA with data 

compiled from exporter declarations reported to the U.S. Census Bureau, suggest export 

shipments have occurred that are not in compliance with EPA’s notice and consent procedures. 

Subsequent efforts to compare EPA’s export annual report data and U.S. Census Bureau 

data for other exported hazardous wastes proved to be much more difficult. Exports of a number 

of chemical industry related wastes are not currently required to report exported quantities based 

on their Schedule B commodity codes.23 Exports of other hazardous wastes, such as hazardous 

 

22 Shipments were classified as 8548.10.0540 (“lead-acid storage batteries of a kind used for starting engines, for the 

recovery of lead”) and 8548.10.0580 (“spent primary cells, spent primary batteries, & spent electric storage batteries 

for recovery of lead, other than lead-acid storage batteries for starting engines”), under the U.S. Census Bureau’s 

Schedule B commodity classifications (“Schedule B: Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign 

Commodities Exported from the United States”), http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/ 23 Reporting units for Schedule B commodity codes 3825.41.0000 (Halogenated waste of organic solvents), 

3825.49.0000 (Waste of organic solvents, NESOI), 3825.50.0000 (Waste of metal-pickling liquors, hydraulic fluids, 

brake fluids and anti-freeze fluids), 3825.61.0000 (Wastes from the chemical or allied industry consisting mainly of 

organic constituents, NESOI), 3825.69.0000 (Wastes from the chemical or allied industries, NESOI), and 
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waste spent catalysts, could be declared under Schedule B commodity codes24 that cover exports 

of new catalysts as well as export of spent catalysts subject to RCRA export requirements. 

However, given the discrepancies between SLAB export annual report data submitted to EPA 

and SLAB export data from the U.S. Census Bureau, it is possible that similar differences are 

occurring for other exported hazardous wastes. 

When hazardous waste is shipped across multiple countries to be disposed or recycled, 

there can be a higher risk of mismanagement that could result in damage to the environment and 

human health in the surrounding communities. This higher risk is due to the increased number of 

custodial transfers that international shipments incur, the entry and exit procedures (and 

associated temporary storage) at the ports and border crossings for the countries of export, transit 

and import, and the varying levels of environmental controls and worker safety practices at the 

destination facilities. The risk is highest when shipments are sent to unapproved facilities. 

According to the executive summary for the October 2012 OECD publication titled “Illegal 

Trade in Environmentally Sensitive Goods”25 the economic and environmental impacts of illegal 

hazardous waste disposal include (1) the undermining of legitimate hazardous waste treatment 

and disposal companies, (2) lead poisoning, (3) cancer, (4) and lung and kidney disease. World 

Health Organization fact sheets26 on the effects of exposures to cadmium, lead, mercury and 

arsenic make clear the significant potential impact to public health from releases to the 

environment from illegal management of hazardous waste. 

 

3825.90.0000 (Wastes, as specified in note 6 to chapter 38, NESOI) are “X”, indicating reporting shipment 

quantities in the Automated Export System is not required. 

24 3815.11.0000 (Supported catalysts: with nickel or nickel compounds as the active substance), 3815.12.0000 

(Supported catalysts: with precious metal or precious metal compounds as the active substance), 3815.19.0000 

(Supported catalysts, NESOI).

25 http://www.oecd.org/tad/envtrade/ExecutiveSummaryIllegalTradeEnvSensitiveGoods.pdf 26 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/en/ 
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The concerns with lead exposures from SLAB recycling in other countries have been 

relatively well documented, and were generally discussed in the October 6, 2008, rulemaking 

proposing to make SLAB exports subject to notice and consent requirements (see section D.2 in 

74 FR 58388). The 2013 CEC report also discussed in some detail the potential damage to 

human health and the environment when the lead exposures are not kept to a minimum. 

Domestic examples of damage from mismanagement at recycling operations were examined in 

the Definition of Solid Waste proposed rule published on July 22, 2011 (see 76 FR 44094), and 

in the 2014 final rule published on January 13, 2015 (see 80 FR 1694). In Exhibit 8B of the 

Regulatory Impact Analysis for EPA’s 2014 Revisions to the Industrial Recycling Exclusions of 

the RCRA Definition of Solid Waste,27 based on the cleanup costs associated with 115 of the 250 

Industrial Recycling Environmental Damage Cases that occurred in the United States between 

1982 and 2011, the nationwide average cleanup expenditure per damage case was $7.8 million 

(in 2012 dollars). These damage cases included facilities recycling batteries, mercury wastes, and 

spent solvents. It is likely that similar or worse damage cases from these types of facilities exist 

in other countries. 

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 260 

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, Confidential business 

information, Hazardous waste 

 

27 “Regulatory Impact Analysis: EPA’s 2014 Revisions to the Industrial Recycling Exclusions of the RCRA 

Definition of Solid Waste”, November 26, 2014, http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQRCRA-2010-0742-0369. 
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40 CFR Part 261 

Environmental protection, Hazardous materials, Intergovernmental relations, Recycling, Waste 

treatment and disposal 

40 CFR Part 262 

Environmental protection, Exports, Hazardous materials transportation, Hazardous waste, 

Imports, International organizations, Labeling, Packaging and containers, Recycling, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements 

40 CFR Part 263 

Environmental protection, Exports, Hazardous materials transportation 

40 CFR Part 264 

Environmental protection, Hazardous waste, Imports, Packaging and containers, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements 

40 CFR Part 265 

Environmental protection, Hazardous waste, Imports, Packaging and containers, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements 

40 CFR Part 266 

Environmental protection, Exports, Hazardous recyclable materials, Imports, Precious metal 

recovery, Recycling, Spent Lead-Acid Batteries, Waste treatment and disposal 

40 CFR Part 271 

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, Hazardous materials 

transportation, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements 

40 CFR Part 273 
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Environmental protection, Exports, Imports, Universal waste 

Dated: 

 

Gina McCarthy, 

Administrator. 

For the reasons stated in the preamble, title 40, chapter 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 

proposed to be amended as follows. 

PART 260—HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: GENERAL 

1. The authority citation for part 260 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921-6927, 6930, 6934, 6935, 6937, 6938, 6939, and 

6974. 

2. Section 260.10 is revised by adding the following: 

* * * * * 

Recognized trader means a person domiciled in the United States, by site of business, 

who acts to arrange and facilitate transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery or 

disposal operations, either by purchasing from and subsequently selling to U.S. and foreign 

facilities, or by acting under arrangements with a U.S. waste facility to arrange for the export or 

import of the wastes. 

* * * * * 
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3. Section 260.11(g)(1) is revised to read as follows: 

(g) The following materials are available for purchase from the Organization for 

Economic Cooperation and Development, Environment Directorate, 2 rue André Pascal, F75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. 

(1) The OECD waste lists, as set forth in Annex B (“Green List”) and Annex C (“Amber 

List”) (collectively “OECD waste lists”) of the 2009 “Guidance Manual for the Implementation 

of Council Decision C(2001)107/FINAL, as Amended, on the Control of Transboundary 

Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations,” IBR approved for 262.89 of this 

chapter. 

* * * * * 

PART 261—IDENTIFICATION AND LISTING OF HAZARDOUS WASTE 

4. The authority citation for part 261 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921, 6922, 6924(y) and 6938. 

5. Section 261.4(d) is revised to read as follows: 

(d) Samples. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (d)(2) and (d)(4) of this section, a 

sample of solid waste or a sample of water, soil, or air, which is collected for the sole purpose of 

testing to determine its characteristics or composition, is not subject to any requirements of this 

part or parts 262 through 268 or part 270 or part 124 of this chapter or to the notification 

requirements of section 3010 of RCRA, when: 

* * * * * 

 (4) In order to qualify for the exemption in paragraphs (d)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section, 

samples that will be exported to a foreign laboratory or that will be imported to a U.S. laboratory 

from a foreign source must weigh no more than 25 kg. 
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6. Section 261.4(e) is revised to read as follows: 

(e) Treatability Study Samples. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(4) of 

this section, persons who generate or collect samples for the purpose of conducting treatability 

studies as defined in section 260.10, are not subject to any requirement of parts 261 through 263 

of this chapter or to the notification requirements of Section 3010 of RCRA, nor are such 

samples included in the quantity determinations of §261.5 and §262.34(d) when: 

* * * * * 

 (4) In order to qualify for the exemption in paragraph (e)(1) (i) of this section, samples 

that will be exported to a foreign laboratory or testing facility, or that will be imported to a U.S. 

laboratory or testing facility from a foreign source must weigh no more than 25 kg. 

7. Section 261.6(a) is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

(3) The following recyclable materials are not subject to regulation under parts 262 through 

parts 268, 270 or 124 of this chapter, and are not subject to the notification requirements of 

section 3010 of RCRA: 

(i) Industrial ethyl alcohol that is reclaimed except that exports and imports of such 

recyclable materials must comply with the requirements of 40 CFR part 262, subpart H. 

* * * * * 

(5) Hazardous waste that is exported or imported for purpose of recovery is subject to the 

requirements of 40 CFR part 262, subpart H. 

* * * * * 
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8. Section 261.39(a)(5) is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

(ii) Notifications must be submitted electronically using EPA’s hazardous waste import/export 

database. 

* * * * * 

(v) The export of CRTs is prohibited unless (A) the receiving country consents to the 

intended export. When the receiving country consents in writing to the receipt of the CRTs, EPA 

will forward an Acknowledgment of Consent to Export CRTs to the exporter. Where the 

receiving country objects to receipt of the CRTs or withdraws a prior consent, EPA will notify 

the exporter in writing. EPA will also notify the exporter of any responses from transit countries. 

(B) The exporter or a U.S. authorized agent: 

(1) Submits Electronic Export Information (EEI) for each shipment to the Automated 

Export System (AES), under the International Trade Data System (ITDS) platform, in 

accordance with 15 CFR 30.4(b). 

(2) Includes the following items in the EEI, along with the other information required 

under 15 CFR 30.6: 

(a) EPA license code; 

(b) Commodity classification code per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(12); 

(c) EPA consent number; 

(d) Country of ultimate destination per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(5); 

(e) Date of export per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(2); 
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(f) Quantity of waste in shipment and units for reported quantity, if required 

reporting units established by value for the reported commodity classification number are in 

units of weight or volume per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(15); or 

(g) EPA net quantity reported in units of kilograms if solid or in units of liters if liquid, if 

required reporting units established by value for the reported commodity classification number 

are not in units of weight or volume. 

(vi) When the conditions specified on the original notification change, the exporter must 

provide EPA with a written renotification of the change using the allowable methods listed in 

paragraph (a)(5)(ii) of this section, except for changes to the telephone number in paragraph 

(a)(5)(i)(A) of this section and decreases in the quantity indicated pursuant to paragraph 

(a)(5)(i)(C) of this section. The shipment cannot take place until consent of the receiving country 

to the changes has been obtained (except for changes to information about points of entry and 

departure and transit countries pursuant to paragraphs (a)(5)(i)(D) and (a)(5)(i)(H) of this 

section) and the exporter of CRTs receives from EPA a copy of the Acknowledgment of Consent 

to Export CRTs reflecting the receiving country's consent to the changes. 

* * * * * 

(xi) Annual reports must be submitted to the office listed using the allowable methods 

specified in paragraph (a)(5)(ii) of this section. Exporters must keep copies of each annual report 

for a period of at least three years from the due date of the report. 

* * * * * 

PART 262—STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO GENERATORS OF HAZARDOUS 

WASTE 

9. The authority citation for part 262 continues to read as follows: 
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Authority: 42 U.S.C 6906, 6912, 6922-6925, 6937, and 6938. 

10. Section 262.10(d) is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

(d) Any person who exports or imports hazardous wastes must comply with §262.12 and 

subpart H of this part. 

* * * * * 

11. Section 262.12 is revised by adding new paragraph (d) to read as follows: 

(a) *** 

(b) *** 

(c) *** 

(d) A recognized trader must not arrange for import or export of hazardous waste without 

having received an EPA identification number from the Administrator. 

12. Section 262.41(b) is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

(b) Exports of hazardous waste to foreign countries are not required to be reported on the 

Biennial Report form. A separate annual report requirement is set forth at 40 CFR 262.83(g) for 

hazardous waste exporters. 

* * * * * 

13. Remove and reserve subpart E, consisting of §§262.50 through 262.58. 

Subpart E—[Removed and Reserved] 

14. Remove and reserve subpart F, consisting of §262.60. 

Subpart F—[Removed and Reserved] 
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15. Subpart H is revised to read as follows: 

Subpart H—TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE FOR 

RECOVERY OR DISPOSAL 

§262.80 Applicability. 

(a) The requirements of this subpart apply to imports and exports of hazardous wastes. 

(b) Any person (including exporter, importer, disposal facility operator, or recovery facility 

operator) who mixes two or more wastes (including hazardous and non-hazardous wastes) or 

otherwise subjects two or more wastes (including hazardous and non-hazardous wastes) to 

physical or chemical transformation operations, and thereby creates a new hazardous waste, 

becomes a generator and assumes all subsequent generator duties under RCRA and any exporter 

duties, if applicable, under this subpart. 

§262.81 Definitions. 

In addition to the definitions set forth at 40 CFR 260.10, the following definitions apply to this 

subpart. 

Competent authority means the regulatory authority or authorities of concerned countries having 

jurisdiction over transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery operations. 

Countries concerned means the countries of export or import and any countries of transit. 

Country of export means any country from which a transboundary movement of hazardous 

wastes is planned to be initiated or is initiated. 
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Country of import means any country to which a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes 

is planned or takes place for the purpose of submitting the wastes to recovery or disposal 

operations therein. 

Country of transit means any country other than the country of export or country of import 

across which a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes is planned or takes place. 

Disposal operations means activities which do not lead to the possibility of resource recovery, 

recycling, reclamation, direct re-use or alternate uses, which include: 

D1 Release or Deposit into or onto land, other than by any of operations D2-D5 or D12. 

D2 Land treatment, such as biodegradation of liquids or sludges in soils. 

D3 Deep injection, such as injection into wells, salt domes or naturally occurring repositories. 

D4 Surface impoundment, such as placing of liquids or sludges into pits, ponds or lagoons. 

D5 Specially engineered landfill, such as placement into lined discrete cells which are capped 

and isolated from one another and the environment. 

D6 Release into a water body other than a sea or ocean, and other than by operation D4. 

D7 Release into a sea or ocean, including sea-bed insertion, other than by operation D4. 

D8 Biological treatment not specified elsewhere in operations D1-D12, which results in final 

compounds or mixtures which are discarded by means of any of operations D1-D12 

D9 Physical or chemical treatment not specified elsewhere in operations D1-D12, such as 

evaporation, drying, calcination, neutralization, or precipitation, which results in final 

compounds or mixtures which are discarded by means of any of operations D1-D12 

D10 Incineration on land 
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D11 Incineration at sea 

D12 Permanent storage 

D13 Blending or mixing, prior to any of operations D1-D12 

D14 Repackaging, prior to any of operations D1-D13 

D15 (or DC17 for transboundary movements with Canada only) Interim Storage, prior to any of 

operations D1-D12 

DC15 Release, including the venting of compressed or liquified gases, or treatment, other than 

by any of operations D1 to D12 (for transboundary movements with Canada only). 

DC16 Testing of a new technology to dispose of a hazardous waste (for transboundary 

movements with Canada only). 

EPA Acknowledgment of Consent (AOC) means the letter EPA sends to the exporter 

documenting the specific terms of the country of import’s consent and the country(ies) of 

transit’s consent(s). The AOC meets the definition of an export license in U.S. Census Bureau 

regulations 15 CFR 30.1. 

Export means the transportation of hazardous waste from a location under the jurisdiction of the 

United States to a location under the jurisdiction of another country, or a location not under the 

jurisdiction of any country, for the purposes of recovery or disposal operations therein. 

Exporter, also known as primary exporter on the RCRA hazardous waste manifest, means the 

person domiciled in the United States who is required to originate the movement document in 

accordance with 40 CFR 262.83(d) or the manifest for a shipment of hazardous waste in 

accordance with 40 CFR part 262, subpart B, or equivalent State provision, which specifies a 

foreign receiving facility as the facility to which the hazardous wastes will be sent, or any 
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recognized trader who proposes export of the hazardous wastes for recovery or disposal 

operations in the country of import. 

Foreign Exporter means the person under the jurisdiction of the country of export who has, or 

will have at the time the planned transboundary movement commences, possession or other 

forms of legal control of the hazardous wastes and who proposes shipment of the hazardous 

wastes to the United States for recovery or disposal operations. 

Foreign Importer means the person to whom possession or other form of legal control of the 

hazardous waste is assigned at the time the exported hazardous waste is received in the country 

of import. 

Foreign Receiving Facility means a facility which, under the importing country’s applicable 

domestic law, is operating or is authorized to operate in the country of import to receive the 

hazardous wastes and to perform recovery or disposal operations on them. 

Import means the transportation of hazardous waste from a location under the jurisdiction of 

another country to a location under the jurisdiction of the United States for the purposes of 

recovery or disposal operations therein. 

Importer means the person to whom possession or other form of legal control of the hazardous 

waste is assigned at the time the imported hazardous waste is received in the United States. 

OECD area means all land or marine areas under the national jurisdiction of any OECD Member 

country. When the regulations refer to shipments to or from an OECD Member country, this 

means OECD area. 

OECD means the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 
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OECD Member country means the countries that are members of the OECD and participate in 

the Amended 2001 OECD Decision. (EPA provides a list of OECD Member countries at [cite to 

URL of EPA’s website that will maintain OECD member country list]. 

Receiving facility means a U.S. facility which, under RCRA and other applicable domestic laws, 

is operating or is authorized to operate to receive hazardous wastes and to perform recovery or 

disposal operations on them. 

Recovery operations means activities leading to resource recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct 

re-use or alternative uses, which include: 

R1 Use as a fuel (other than in direct incineration) or other means to generate energy. 

R2 Solvent reclamation/regeneration. 

R3 Recycling/reclamation of organic substances which are not used as solvents. 

R4 Recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds. 

R5 Recycling/reclamation of other inorganic materials. 

R6 Regeneration of acids or bases. 

R7 Recovery of components used for pollution abatement. 

R8 Recovery of components used from catalysts. 

R9 Used oil re-refining or other reuses of previously used oil. 

R10 Land treatment resulting in benefit to agriculture or ecological improvement. 

R11 Uses of residual materials obtained from any of the operations numbered R1-R10 or RC14 

(for transboundary shipments with Canada only). 
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R12 Exchange of wastes for submission to any of the operations numbered R1-R11 or RC14 (for 

transboundary shipments with Canada only). 

R13 Accumulation of material intended for any operation numbered R1-R12 or RC14 (for 

transboundary shipments with Canada only). 

RC14 Recovery or regeneration of a substance or use or re-use of a recyclable material, other 

than by any of operations R1 to R10 (for transboundary shipments with Canada only). 

RC15 Testing of a new technology to recycle a hazardous recyclable material (for transboundary 

shipments with Canada only). 

RC16 Interim storage prior to any of operations R1 to R11 or RC14 (for transboundary 

shipments with Canada only). 

Transboundary movement means any movement of hazardous wastes from an area under the 

national jurisdiction of one country to an area under the national jurisdiction of another country. 

§262.82 General conditions. 

(a) Scope. The level of control for exports and imports of waste is indicated by 

assignment of the waste to either a list of wastes subject to the Green control procedures or a list 

of wastes subject to the Amber control procedures and whether the waste is or is not hazardous 

waste. The OECD Green and Amber lists are incorporated by reference in §262.89. 

(1) Green list wastes. (i) Green wastes that are not hazardous wastes are subject to 

existing controls normally applied to commercial transactions, and are not subject to the 

requirements of this subpart. 

(ii) Green wastes that are hazardous wastes are subject to the requirements of this 

subpart. 
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(2) Amber list wastes. (i) Amber wastes that are hazardous wastes are subject to the 

requirements of this subpart, even if they are imported to or exported from a country that does 

not consider the waste to be hazardous or control the transboundary shipment as a hazardous 

waste import or export. 

(A) For exports, the exporter must comply with §262.83. 

(B) For imports, the recovery or disposal facility and the importer must comply with 

§262.84. 

(ii) Amber wastes that are not hazardous wastes, but are considered hazardous by the 

other country are subject to the Amber control procedures in the country that considers the waste 

hazardous, and are not subject to the requirements of this subpart. All responsibilities of the 

importer or exporter shift to the foreign importer or foreign exporter in the other country that 

considers the waste hazardous unless the parties make other arrangements through contracts. 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (a)(2): Some Amber list wastes are not listed or otherwise 

identified as hazardous under RCRA, and therefore are not subject to the requirements of this 

subpart. Regardless of the status of the waste under RCRA, however, other Federal 

environmental statutes (e.g., the Toxic Substances Control Act) restrict certain waste imports or 

exports. Such restrictions continue to apply with regard to this subpart. 

(3) Mixtures of wastes. (i) A Green waste that is mixed with one or more other Green 

wastes such that the resulting mixture is not hazardous waste is not subject to the requirements of 

this subpart. 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (a)(3)(i): The regulated community should note that some 

countries may require, by domestic law, that mixtures of different Green wastes be subject to the 

Amber control procedures. 
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(ii) A Green waste that is mixed with one or more Amber wastes, in any amount, de 

minimis or otherwise, or a mixture of two or more Amber wastes, such that the resulting waste 

mixture is hazardous waste is subject to the requirements of this subpart. 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (a)(3)(ii): The regulated community should note that some 

countries may require, by domestic law, that a mixture of a Green waste and more than a de 

minimis amount of an Amber waste or a mixture of two or more Amber wastes be subject to the 

Amber control procedures. 

(4) Wastes not yet assigned to an OECD waste list are eligible for transboundary 

movements, as follows: 

(i) If such wastes are hazardous wastes, such wastes are subject to the requirements of 

this subpart. 

(ii) If such wastes are not hazardous wastes, such wastes are not subject to the 

requirements of this subpart. 

(b) General conditions applicable to transboundary movements of hazardous waste: (1) 

The hazardous waste must be destined for recovery or disposal operations at a facility that, under 

applicable domestic law, is operating or is authorized to operate in the country of import; 

(2) The transboundary movement must be in compliance with applicable international 

transport agreements; and 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (b)(2): These international agreements include, but are not 

limited to, the Chicago Convention (1944), ADR (1957), ADNR (1970), MARPOL Convention 

(1973/1978), SOLAS Convention (1974), IMDG Code (1985), COTIF (1985), and RID (1985). 

(3) Any transit of hazardous waste through one or more countries must be conducted in 

compliance with all applicable international and national laws and regulations. 
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(c) Duty to return wastes subject to the Amber control procedures during transit through 

the United States. When a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes transiting the United 

States and subject to the Amber control procedures does not comply with the requirements of the 

notification and movement documents or otherwise constitutes illegal shipment, and if 

alternative arrangements cannot be made to recover or dispose of these wastes in an 

environmentally sound manner, the waste must be returned to the country of export. The U.S. 

transporter must inform EPA at the specified mailing address in paragraph 262.82(e) of the need 

to return the shipment. EPA will then inform the competent authority of the country of export, 

citing the reason(s) for returning the waste. The U.S. transporter must complete the return within 

ninety (90) days from the time EPA informs the country of export of the need to return the waste, 

unless informed in writing by EPA of another timeframe agreed to by the concerned countries. 

(d) Laboratory analysis exemption. Export or import of a hazardous waste sample is 

exempt from the requirements of this subpart if the sample is destined for laboratory analysis to 

assess its physical or chemical characteristics, or to determine its suitability for recovery or 

disposal operations, does not exceed twenty-five kilograms (25 kg) in quantity, and is 

appropriately packaged and labeled, and complies with the conditions of 40 CFR 260.4(d) or (e). 

(e) EPA Address for submittals by postal mail or hand delivery. Submittals required in 

this subpart to be made by postal mail or hand delivery should be sent to the following addresses: 

(1) For postal mail delivery, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of 

Federal Activities, International Compliance Assurance Division (2254A), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460. 

(2) For hand-delivery, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of 

Federal Activities, International Compliance Assurance Division, Environmental Protection 
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Agency, William Jefferson Clinton South Bldg., Room 6144, 12th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., 

NW., Washington, DC 20004. 

§262.83 Exports of hazardous waste. 

(a) General export requirements. Export of hazardous waste is prohibited unless: 

(1) The exporter complies with the contract requirements in paragraph 262.83(f) of this 

section; 

(2) The exporter complies with the notification requirements in paragraph 262.83(b) of 

this section; 

(3) The exporter receives an AOC from EPA documenting consent from the countries of 

import and transit (and original country of export if exporting previously imported hazardous 

waste); 

(4) The exporter ensures compliance with the movement documents requirements in 

paragraph 262.83(c) of this section; 

(5) The exporter ensures compliance with the manifest instructions for export shipments 

in paragraph 262.83(d) of this section; and 

(6) The exporter or a U.S. authorized agent: 

(i) Submits Electronic Export Information (EEI) for each shipment to the Automated 

Export System (AES), under the International Trade Data System (ITDS) platform, in 

accordance with 15 CFR 30.4(b). 

(ii) Includes the following items in the EEI, along with the other information required 

under 15 CFR 30.6: 

(A) EPA license code; 

(B) Commodity classification code for each hazardous waste per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(12); 
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(C) EPA consent number for each hazardous waste; 

(D) Country of ultimate destination code per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(5); 

(E) Date of export per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(2); 

(F) Quantity of each hazardous waste in shipment and units for reported quantity, if 

required reporting units established by value for the reported commodity classification number 

are in units of weight or volume per 15 CFR 30.6(a)(15); or 

(G) EPA net quantity for each hazardous waste reported in units of kilograms if solid or 

in units of liters if liquid, if required reporting units established by value for the reported 

commodity classification number are not in units of weight or volume. 

(b) Notifications. (1) General Notifications. At least sixty (60) days before the first 

shipment of hazardous waste is expected to leave the United States, the exporter must provide 

notification in English to EPA of the proposed transboundary movement. Notifications must be 

submitted electronically using EPA’s hazardous waste import/export database. The notification 

may cover up to one year of shipments of one or more hazardous wastes being sent to the same 

recovery or disposal facility, and must include all of the following information: 

 (i) Exporter name and EPA identification number, address, telephone, fax numbers, and 

e-mail address; 

(ii) Foreign receiving facility name, address, telephone, fax numbers, e-mail address, 

technologies employed, and the applicable recovery or disposal operations as defined in §260.81; 

(iii) Foreign importer name (if not the owner or operator of the foreign receiving facility), 

address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail address; 

(iv) Intended transporter(s) and/or their agent(s); address, telephone, fax, and e-mail 

address; 
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(v) “US” as the country of export name, “USA01” as the relevant competent authority 

code, and the intended U.S. port(s) of exit; 

(vi) The ISO standard 3166 country name 2-digit code, OECD/Basel competent authority 

code, and the ports of entry and exit for each country of transit; 

(vii) The ISO standard 3166 country name 2-digit code, OECD/Basel competent 

authority code, and port of entry for the country of import; 

(viii) Statement of whether the notification covers a single shipment or multiple 

shipments; 

(ix) Start and End Dates requested for transboundary movements; 

(x) Means of transport planned to be used; 

(xi) Description(s) of each hazardous waste, including whether each hazardous waste is 

regulated universal waste under 40 CFR part 273, or the state equivalent, spent lead-acid 

batteries being exported for recovery of lead under 40 CFR part 266 subpart G, or the state 

equivalent, or industrial ethyl alcohol being exported for reclamation under 40 CFR 

§261.6(a)(3)(i), or the state equivalent, estimated total quantity of each waste in either metric 

tons or cubic meters, the applicable RCRA waste code(s) for each hazardous waste, the 

applicable OECD waste code from the list incorporated by reference in §262.89(d), and the 

United Nations/U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ID number for each waste; 

(xii) Specification of the recovery or disposal operation(s) as defined in §262.81. 

(xiii) Certification/Declaration signed by the exporter that states: 

I certify that the above information is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge. 

I also certify that legally enforceable written contractual obligations have been entered into and 
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that any applicable insurance or other financial guarantee is or shall be in force covering the 

transboundary movement. 

Name: 

Signature: 

Date: 

(2) Exports to pre-consented facilities in OECD Member countries. If the recovery 

facility is located in an OECD member country and has been pre-consented by the competent 

authority of the OECD member country to recover the waste sent by exporters located in other 

OECD member countries, the notification may cover up to three years of shipments. 

Notifications proposing export to a pre-consented facility in an OECD member country must 

include all information listed in paragraphs (b)(1)(i)-(xiii) and additionally state that the facility 

is pre-consented. Exporters must submit the notification to EPA using the allowable methods 

listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section at least ten days before the first shipment is expected to 

leave the United States. 

(3) Notifications listing interim recycling operations or interim disposal operations. If the 

foreign receiving facility listed in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section will engage in any of the 

recovery operations R12-R13 or disposal operations D13-D15, or in the case of transboundary 

movements with Canada, any of the recovery operations R12-R13, or RC16, or disposal 

operations D13-D14, or DC17, the notification submitted according to paragraph (b)(1) must 

also include the final foreign recovery or disposal facility name, address, telephone, fax numbers, 

e-mail address, technologies employed, and which of the applicable recovery or disposal 

operations R1-R11 and D1-D12, or in the case of transboundary movements with Canada, which 
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of the applicable recovery or disposal operations R1-R11, RC14-RC15, D1-D12, and DC15-

DC16 will be employed at the final foreign recovery or disposal facility. 

(4) Renotifications. When the exporter wishes to change any of the information specified 

on the original notification (including increasing the estimate of the total quantity of hazardous 

waste specified in the original notification or adding transporters), the exporter must submit a 

renotification of the changes to EPA using the allowable methods in paragraph (b)(1) of this 

section. Any shipment using the requested changes cannot take place until the countries of 

import and transit consent to the changes and the exporter receives an EPA AOC letter 

documenting the countries’ consents to the changes. 

(5) For cases where the proposed country of import and recovery or disposal operations 

are not covered under an international agreement to which both the United States and the country 

of import are parties, EPA will coordinate with the Department of State to provide the complete 

notification to country of import and any countries of transit. In all other cases, EPA will provide 

the notification directly to the country of import and any countries of transit. A notification is 

complete when EPA receives a notification which EPA determines satisfies the requirements of 

paragraph (b)(1)(i)-(xiii) of this section. Where a claim of confidentiality is asserted with respect 

to any notification information required by paragraphs (b)(1)(i)-(xiii) of this section, EPA may 

find the notification not complete until any such claim is resolved in accordance with 40 CFR 

260.2. 

(6) Where the countries of import and transit consent to the proposed transboundary 

movement(s) of the hazardous waste(s), EPA will forward an EPA AOC letter to the exporter 

documenting the countries’ consents. Where any of the countries of import and transit objects to 
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the proposed transboundary movement(s) of the hazardous waste or withdraws a prior consent, 

EPA will notify the exporter. 

(7) Export of hazardous wastes for recycling or disposal operations that were originally 

imported into the United States for recycling or disposal operations in a third country is 

prohibited unless an exporter in the United States complies with the export requirements in 

Section 262.83, including providing notification to EPA in accordance with paragraph (b)(1) of 

this section. In addition to listing all required information in paragraphs (b)(1)(i)-(xiii) of this 

section, the exporter must provide the original consent number issued for the initial import of the 

wastes in the notification, and receive an AOC from EPA documenting the consent of the 

competent authorities in new country of import, the original country of export, and any transit 

countries prior to re-export. 

(8) Upon request by EPA, the exporter must furnish to EPA any additional information 

which the country of import requests in order to respond to a notification. 

(c) RCRA Manifest instructions for export shipments. 

The exporter must comply with the manifest requirements of 40 CFR 262.20 through 

262.23 except that: 

(i) In lieu of the name, site address and EPA ID number of the designated permitted 

facility, the exporter must enter the name and site address of the foreign receiving facility; 

(ii) In the International Shipments block, the exporter must check the export box and 

enter the U.S. port of exit (city and State) from the United States. 

(iii)In the Special Handling Instructions or Additional Information block, the exporter 

must list the consent number from the AOC for each hazardous waste listed on the manifest, 

followed by the relevant list number for the hazardous waste from block 9b in parentheses. If 
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additional space is needed, the exporter should use a Continuation Sheet(s) (EPA Form 8700-

22A). 

(iii) The exporter may obtain the manifest from any source that is registered with the U.S. 

EPA as a supplier of manifests (e.g., states, waste handlers, and/or commercial forms printers). 

(iv) The exporter must require the foreign receiving facility to confirm in writing the 

delivery of the hazardous waste to that facility and to describe any significant discrepancies (as 

defined in 40 CFR 264.72(a)) between the manifest and the shipment. A copy of the manifest or 

the movement document required in paragraph (d) of this section signed by the foreign receiving 

facility may be used to confirm delivery of the hazardous waste. 

(v) In lieu of the requirements of §262.20(d), where a shipment cannot be delivered for 

any reason to the foreign receiving facility listed in the EPA AOC, the exporter must instruct the 

transporter in writing via fax, email or mail to: 

(A) Return the hazardous waste to the exporter in the United States or designate another 

facility within the country of import (if allowed by the country of import) or within the United 

States; and 

(B) Revise the manifest in accordance with the exporter's instructions. 

(d) Movement document requirements for export shipments. 

(1) All exporters must ensure that a movement document meeting the conditions of 

paragraph (2) of this section accompanies each transboundary movement of hazardous wastes 

from the initiation of the shipment until it reaches the foreign receiving facility, including cases 

in which the hazardous waste is stored and/or sorted by the foreign importer prior to shipment to 

the foreign receiving facility, except as provided in paragraphs (1)(i) and (ii) of this section. 
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(i) For shipments of hazardous waste within the United States solely by water (bulk 

shipments only), the exporter must forward the movement document to the last water (bulk 

shipment) transporter to handle the hazardous waste in the United States if exported by water. 

(ii) For rail shipments of hazardous waste within the United States which start from the 

company originating the export shipment, the exporter must forward the movement document to 

the next non-rail transporter, if any, or the last rail transporter to handle the hazardous waste in 

the United States if exported by rail. 

(2) The movement document must include the following paragraphs (2)(i) through 

(2)(xv) of this section: 

(i) The corresponding consent number(s) and hazardous waste number(s) for the listed 

hazardous waste from the relevant EPA AOC(s); 

(ii) The shipment number and the total number of shipments from the EPA AOC; 

(iii) Exporter name and EPA identification number, address, telephone, fax numbers, and 

e-mail address; 

(iv) Foreign receiving facility name, address, telephone, fax numbers, e-mail address, 

technologies employed, and the applicable recovery or disposal operations as defined in §260.81; 

(v) Foreign importer name (if not the owner or operator of the foreign receiving facility), 

address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail address; 

(vi) Description(s) of each hazardous waste, quantity of each hazardous waste in the 

shipment, applicable RCRA hazardous waste code(s) for each hazardous waste, applicable 

OECD waste code for each hazardous waste from the list incorporated by reference in 

§262.89(d), and the United Nations/U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ID number for 

each hazardous waste; 
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(vii) Date movement commenced; 

(viii) Name (if not exporter), address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail of company 

originating the shipment; 

(ix) Company name, EPA ID number, address, telephone, fax, and e-mail address of all 

transporters; 

(x) Identification (license, registered name or registration number) of means of transport, 

including types of packaging; 

(xi) Any special precautions to be taken by transporter(s); 

(xii) Certification/declaration signed and dated by the exporter that the information in the 

movement document is complete and correct. 

(xiii) Appropriate signatures for each custody transfer (e.g., transporter, importer, and 

owner or operator of the foreign receiving facility). 

(xiv) Each U.S. person that has physical custody of the hazardous waste from the time the 

movement commences until it arrives at the foreign receiving facility must sign the movement 

document (e.g., transporter, foreign importer, and owner or operator of the foreign receiving 

facility). 

(xv) As part of the contract requirements per paragraph 262.83(f) of this section, the 

exporter must require that the foreign receiving facility send a copy of the signed movement 

document to confirm receipt within three working days of shipment delivery to the exporter, to 

EPA using the allowable methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the competent 

authorities of the countries of import and transit. 

(e) Duty to return or re-export hazardous wastes. When a transboundary movement of 

hazardous wastes cannot be completed in accordance with the terms of the contract or the 
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consent(s) and alternative arrangements cannot be made to recover the waste in an 

environmentally sound manner in the country of import, the exporter must ensure that the 

hazardous waste is returned to the United States or re-exported to a third country. If the waste 

must be returned, the exporter must provide for the return of the hazardous waste shipment 

within ninety days from the time the country of import informs EPA of the need to return the 

waste or such other period of time as the concerned countries agree. In all cases, the exporter 

must submit an exception report to EPA in accordance with paragraph (h) of this section. 

(f) Export Contract Requirements. (1) Exports of hazardous waste are prohibited unless 

they occur under the terms of a valid written contract, chain of contracts, or equivalent 

arrangements (when the movement occurs between parties controlled by the same corporate or 

legal entity). Such contracts or equivalent arrangements must be executed by the exporter, 

foreign importer (if different from the foreign receiving facility), and the owner or operator of 

the foreign receiving facility, and must specify responsibilities for each. Contracts or equivalent 

arrangements are valid for the purposes of this section only if persons assuming obligations 

under the contracts or equivalent arrangements have appropriate legal status to conduct the 

operations specified in the contract or equivalent arrangements. 

(2) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must specify the name and EPA ID number, 

where available, of paragraph (2)(i) through (2)(iv) of this section: 

(i) The company from where each export shipment of hazardous waste is initiated; 

(ii) Each person who will have physical custody of the hazardous wastes; 

(iii) Each person who will have legal control of the hazardous wastes; and 

(iv) The foreign receiving facility. 
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(3) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must specify which party to the contract will 

assume responsibility for alternate management of the hazardous wastes if their disposition 

cannot be carried out as described in the notification of intent to export. In such cases, contracts 

must specify that: 

(i) The transporter or foreign receiving facility having actual possession or physical 

control over the hazardous wastes will immediately inform the exporter, EPA, and either the 

competent authority of the country of transit or the competent authority of the country of import 

of the need to make alternate management arrangements; and 

(ii) The person specified in the contract will assume responsibility for the adequate 

management of the hazardous wastes in compliance with applicable laws and regulations 

including, if necessary, arranging the return of hazardous wastes and, as the case may be, shall 

provide the notification for re-export to the competent authority in the country of import and 

include the equivalent of the information required in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the original 

consent number issued for the initial export of the hazardous wastes in the notification, and 

obtain consent from EPA and the competent authorities in the new country of import and any 

transit countries prior to re-export. 

(4) Contracts must specify that the foreign receiving facility send a copy of the signed 

movement document to confirm receipt within three working days of shipment delivery to the 

exporter, to EPA using the allowable methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the 

competent authorities of the countries of import and transit. 

(5) Contracts must specify that the foreign receiving facility shall send a copy of the 

signed and dated confirmation of recovery or disposal, as soon as possible, but no later than 

thirty days after completing recovery or disposal on the waste in the shipment and no later than 
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one calendar year following receipt of the waste, to the exporter, to EPA using the allowable 

methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the competent authority of the country 

of import. 

(6) Contracts must specify that the foreign importer or the foreign receiving facility that 

performed interim recycling operations R12-R13 or RC16, or interim disposal operations D13-

D15 or DC17, as appropriate, will (i) provide the notification required in paragraph (f)(3)(ii) 

prior to any re-export of the hazardous wastes to a final foreign recovery or disposal facility in a 

third country; and 

(ii) promptly send copies of the confirmation of recovery or disposal that it receives from 

the final foreign recovery or disposal facility within one year of shipment delivery to the final 

foreign recovery or disposal facility that performed one of recovery operations R1-R11, or 

RC16, or one of disposal operations D1-D12, DC15 or DC16 to EPA using the allowable 

methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the competent authority of the country 

of import. 

(7) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must include provisions for financial 

guarantees, if required by the competent authorities of the country of import and any countries of 

transit, in accordance with applicable national or international law requirements. 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (f)(7): Financial guarantees so required are intended to provide 

for alternate recycling, disposal or other means of sound management of the wastes in cases 

where arrangements for the shipment and the recovery operations cannot be carried out as 

foreseen. The United States does not require such financial guarantees at this time; however, 

some OECD Member countries and other foreign countries do. It is the responsibility of the 

exporter to ascertain and comply with such requirements; in some cases, persons or facilities 
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located in those OECD Member countries or other foreign countries may refuse to enter into the 

necessary contracts absent specific references or certifications to financial guarantees. 

(8) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must contain provisions requiring each 

contracting party to comply with all applicable requirements of this subpart. 

(9) Upon request by EPA, U.S. exporters, importers, or recovery facilities must submit to 

EPA copies of contracts, chain of contracts, or equivalent arrangements (when the movement 

occurs between parties controlled by the same corporate or legal entity). Information contained 

in the contracts or equivalent arrangements for which a claim of confidentiality is asserted in 

accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) will be treated as confidential and will be disclosed by EPA 

only as provided in 40 CFR 260.2. 

(g) Annual reports. The exporter shall file an annual report with EPA, using the allowable 

methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, no later than March 1 of each year 

summarizing the types, quantities, frequency, and ultimate destination of all such hazardous 

waste exported during the previous calendar year. The annual report must include all of the 

following paragraphs (g)(1) through (g)(6) of this section specified as follows: 

(1) The EPA identification number, name, and mailing and site address of the exporter 

filing the report; 

(2) The calendar year covered by the report; 

(3) The name and site address of each foreign receiving facility; 

(4) By foreign receiving facility, for each hazardous waste exported, 

(i) A description of the hazardous waste, 

(ii) The applicable EPA hazardous waste code(s) (from 40 CFR part 261, subpart C or D) 

for each waste, 
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(iii) The applicable waste code from the appropriate OECD waste list incorporated by 

reference in §262.89(d), 

(iv) The applicable DOT ID number, 

(v) The name and U.S. EPA ID number (where applicable) for each transporter used over 

the calendar year covered by the report, and 

(vi) The consent number(s) under which the hazardous waste was shipped, and for each 

consent number, the total amount of the hazardous waste and the number of shipments exported 

during the calendar year covered by the report; 

(5) In even numbered years, for each hazardous waste exported, except for hazardous 

waste produced by exporters of greater than 100kg but less than 1,000kg in a calendar month, 

and except for hazardous waste for which information was already provided pursuant to §262.41: 

(i) A description of the efforts undertaken during the year to reduce the volume and 

toxicity of the waste generated; and 

(ii) A description of the changes in volume and toxicity of the waste actually achieved 

during the year in comparison to previous years to the extent such information is available for 

years prior to 1984; and 

(6) A certification signed by the exporter that states: 

I certify under penalty of law that I have personally examined and am familiar with the 

information submitted in this and all attached documents, and that based on my inquiry of those 

individuals immediately responsible for obtaining the information, I believe that the submitted 

information is true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for 

submitting false information including the possibility of fine and imprisonment. 
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(h) Exception reports. The exporter must file an exception report in lieu of the 

requirements of §262.42 (if applicable) with EPA, using the allowable methods listed in 

paragraph (b)(1) of this section, if any of the following occurs: 

(1) The exporter has not received a copy of the RCRA hazardous waste manifest (if 

applicable) signed by the transporter identifying the point of departure of the hazardous waste 

from the United States, within forty-five (45) days from the date it was accepted by the initial 

transporter, in which case the exporter must file the exception report within the next thirty (30) 

days; 

(2) The exporter has not received a written confirmation of receipt from the foreign 

receiving facility in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section within ninety (90) days from 

the date the waste was accepted by the initial transporter in which case the exporter must file the 

exception report within the next thirty (30) days; or 

(3) The foreign receiving facility notifies the exporter, or the country of import notifies 

EPA, of the need to return the shipment to the US, in which case the exporter must file the 

exception report within thirty (30) days of notification, or one (1) day prior to the date the return 

shipment commences, whichever is sooner. 

(i) Recordkeeping. (1) The exporter shall keep the following records in paragraphs 

(i)(1)(i) through (i)(1)(v) of this section: 

(i) A copy of each notification of intent to export and each EPA AOC for a period of at 

least three (3) years from the date the hazardous waste was accepted by the initial transporter; 

(ii) A copy of each annual report for a period of at least three (3) years from the due date 

of the report; 
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(iii) A copy of any exception reports and a copy of each confirmation of delivery (i.e., 

movement document) sent by the foreign receiving facility to the exporter for at least three (3) 

years from the date the hazardous waste was accepted by the initial transporter; and 

(iv) A copy of each confirmation of recovery or disposal sent by the foreign receiving 

facility to the exporter for at least three (3) years from the date that the foreign receiving facility 

completed interim or final processing of the hazardous waste shipment. 

(v) A copy of each contract or equivalent arrangement established per §262.85 for at least 

three (3) years from the expiration date of the contract or equivalent arrangement. 

(2) The periods of retention referred to in this section are extended automatically during 

the course of any unresolved enforcement action regarding the regulated activity or as requested 

by the Administrator. 

§262.84 Imports of hazardous waste. 

(a) General import requirements. 

(1) Any person who imports hazardous waste from a foreign country into the United 

States must comply with the requirements of this part and the special requirements of this 

subpart. 

(2) In cases where the country of export does not require the foreign exporter to submit a 

notification and obtain consent to the export prior to shipment, the importer must submit a 

notification to EPA in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. 

(3) The importer must comply with the contract requirements in paragraph (f) of this 

section. 

(4) The importer must ensure compliance with the movement documents requirements in 

paragraph (c) of this section; and 
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(5) The importer must ensure compliance with the manifest instructions for import 

shipments in paragraph (d) of this section. 

(b) Notifications. (1) In cases where the competent authority of the country of export 

does not regulate the waste as hazardous waste and, thus, does not require the foreign exporter to 

submit to it a notification proposing export and obtain consent from EPA and the competent 

authorities for the countries of transit, but EPA does regulate the waste as hazardous waste, the 

importer is required to provide notification in English to EPA of the proposed transboundary 

movement of hazardous waste at least sixty (60) days before the first shipment is expected to 

depart the country of export. Notifications submitted on or after {insert effective date of rule} 

must be submitted electronically using EPA’s hazardous waste import/export database. The 

notification may cover up to one year of shipments of one or more hazardous wastes being sent 

from the same foreign exporter, and must include all of the following information: 

 (i) Foreign exporter name, address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail address; 

(ii) Receiving facility name, EPA ID number, address, telephone, fax numbers, e-mail 

address, technologies employed, and the applicable recovery or disposal operations as defined in 

§260.81; 

(iii) Importer name (if not the owner or operator of the receiving facility), EPA ID 

number, address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail address; 

(iv) Intended transporter(s) and/or their agent(s); address, telephone, fax, and e-mail 

address; 

(v) “US” as the country of import, “USA01” as the relevant competent authority code, 

and the intended U.S. port(s) of entry; 
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(vi) The ISO standard 3166 country name 2-digit code, OECD/Basel competent authority 

code, and the ports of entry and exit for each country of transit; 

(vii) The ISO standard 3166 country name 2-digit code, OECD/Basel competent 

authority code, and port of exit for the country of export; 

(viii) Statement of whether the notification covers a single shipment or multiple 

shipments; 

(ix) Start and End Dates requested for transboundary movements; 

(x) Means of transport planned to be used; 

(xi) Description(s) of each hazardous waste, estimated total quantity of each hazardous 

waste, the applicable RCRA hazardous waste code(s) for each hazardous waste, the applicable 

OECD waste code from the list incorporated by reference in §262.89(d), and the United 

Nations/U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ID number for each hazardous waste; 

(xii) Specification of the recovery or disposal operation(s) as defined in §262.81. 

(xiii) Certification/Declaration signed by the importer that states: 

I certify that the above information is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge. 

I also certify that legally enforceable written contractual obligations have been entered into and 

that any applicable insurance or other financial guarantee is or shall be in force covering the 

transboundary movement. 

Name: 

Signature: 

Date: 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (b)(1)(xiii): The United States does not currently require 

financial assurance for these waste shipments. 
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(2) Notifications listing interim recycling operations or interim disposal operations. If the 

receiving facility listed in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section will engage in any of the recovery 

operations R12-R13 or disposal operations D13-D15, the notification submitted according to 

paragraph (b)(1) must also include the final recovery or disposal facility name, address, 

telephone, fax numbers, e-mail address, technologies employed, and which of the applicable 

recovery or disposal operations R1-R11 and D1-D12, will be employed at the final recovery or 

disposal facility. 

(3) Renotifications. When the foreign exporter wishes to change any of the conditions 

specified on the original notification (including increasing the estimate of the total quantity of 

hazardous waste specified in the original notification or adding transporters), the importer must 

submit a renotification of the changes to EPA using the allowable methods in paragraph (b)(1) of 

this section. Any shipment using the requested changes cannot take place until EPA and the 

countries of transit consent to the changes and the importer receives an EPA AOC letter 

documenting the consents to the changes. 

(4) A notification is complete when EPA determines the notification satisfies the 

requirements of paragraph (b)(1)(i)-(xiii) of this section. Where a claim of confidentiality is 

asserted with respect to any notification information required by paragraphs (b)(1)(i)-(xiii) of this 

section, EPA may find the notification not complete until any such claim is resolved in 

accordance with 40 CFR 260.2. 

(5) Where EPA and the countries of transit consent to the proposed transboundary 

movement(s) of the hazardous waste(s), EPA will forward an EPA AOC letter to the importer 

documenting the countries’ consents and EPA’s consent. Where any of the countries of transit or 
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EPA objects to the proposed transboundary movement(s) of the hazardous waste or withdraws a 

prior consent, EPA will notify the importer. 

(6) Export of hazardous wastes originally imported into the United States. Export of 

hazardous wastes that were originally imported into the United States for recycling or disposal 

operations is prohibited unless an exporter in the United States complies with the export 

requirements in §262.83(b)(7). 

(c) RCRA Manifest instructions for import shipments. 

(1) When importing hazardous waste, the importer must meet all the requirements of 

§262.20 for the manifest except that: 

(i) In place of the generator's name, address and EPA identification number, the name 

and address of the foreign generator and the importer's name, address and EPA identification 

number must be used. 

(ii) In place of the generator's signature on the certification statement, the importer or his 

agent must sign and date the certification and obtain the signature of the initial transporter. 

(2) The importer may obtain the manifest form from any source that is registered with the 

EPA as a supplier of manifests (e.g., states, waste handlers, and/or commercial forms printers). 

(3) In the International Shipments block, the importer must check the import box and 

enter the point of entry (city and State) into the United States. 

(4) The importer must provide the transporter with an additional copy of the manifest to 

be submitted by the receiving facility to U.S. EPA in accordance with §264.71(a)(3) and 

§265.71(a)(3) of this chapter. 
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(5) In lieu of the requirements of §262.20(d), where a shipment cannot be delivered for 

any reason to the receiving facility, the importer must instruct the transporter in writing via fax, 

email or mail to: 

(A) Return the hazardous waste to the foreign exporter or designate another facility 

within the United States; and 

(B) Revise the manifest in accordance with the importer's instructions. 

(d) Movement document requirements for import shipments. 

(1) The importer must ensure that a movement document meeting the conditions of 

paragraph (2) of this section accompanies each transboundary movement of hazardous wastes 

from the initiation of the shipment in the country of export until it reaches the receiving facility, 

including cases in which the hazardous waste is stored and/or sorted by the importer prior to 

shipment to the receiving facility, except as provided in paragraphs (1)(i) and (ii) of this section. 

(i) For shipments of hazardous waste within the United States by water (bulk shipments 

only), the importer must forward the movement document to the last water (bulk shipment) 

transporter to handle the hazardous waste in the United States if imported by water. 

(ii) For rail shipments of hazardous waste within the United States which start from the 

company originating the export shipment, the importer must forward the movement document to 

the next non-rail transporter, if any, or the last rail transporter to handle the hazardous waste in 

the United States if imported by rail. 

(2) The movement document must include the following paragraphs (2)(i) through 

(2)(xv) of this section: 

(i) The corresponding AOC number(s) and waste number(s) for the listed waste; 

(ii) The shipment number and the total number of shipments under the AOC number; 
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(iii) Foreign exporter name, address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail address; 

(iv) receiving facility name, EPA ID number, address, telephone, fax numbers, e-mail 

address, technologies employed, and the applicable recovery or disposal operations as defined in 

§260.81; 

(v) Importer name (if not the owner or operator of the receiving facility), EPA ID 

number, address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail address; 

(vi) Description(s) of each hazardous waste, quantity of each hazardous waste in the 

shipment, applicable RCRA hazardous waste code(s) for each hazardous waste, the applicable 

OECD waste code for each hazardous waste from the lists incorporated by reference in 

§262.89(d), and the United Nations/U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ID number for 

each hazardous waste; 

(vii) Date movement commenced; 

(viii) Name (if not the foreign exporter), address, telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail of 

the foreign company originating the shipment; 

(ix) Company name, EPA ID number, address, telephone, fax, and e-mail address of all 

transporters; 

(x) Identification (license, registered name or registration number) of means of transport, 

including types of packaging; 

(xi) Any special precautions to be taken by transporter(s); 

(xii) Certification/declaration signed and dated by the foreign exporter that the 

information in the movement document is complete and correct. 

(xiii) Appropriate signatures for each custody transfer (e.g., transporter, importer, and 

owner or operator of the receiving facility). 
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(xiv) Each person that has physical custody of the waste from the time the movement 

commences until it arrives at the receiving facility must sign the movement document (e.g., 

transporter, importer, and owner or operator of the receiving facility). 

(xv) the receiving facility must send a copy of the signed movement document to confirm 

receipt within three working days of shipment delivery to the foreign exporter, to EPA using the 

allowable methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the competent authorities of 

the countries of export and transit. 

(e) Duty to return or export hazardous wastes. When a transboundary movement of 

hazardous wastes cannot be completed in accordance with the terms of the contract or the 

consent(s) and alternative arrangements cannot be made to recover the hazardous waste in an 

environmentally sound manner in the United States, the hazardous waste must be returned to the 

country of export or exported to a third country. The provisions of paragraph (b)(6) of this 

section apply to any hazardous waste shipments to be exported to a third country. If the 

hazardous waste must be returned, the importer must inform EPA, using the allowable methods 

listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and the foreign exporter of the need to return the 

shipment. EPA will then inform the competent authorities of the original country of export and 

any countries of transit for the return shipment’s route, citing the reason(s) for returning the 

waste. The importer must complete the return within ninety (90) days from the time EPA informs 

the country of export of the need to return the waste, unless informed in writing by EPA of 

another timeframe agreed to by the concerned countries. If the return shipment will cross any 

transit country, the return shipment may only occur after EPA provides notification to and 

obtains consent from the competent authority of the country of transit, and provides a copy of 

that consent to the importer. 
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(f) Import Contract Requirements. (1) Imports of hazardous waste must occur under the 

terms of a valid written contract, chain of contracts, or equivalent arrangements (when the 

movement occurs between parties controlled by the same corporate or legal entity). Such 

contracts or equivalent arrangements must be executed by the foreign exporter, importer, and the 

owner or operator of the receiving facility, and must specify responsibilities for each. Contracts 

or equivalent arrangements are valid for the purposes of this section only if persons assuming 

obligations under the contracts or equivalent arrangements have appropriate legal status to 

conduct the operations specified in the contract or equivalent arrangements. 

(2) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must specify the name and EPA ID number, 

where available, of paragraph (2)(i) through (2)(iv) of this section: 

(i) The foreign company from where each import shipment of hazardous waste is 

initiated; 

(ii) Each person who will have physical custody of the hazardous wastes; 

(iii) Each person who will have legal control of the hazardous wastes; and 

(iv) The receiving facility. 

(3) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must specify the use of a movement document 

in accordance with §262.84(d). 

(4) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must specify which party to the contract will 

assume responsibility for alternate management of the hazardous wastes if their disposition 

cannot be carried out as described in the notification of intent to export submitted by either the 

foreign exporter or the importer. In such cases, contracts must specify that: 

(i) The transporter or receiving facility having actual possession or physical control over 

the hazardous wastes will immediately inform the foreign exporter and importer, and the 
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competent authority where the shipment is located of the need to arrange alternate management 

or return; and 

(ii) The person specified in the contract will assume responsibility for the adequate 

management of the hazardous wastes in compliance with applicable laws and regulations 

including, if necessary, arranging the return of the hazardous wastes and, as the case may be, 

shall provide the notification for re-export required in §262.83(b)(7). 

(5) Contracts must specify that the importer or the receiving facility that performed 

interim recycling operations R12-R13 or RC16, or interim disposal operations D13-D15 or 

DC15-DC17, as appropriate, will provide the notification required in §262.83(b)(7) prior to the 

re-export of hazardous wastes. 

(6) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must include provisions for financial 

guarantees, if required by the competent authorities of any countries concerned, in accordance 

with applicable national or international law requirements. 

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (f)(6): Financial guarantees so required are intended to provide 

for alternate recycling, disposal or other means of sound management of the wastes in cases 

where arrangements for the shipment and the recovery operations cannot be carried out as 

foreseen. The United States does not require such financial guarantees at this time; however, 

some OECD Member countries or other foreign countries do. It is the responsibility of the 

importer to ascertain and comply with such requirements; in some cases, persons or facilities 

located in those countries may refuse to enter into the necessary contracts absent specific 

references or certifications to financial guarantees. 

(7) Contracts or equivalent arrangements must contain provisions requiring each 

contracting party to comply with all applicable requirements of this subpart. 
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(8) Upon request by EPA, importers or disposal or recovery facilities must submit to EPA 

copies of contracts, chain of contracts, or equivalent arrangements (when the movement occurs 

between parties controlled by the same corporate or legal entity). Information contained in the 

contracts or equivalent arrangements for which a claim of confidentiality is asserted in 

accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) will be treated as confidential and will be disclosed by EPA 

only as provided in 40 CFR 260.2. 

(g) Confirmation of Recovery or Disposal. The receiving facility must do the following: 

(1) send copies of the signed and dated confirmation of recovery or disposal, as soon as 

possible, but no later than thirty days after completing recovery or disposal on the waste in the 

shipment and no later than one calendar year following receipt of the waste, to the foreign 

exporter, to EPA using the allowable methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the 

competent authority of the country of export. 

(2) if the receiving facility performed any of recovery operations R12, R13, or RC16, or 

disposal operations D13-D15, or DC17, the receiving facility shall promptly send copies of the 

confirmation of recovery or disposal that it receives from the final recovery or disposal facility 

within one year of shipment delivery to the final recovery or disposal facility that performed one 

of recovery operations R1-R11, or RC14-RC15, or one of disposal operations D1-D12, or DC15-

DC16 to EPA using the allowable methods listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and to the 

competent authority of the country of export. 

(h) Recordkeeping. (1) The importer shall keep the following records: (i) a copy of each 

notification of intent to export that the importer sends to EPA under paragraph (b)(1) of this 

section and each EPA AOC it receives in response for a period of at least three (3) years from the 

date the hazardous waste was accepted by the initial foreign transporter; and 
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(ii) A copy of each contract or equivalent arrangement established per §262.84() for at 

least three (3) years from the expiration date of the contract or equivalent arrangement. 

(2) The receiving facility shall keep the following records: 

(i) A copy of each confirmation of delivery (i.e., movement document) that the receiving 

facility sends to the foreign exporter for at least three (3) years from the date it received the 

hazardous waste; 

(ii) A copy of each confirmation of recovery or disposal that the receiving facility sends 

to the foreign exporter for at least three (3) years from the date that it completed processing the 

waste shipment; and 

(iii) For the receiving facility that performed any of recovery operations R12-R13, or 

RC16, or disposal operations D13-D15, or DC17, a copy of each confirmation of recovery or 

disposal that the final recovery or disposal facility sent to it for at least three (3) years from the 

date that the final recovery or disposal facility completed processing the waste shipment. 

(iv) A copy of each contract or equivalent arrangement established per paragraph 

262.84(f) of this section for at least three (3) years from the expiration date of the contract or 

equivalent arrangement. 

(3) The periods of retention referred to in this section are extended automatically during 

the course of any unresolved enforcement action regarding the regulated activity or as requested 

by the Administrator. 

§262.85 [Reserved] 

§262.86 [Reserved] 

§262.87 [Reserved] 

§262.88 [Reserved] 
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§262.89 Incorporations by Reference. 

(a) The OECD waste lists, as set forth in Annex B (“Green List”) and Annex C (“Amber 

List”) (collectively “OECD waste lists”), of the 2009 “Guidance Manual for the Implementation 

of Council Decision C(2001)107/FINAL, as Amended, on the Control of Transboundary 

Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations,” are incorporated by reference. This 

incorporation by reference was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance 

with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. This material is incorporated as it exists on the date of 

the approval and a notice of any change in this material will be published in the FEDERAL 

REGISTER. The material is available for inspection at: the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Docket Center Public Reading Room, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004 (Docket # EPA-HQ-RCRA-2005-0018) or at the National 

Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and may be obtained from the Organization for 

Economic Cooperation and Development, Environment Directorate, 2 rue André Pascal, F75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 

202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html. To 

contact the EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room, call (202) 566-1744. To contact the 

OECD, call +33 (0) 1 45 24 81 67. 

15. Item 16 in the instructions in the Appendix to Part 262 is revised to read as follows: 

Appendix to Part 262—Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest and Instructions (EPA 

Forms 8700-22 and 8700-22A and Their Instructions) 

* * * * * 

Item 16. International Shipments 
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For export shipments, the primary exporter must check the export box, and enter the point 

of exit (city and state) from the United States. For import shipments, the importer must check the 

import box and enter the point of entry (city and state) into the United States. For exports, the 

transporter must sign and date the manifest to indicate the day the shipment left the United 

States. 

* * * * * 

PART 263—STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO TRANSPORTERS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE 

16. The authority citation for part 263 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6906, 6912, 6922-6925, 6937, and 6938. 

17. The note to §263.10(a) is revised by deleting the last paragraph to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

Note: The regulations set forth in parts 262 and 263 establish the responsibilities of 

generators and transporters of hazardous waste in the handling, transportation, and management 

of that waste. In these regulations, EPA has expressly adopted certain regulations of the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) governing the transportation of hazardous materials. These 

regulations concern, among other things, labeling, marking, placarding, using proper containers, 

and reporting discharges. EPA has expressly adopted these regulations in order to satisfy its 

statutory obligation to promulgate regulations which are necessary to protect human health and 

the environment in the transportation of hazardous waste. EPA's adoption of these DOT 

regulations ensures consistency with the requirements of DOT and thus avoids the establishment 

of duplicative or conflicting requirements with respect to these matters. These EPA regulations 
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which apply to both interstate and intrastate transportation of hazardous waste are enforceable by 

EPA. 

DOT has revised its hazardous materials transportation regulations in order to encompass 

the transportation of hazardous waste and to regulate intrastate, as well as interstate, 

transportation of hazardous waste. Transporters of hazardous waste are cautioned that DOT's 

regulations are fully applicable to their activities and enforceable by DOT. These DOT 

regulations are codified in title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, subchapter C. 

18. Section 263.10(d) is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

(d) A transporter of hazardous waste that is being imported from or exported to any other country 

for purposes of recovery or disposal is subject to this Subpart and to all other relevant 

requirements of subpart H of 40 CFR part 262, including, but not limited to, 40 CFR 262.83(d) 

and 262.84(d) for movement documents. 

19. Section 263.20(a)(2), (c), (e)(2), (f)(2), and (g) are revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

§263.20 The manifest system. 

(a)(1) * * * 

(2) Exports. For exports of hazardous waste subject to the requirements of subpart H of 

40 CFR part 262, a transporter may not accept hazardous waste without a manifest signed by the 

generator in accordance with this section, as appropriate, and a movement document that 

includes all information required by 40 CFR 262.83(d). 

* * * * 
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(c) The transporter must ensure that the manifest accompanies the hazardous waste. In the 

case of exports, the transporter must ensure that a movement document that includes all 

information required by 40 CFR 262.83(d) also accompanies the hazardous waste. In the case of 

imports, the transporter must ensure that a movement document that includes all information 

required by 40 CFR 262.84(d) also accompanies the hazardous waste. 

* * * * 

(e) The requirements of paragraphs (c), (d) and (f) of this section do not apply to water 

(bulk shipment) transporters if: 

(1) * * * 

(2) A shipping paper containing all the information required on the manifest (excluding 

the EPA identification numbers, generator certification, and signatures) and, for exports or 

imports, a movement document that includes all information required by 40 CFR 262.83(d) or 40 

CFR 262.84(d) accompanies the hazardous waste; and 

* * * * 

(f) For shipments involving rail transportation, the requirements of paragraphs (c), (d) 

and (e) do not apply and the following requirements do apply: 

(1) * * * 

(2) Rail transporters must ensure that a shipping paper containing all the information 

required on the manifest (excluding the EPA identification numbers, generator certification, and 

signatures) and, for exports or imports, a movement document that includes all information 
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required by 40 CFR 262.83(d) or 40 CFR 262.84(d) accompanies the hazardous waste at all 

times. 

* * * * 

(g) Transporters who transport hazardous waste out of the United States must: 

(1) Sign and date the manifest in the International Shipments block to indicate the date 

that the shipment left the United States; 

(2) Retain one copy in accordance with §263.22(d); and 

(3) Return a signed copy of the manifest to the generator; and 

(4) For paper manifests only, send a copy of the Manifest to the e-Manifest system in 

accordance with the allowable methods specified in 40 CFR 264.71(a)(2)(v). 

* * * * * 

PART 264—STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE 

TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES 

20. The authority citation for part 264 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6924, and 6925. 

21. Section 264.12 is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

§264.12 Required notices. 

(a) The owner or operator of a facility that is arranging or has arranged to receive 

hazardous waste subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H from a foreign source must submit the 

following required notices: 

 (1) As per §262.84(b), for imports where the competent authority of the country of 

export does not require the foreign exporter to submit to it a notification proposing export and 
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obtain consent from EPA and the competent authorities for the countries of transit, such owner or 

operator of the facility, if acting as the importer, must provide notification of the proposed 

transboundary movement in English to EPA using the allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1) 

at least 60 days before the first shipment is expected to depart the country of export. The 

notification may cover up to one year of shipments of wastes having similar physical and 

chemical characteristics, the same United Nations classification, the same RCRA waste codes 

and OECD waste codes, and being sent from the same foreign exporter. 

(2) As per §262.84(d)(xv), a copy of the movement document bearing all required 

signatures to the foreign exporter; to EPA using the allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1); 

and to the competent authorities of the countries of export and transit within three (3) working 

days of receipt of the shipment. The original of the signed movement document must be 

maintained at the facility for at least three (3) years. 

(3) As per §262.84(e), if the waste must be returned to the country of export and the 

owner or operator of the facility is acting as the importer, such owner or operator of the facility 

must inform EPA, using the allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1) of the need to return the 

shipment. 

(4) As per §262.84(f), such owner or operator shall (i) send copies of the signed and 

dated confirmation of recovery or disposal, as soon as possible, but no later than thirty days after 

completing recovery or disposal on the waste in the shipment and no later than one calendar year 

following receipt of the waste, to the foreign exporter, to EPA using the allowable methods listed 

in §262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authority of the country of export. 

(ii) if the facility performed any of recovery operations R12, R13, or RC16, or disposal 

operations D13-D15, or DC17, promptly send copies of the confirmation of recovery or disposal 
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that it receives from the final recovery or disposal facility within one year of shipment delivery 

to the final recovery or disposal facility that performed one of recovery operations R1-R11, or 

RC16, or one of disposal operations D1-D12, to EPA using the allowable methods listed in 

§262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authority of the country of export. 

* * * * * 

22. Section 264.71(a) and (d) are revised to read as follows: 

§264.71 Use of manifest system. 

(a)(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(3) The owner or operator of a facility receiving hazardous waste subject to 40 CFR part 

262, subpart H from a foreign source must (i) additionally list the relevant consent number from 

consent documentation supplied by EPA to the facility for each waste listed on the manifest, 

followed by the relevant list number for the waste from block 9b in parentheses. If additional 

space is needed, the owner or operator should use a Continuation Sheet(s) (EPA Form 8700-

22A); and 

(ii) send a copy of the manifest within thirty (30) days of delivery to EPA using the 

allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1). 

* * * * 

(d) As per §262.84(d)(xv), within three (3) working days of the receipt of a shipment 

subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H, the owner or operator of a facility must provide a copy of 

the movement document bearing all required signatures to the exporter, to EPA using the 

allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authorities of the countries of 
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export and transit. The original copy of the movement document must be maintained at the 

facility for at least three (3) years from the date of signature. 

* * * * * 

PART 265—INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS 

OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES 

23. The authority citation for part 265 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6906, 6912, 6922, 6923, 6924, 6925, 6935, 6936, and 6937. 

24. Section 265.12 is revised to read as follows: 

* * * * * 

§265.12 Required notices. 

(a) The owner or operator of a facility that is arranging or has arranged to receive 

hazardous waste subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H from a foreign source must submit the 

following required notices: 

 (1) As per §262.84(b), for imports where the competent authority of the country of 

export does not require the foreign exporter to submit to it a notification proposing export and 

obtain consent from EPA and the competent authorities for the countries of transit, such owner or 

operator of the facility, if acting as the importer, must provide notification of the proposed 

transboundary movement in English to EPA using the allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1) 

at least 60 days before the first shipment is expected to depart the country of export. The 

notification may cover up to one year of shipments of wastes having similar physical and 

chemical characteristics, the same United Nations classification, the same RCRA waste codes 

and OECD waste codes, and being sent from the same foreign exporter. 
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(2) As per §262.84(d)(xv), a copy of the movement document bearing all required 

signatures to the foreign exporter; to EPA using the allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1); 

and to the competent authorities of the countries of export and transit within three (3) working 

days of receipt of the shipment. The original of the signed movement document must be 

maintained at the facility for at least three (3) years. 

(3) As per §262.84(e), if the waste must be returned to the country of export and the 

owner or operator of the facility is acting as the importer, such owner or operator of the facility 

must inform EPA, using the allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1) of the need to return the 

shipment. 

(4) As per §262.84(f), such owner or operator shall (i) send copies of the signed and 

dated confirmation of recovery or disposal, using either block 19 on the OECD/Basel 

“Movement document for transboundary movements/shipments of waste” or the Canadian 

“Confirmation of Disposal or Recycling” form, as soon as possible, but no later than thirty days 

after completing recovery or disposal on the waste in the shipment and no later than one calendar 

year following receipt of the waste, to the foreign exporter, to EPA using the allowable methods 

listed in §262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authority of the country of export. 

(ii) if the facility performed any of recovery operations R12, R13, or RC16, or disposal 

operations D13-D15, or DC17, promptly send copies of the confirmation of recovery or disposal 

that it receives from the final recovery or disposal facility within one year of shipment delivery 

to the final recovery or disposal facility that performed one of recovery operations R1-R11, or 

RC16, or one of disposal operations D1-D12, to EPA using the allowable methods listed in 

§262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authority of the country of export. 

* * * * * 
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25. Section 265.71(a) and (d) are revised to read as follows: 

§265.71 Use of manifest system. 

(a)(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(3) The owner or operator of a facility that receives hazardous waste subject to 40 CFR 

part 262, subpart H from a foreign source must (i) additionally list the relevant consent number 

from consent documentation supplied by EPA to the facility for each waste listed on the 

manifest, followed by the relevant list number for the waste from block 9b in parentheses. If 

additional space is needed, the owner or operator should use a Continuation Sheet(s) (EPA Form 

8700-22A); and 

(ii) send a copy of the manifest to EPA using the allowable methods listed in 

§262.84(b)(1) within thirty (30) days of delivery. 

* * * * 

(d) As per §262.84(d)(xv), within three (3) working days of the receipt of a shipment 

subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H, the owner or operator of a facility must provide a copy of 

the movement document bearing all required signatures to the exporter, to EPA using the 

allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authorities of the countries of 

export and transit. The original copy of the movement document must be maintained at the 

facility for at least three (3) years from the date of signature. 

* * * * * 

PART 266—STANDARDS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SPECIFIC HAZARDOUS 

WASTES AND SPECIFIC TYPES OF HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES 

26. The authority citation for part 266 continues to read as follows: 
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Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1006, 2002(a), 3001-3009, 3014, 3017, 6905, 6906, 6912, 6921, 

6922, 6924-6927, 6934, and 6937. 

27. Section 266.70(b) is revised to read as follows: 

§266.70 Applicability and requirements. 

(a) * * * 

(b) Persons who generate, transport, or store recyclable materials that are regulated under 

this subpart are subject to the following requirements: 

(1) Notification requirements under section 3010 of RCRA; 

(2) Subpart B of part 262 (for generators), §§263.20 and 263.21 (for transporters), and 

§§265.71 and 265.72 (for persons who store) of this chapter; and 

(3) For precious metals exported to or imported from other countries for recovery, 

subpart H of part 262 and §265.12(a) of this chapter. 

* * * * * 

28. Section 266.80(a) is revised to read as follows: 

§266.80 Applicability and requirements. 

(a) * * * 

(6) Will be 

reclaimed through 

regeneration or any 

other means 

export these batteries for 

reclamation in a foreign 

country 

are exempt from 40 CFR parts parts 262 

(except for §262.11 and subpart H), 263, 

264, 265, 266, 268, 270, 124 of this 

chapter, and the notification 

requirements at section 3010 of RCRA. 

are subject to 40 CFR part 

261 and §262.11, and 40 

CFR part 262, subpart H. 

(7) Will be 

reclaimed through 

regeneration or any 

other means 

Transport these batteries 

in the U.S. to export them 

for reclamation in a 

foreign country 

are exempt from 40 CFR parts 263, 264, 

265, 266, 268, 270, 124 of this chapter, 

and the notification requirements at 

section 3010 of RCRA. 

must comply with 

applicable requirements in 

40 CFR part 262, subpart 

H. 

(8) Will be 

reclaimed other than 

through 

regeneration 

Import these batteries 

from foreign country and 

store these batteries but 

you aren't the reclaimer 

are exempt from 40 CFR parts 262 

(except for §262.11 and subpart H), 263, 

264, 265, 266, 270, 124 of this chapter, 

and the notification requirements at 

section 3010 of RCRA 

are subject to 40 CFR 

parts 261, §262.11, part 

262 subpart H, and 

applicable provisions 

under part 268. 
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(9) Will be 

reclaimed other than 

through 

regeneration 

Import these batteries 

from foreign country and 

store these batteries 

before you reclaim them 

must comply with 40 CFR 266.80(b) and 

as appropriate other regulatory 

provisions described in 266.80(b) 

are subject to 40 CFR 

parts 261, §262.11, part 

262 subpart H, and 

applicable provisions 

under part 268. 

(10) Will be 

reclaimed other than 

through 

regeneration 

Import these batteries 

from foreign country and 

don't store these batteries 

before you reclaim them 

are exempt from 40 CFR parts 262 

(except for §262.11 and subpart H), 263, 

264, 265, 266, 270, 124 of this chapter, 

and the notification requirements at 

section 3010 of RCRA 

are subject to 40 CFR 

parts 261, §262.11, part 

262 subpart H, and 

applicable provisions 

under part 268. 

* * * * * 

PART 267—STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS 

WASTE FACILITIES OPERATING UNDER A STANDARDIZED PERMIT 

FACILITIES 

29. The authority citation for part 267 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6902, 6912(a), 6924-6926, and 6930. 

30. Section 267.71(a) and (d) are revised to read as follows: 

§267.71 Use of the manifest system. 

* * * * * 

(a)(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(4) Within 30 days after the delivery, send a copy of the manifest to the generator; 

(5) Retain at the facility a copy of each manifest for at least three years from the date of 

delivery; and 

(6) If a facility receives hazardous waste subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H from a 

foreign source, the receiving facility must (i) additionally list the relevant consent number from 

consent documentation supplied by EPA to the facility for each waste listed on the manifest, 
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Page 135 of 141 

followed by the relevant list number for the waste from block 9b in parentheses. If additional 

space is needed, the receiving facility should use a Continuation Sheet(s) (EPA Form 8700-22A); 

and 

(ii) mail a copy of the manifest to EPA using the allowable methods listed in 

§262.84(b)(1) within thirty (30) days of delivery. 

* * * * 

(d) As per §262.84(d)(xv), within three (3) working days of the receipt of a shipment 

subject to 40 CFR part 262, subpart H, the owner or operator of a facility must provide a copy of 

the movement document bearing all required signatures to the exporter, to EPA using the 

allowable methods listed in §262.84(b)(1), and to the competent authorities of the countries of 

export and transit. The original copy of the movement document must be maintained at the 

facility for at least three (3) years from the date of signature. 

PART 271—REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTHORIZATION OF STATE HAZARDOUS 

WASTE PROGRAMS 

31. The authority citation for part 271 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), and 6926. 

32. Section 271.1(j) is amended by adding the following entries to Table 1 and Table 2 in 

chronological order by date of publication in the Federal Register, to read as follows: 

§ 271.1 Purpose and scope. 

* * * * * 

(j) * * * 

Table 1.--Regulations Implementing the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 
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Promulgation date Title of regulation Federal Register 

Reference 

Effective Date 

* * * * * * * 

[Insert date of 

publication of final 

rule in the Federal 

Register 

(FR)]. 

Hazardous Waste 

Export-Import 

Revisions 

[Insert FR page 

numbers] 

[Insert date of X 

months from date 

of publication of final 

rule]. 

* * * 

 Table 2.— Self-Implementing Provisions of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 

1984 

Effective date Self-implementing 

provision 

RCRA citation Federal Register 

Reference 

* * * * * * * 

[Insert date X days 

after of publication of 

final 

rule in the Federal 

Register 

(FR)]. 

Hazardous Waste 

Export-Import 

Revisions 

3017(a) [Insert Federal 

Register reference for 

publication of final 

rule]. 

* * * * * 

33. Section 271.10 is amended to read as follows: 

§271.10 Requirements for generators of hazardous wastes. 

(a) * * * 

(b) * * * 

(c) * * * 

(d) * * * 
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(e) The State program shall provide requirements respecting international shipments 

which are equivalent to those at 40 CFR part 262 subpart H, and other import and export 

regulations, except that States shall not replace EPA or international references with State 

references. 

* * * * * 

34. Section 271.11(c) is amended to read as follows: 

§271.11 Requirements for transporters of hazardous wastes. 

(a) * * * 

(b) * * * 

(c) * * * 

(4) For exports of hazardous waste, the state must require the transporter to refuse to 

accept hazardous waste for export if the exporter has not provided the movement document, a 

manifest listing the consent numbers for the hazardous waste shipment, and the ITN number for 

the hazardous waste shipment, to carry a movement document and manifest with the shipment, to 

sign and date the International Shipments Block of the manifest to indicate the date the shipment 

leaves the U.S. and to send a copy of the manifest, if in paper form, to the e-Manifest system 

using the allowable methods listed in 40 CFR 264.71(a)(2)(v). 

* * * * * 

35. Section 271.12(i) is amended to read as follows: 

§271.12 Requirements for hazardous waste management facilities. 

* * * * 

(i) Compliance with the manifest system including the requirement that facility owners or 

operators return a signed copy of the manifest: 
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(1) To the generator to certify delivery of the hazardous waste shipment or to identify 

discrepancies; and 

(2) To EPA using the allowable methods listed in 40 CFR 262.84(b)(1) to indicate the 

receipt of a shipment of hazardous waste imported into the U.S. from a foreign source. 

* * * * * 

PART 273—STANDARDS FOR UNIVERSAL WASTE MANAGEMENT 

36. The authority citation for part 273 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6922, 6923, 6924, 6925, 6930, and 6937. 

37. Section 273.20 is amended to read as follows: 

§273.20 Exports. 

A small quantity handler of universal waste who sends universal waste to a foreign 

destination is subject to the requirements of 40 CFR part 262, subpart H. 

* * * * * 

38. Section 273.39 is amended to read as follows: 

§273.39 Tracking universal waste shipments. 

(a) Receipt of shipments. A large quantity handler of universal waste must keep a record 

of each shipment of universal waste received at the facility. The record may take the form of a 

log, invoice, manifest, bill of lading, movement document or other shipping document. The 

record for each shipment of universal waste received must include the following information: 

(1) The name and address of the originating universal waste handler or foreign shipper 

from whom the universal waste was sent; 

(2) The quantity of each type of universal waste received (e.g., batteries, pesticides, 

thermostats); 
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(3) The date of receipt of the shipment of universal waste. 

(b) Shipments off-site. A large quantity handler of universal waste must keep a record of 

each shipment of universal waste sent from the handler to other facilities. The record may take 

the form of a log, invoice, manifest, bill of lading, movement document or other shipping 

document. The record for each shipment of universal waste sent must include the following 

information: 

(1) The name and address of the universal waste handler, destination facility, or foreign 

destination to whom the universal waste was sent; 

(2) The quantity of each type of universal waste sent (e.g., batteries, pesticides, 

thermostats); 

(3) The date the shipment of universal waste left the facility. 

* * * * * 

39. Section 273.40 is amended to read as follows: 

§273.40 Exports. 

A large quantity handler of universal waste who sends universal waste to a foreign 

destination is subject to the requirements of 40 CFR part 262, subpart H. 

* * * * * 

40. Section 273.56 is amended to read as follows: 

§273.56 Exports. 

A universal waste transporter transporting a shipment of universal waste to a foreign 

destination is subject to the requirements of 40 CFR part 262, subpart H. 

* * * * * 

41. Section 273.62 is amended to read as follows: 
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§273.62 Tracking universal waste shipments. 

(a) The owner or operator of a destination facility must keep a record of each shipment of 

universal waste received at the facility. The record may take the form of a log, invoice, manifest, 

bill of lading, movement document or other shipping document. The record for each shipment of 

universal waste received must include the following information: 

(1) The name and address of the universal waste handler, destination facility, or foreign 

shipper from whom the universal waste was sent; 

(2) The quantity of each type of universal waste received (e.g., batteries, pesticides, 

thermostats); 

(3) The date of receipt of the shipment of universal waste. 

* * * * * 

42. Section 273.70 is amended to read as follows: 

§273.70 Imports. 

Persons managing universal waste that is imported from a foreign country into the United 

States are subject to the requirements of 40 CFR part 262 subpart H and the applicable 

requirements of this part, immediately after the waste enters the United States, as indicated in 

paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section: 

(a) A universal waste transporter is subject to the universal waste transporter 

requirements of subpart D of this part. 

(b) A universal waste handler is subject to the small or large quantity handler of universal 

waste requirements of subparts B or C, as applicable. 

(c) An owner or operator of a destination facility is subject to the destination facility 

requirements of subpart E of this part. 
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* * * * *