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JAN z 5 2011 

OFFICE OF 

SOLID WASTE AND 

EMERGENCY RESPONSE 

The Honorable Richard E. Neal 

U.S . House of Representatives 

Washington, D.C . 20515 

Dear Congressman Neal : 

Thank you for your letter of December 21, 2010, to U.S . Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, regarding EPA's proposed rule, "Identification of 

Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials that are Solid Waste." In your letter, you express concerns 

that the rule may encourage improper disposal of used oil from do-it-yourself oil changers due to 

a disincentive for automotive service facilities to accept such oil . I appreciate your interest in 

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

legitimate recycling of used oil. 

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

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

under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 40 CFR Part 279 management standards, as 

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

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

Traditional fuels are those fuels that have been historically managed as valuable fuel products 

rather than being managed as waste materials, and are not considered to be solid wastes under 

the proposed rule. Thus, on-specification used oil would not be considered a solid waste when 

burned as a fuel under the proposed rule and would be subject to the section 112 Clean Air Act 

(CAA) standards. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Internet Address (URL) 9 http://www.epa .gov 

Recycled/Recyclable * Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled Paper 
The Agency has received a number of similar comments as it relates to off-specification 

used oil, and its impact on automotive service facilities accepting such do-it-yourself oil. 

Therefore, we will consider your comments as well as the comments submitted by others in 

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

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

your staff contact Carolyn Levine, in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental 

Relations, at (202) 564-1859. 

Sincerely, 

islaus 

Administrator