•	 Ken Eikenherry 

ATTORNE'1/ GENERAL OF WA.SHINGTON
 

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September 21, 1987 

Mike	 Bussel 

U.S. Environmental 

1200 Sixth Avenue 

Seattle, WA 98101 

Dear	 Mr. Bussel: 

Please note the attached copy of Substitute Senate Bill 

5071 as recently passed by the state legislature. This bill 

amends RCW 70.105 so as to more clearly incorporate .radioactive . "mixed wastes" wi thin the state's dangerous waste man'agement 

program. 

The amendment does this by including within the definition 

of hazardous waste ·"substances composed of radioactive and 

hazardous components" and by deleting a somewhat confusing 

section which exempted radioactive waste and materials from 

regulation under chapter 70.105. This legislation was passed 

with the soleihtent of giving the department clear authority 

over mixed wastes~

These modifications should be considered as an amendment 

to Ecology's March 25, 1987 request to· the EPA for delegation 

of mixed waste au~hority under the Recourse Conservation and 

Recovery Act. They make the state's authority indisputable. 

Sincerely, . /) /1 /h·/.··1 ..,~.. 

~/t11 r // a~L~?7 f 

KATHLEEN MIX 

Assistant Attorney General 

(206) 459.-6800 

KM/bw 

Enclosure 

cc:	 Tom Eaton 

Roger Stanley 

•

Tim Nord 

Jay Manning 

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[~GROSSE: sueST:TU![ SEHATi BIL~ NO. 5071 

AS RECO~Eh~EC BY THE C~HrER£NCE CO~lT7E£

State of W~shington 50th tegl,~atur. 1987 Re~~la~ Session 

~y	 Comznittle on Parks , tc~109Y (originally sponsored by Str.llort ~reidl.r, wil1i~ms and Riheharl' 

Read first time 1/20/87. 

1 AN ACT Relating to d~ngerous wastas; ~mending , . RCW 70.105.010, 

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2 70.105.110, and 70.105.050; and ~dding new sections to chapter 70.105 

3 RCW. 

" BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE or THE STATE OF WASHING1'Ql:: 

5 Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 101, Laws of 1975-'76' 2nd ex. sess . 

.
 6 as ~mended 'by section l~ chapter 448, Laws of 1985 and Raw 70.105.010 

7 ~re each amended to read as follows: 

8 The vords and p~rases defined in this section shall have the 

9 meanings indicated when used in this chapter' unless the context 

10 clearly requires otherwise. 

'11 (1) -Departaent- aeans the department of ecology. 

12 (2) -Director- ceans the director of the dep~rtment of ecology or 

13 h i.s des ignee. 

14 (3) wDisposal site- aeans a geographical site in or, upon which 

15 hazardous wastes are disposed of in accordance with the provisions of 

16 this chapter. 

17 (4) wDispose or dispos2l w means the discarding or abandoning of 

18 'hazardous' wastes or the treatment, decontamination, or recyclin~ of 

19 such vastes once they have been discarded or abandoned. 

20 (5) -Dangerous wastes W ceans any discarded, useless, unwanted, or 

21 abandoned «ftoft~e~;oeeti.e» substances, including but not limited to 

22 certain pesUicides, or &ny residues or containers of such substances 

23 which are disposed of in such quantity or concentration &5 to pose a 

24 substantial present or pot.ential h&%ard to human health, wildlife, or 

2S the environment because such· vastes or constituents or combinations 

26 of such wastes: 

27 (a) Have short-lived, toxic properties thal may c.use death, 

28 injury, or illness or have mutagenic, ter~togenic, or carcinogenic 

29 properties: or 

I	 -1- ESSB 5071 

,Ui;2:;,~?:!:~; t ,'·,".1 , 
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1 

2 through decompc5itlon or olher ~ean5.

3 16; ·Extremely h~%ardou5 va5te­ means any dAngerous vaste vhich 

4 (~l vilt persist in a h~zardous form for several years or mor~ al 

5, disposal··.3ite and vhich in its persistent fOt"!1l' 

6 (i> ·p~esent~. a sig~lficant en~iTonmental hazard And may be 

7 coricenLrated by livlng organlsms through a food chain or may affect 

8 ·the genetic make-up of man 6r wild~ifa, an~ 0••• 

'9 1ii) is highly toxic to man or wildlife 

l~ (b) if disposed of at a dl,posal site in 5uch quantities as ..,ould '. . ,. . 

11 present an extreme hazard to man or the environment. 

12 ,(7) ·Person" means ~ny person, firm, association, county, public 

" 13 or m~nicipal or private corporation, ~gency, ~r other entity 

14 whatsoever. 

15 (8) ·Peslicide­ ~hall have the meaning of the term as defined in 

16 RCW 15.58.030 a~ nov or hereafter amended.' 

17 (9) ·Solid vaste advisory committee­ ~ean5 the same advisory c 

18 cOlMlittee as per RCW 70.95.040 throug~ 70.95.070. 

19 (10) -Designated zone facility" means any facility that requires 

2..0 an interim or final status permit under rules adopted under this 

21 chapte~ and ,that is not ,~ preempted facili'ty as defined in this 

22 section. 

23 (11) ·Facility· .ean~ al~ contiguous land and structures, other 

24 appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for recycling, 

25 storing, treating, incinerating, or disposing of hazardous vaste. 

26 (12) -Preempted facility· means any facility that includes As a 

27 significant pa~t of it~ activities any of the following operations: 

28 (~) Landfill, (b) incineration, (c) land treatment, (dl surface 

29 impound~ent to be closed as a landfill, or Ce) waste pile to be 

30 closed as a landfill. 

31 (lll'-Hazardous household substances~ means those substances 

32 identified by the department as hazardous household substances in lhe 

33 quidelines developed under RCW 70.105.220. 

3. ('14) -Hazardous subs tanc~s- means Any 1 iqu id, sol id, qiS, or 

3S sludge, inclu~ing any materi~l, substance, product, commodity, or 

36 waste. regardless of quantity,· that exhibits any of the 

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Sec. 3 

1 characteristic. or criteria 0.(· hazardous w~ste IS described in rul•• 

2 adopted und~r this chapter. 

(: :-adioactive and hazardous components. 

ex t remely ha za rdous vas t eoL"i_~i.;.;n...;;;c...;;;1..;;;u;.;;;d;..;;i __n.....91.--...;s;..u;..b;..5;;....;;.t,;;;.a,;,;,n.;:;.c.;:;.e.;:;.s_--...;;c..;;o__m..r;.po~5;..;e;..;d~_o~t

(15) -Hazardous waste­ means and includes all dangerous and 

, (16) -Local .gov~rnment· means a city, tovn, or county. 

7 (17) -Moderate-risk waste­ mean. (a) any waste that exhibits any 

8 of the properties of hazardous vaste but is exempt from regulation 

9. under this chapter solely because the waste is generated in 

10· ...qu~n tit i es below the threshold f?r regulation, and (b) any household 

11 wastes which are generated from the disposal of substances id~ntified

12 by the department as hazardous' household substances . 

.
 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2~ A new section is added to chapter 70.105 

. . RCW to read as fo110vs:· 

The depart_ent of' ecology .ay regulate. all hazardous wastes, 

including . t;hose composed of both radioactive and h~%ardous

components, to the extent it is· not ~reempted by 'f~deral law. 

Sec. 3. Section .11, chapter 101, Lavs of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. 

as amended by section 3, chapter 237, Lays of 1984 and RCW 70.105.110 

are each amended to read as follovs: 

e~apter-sh.ll-.ppir-te-.ftr-r.~ioaetive-w.ste-or-r.~ieaetive-Materjai7

ic~» Nothing in this chapter shall alter, amend, or supersede 

the pro.vi s ions of chapter 80.50 RCW. except tha t, notwi ths tand i ng any \ 

25 provision of chapter 80.50 RCW, regulation of dangerous wastes 

26 Issociated with .~ergy fa~ilities from generation to disposal shl~l

27 be solely by the department pursuant to chapter 70.105 RCW •. In the 

28 implementrtion of Slid section, the department shall consult and 

29 cooperate with the energy facility site evaluation council and, in 

30 order to reduce duplication of effort Ind to provide necessary 

31 coordination of ~onitoring and on-site inspection programs It energy 

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32 facility sites, Iny on-site inspection by the department that may be 

33 required for the purposes of this chapter shall be performed pursuant 

34 to an interagency coordination agreement with the council. 

3S «~~~» (2) To facilitate the implementation of this chapter, the 

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1 ~:'\er;l facilitl si~e evaL.1a~ion cou~cil may require certificate 

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6- :lo~ders to r:e!'l':o'/e from thair energy f~cll~,ty sltes a~i' dangerous 

3 vastest controlled by thi5 chapter, within n inet-y da:lsof th.ir 

4 gener3tion. 

5 Sec ..':4. Section 5. chapter 101, [.aws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. 

. 6 and Re'''' 70.105,.JSJ ~re each ~mended to read as follows: 

7 -- (1) No person shall' dispose of designa ted extremely hazardous 

e' va5U!S at an'y disposal site in the state other than the disposal site . '-.. 

9 established and approved for such purpose under provisions of this 

"~10~ chapter, except when such wastes are going to ~. processing facility 

11 which will result in the waste being reclaimed. treated, detoxified, 

12 neutralized. 'or otherwise processed to re~ov~ its harmful properties , 13 or characteristics. • -~'14 (2) Extremely hazardous wastes t hat .. '<: 0 n t a in radioactive 

,1$ components mav be disposed at a radioactive waste disposal site that 

16' is Ca; owned bv the United States department of energy or a license~

17 of the nuclear regulatory commission and Cb) permitted by' the. 

18 department and operated in compliance with the provisions of this 

19 chapter. However, prior to disposal, or as a part.of disposal, all 

..	 20 reasonable methods of treatment, deto~ification, neutralization, or 

21 other· vaste management met~odologies d~signed to mitigate hazards 

22 associated with these vastes shall be employed, as r.equired, by 

23 applicable federal an4 ~tate laws and regulations. 

24 Sec. S. A new section is added to chapter 70.10S
 

25 RCW to read as follovs:
 

26 Nothin9 in this chapter diminishes the authority of the'
 

27 department of social and health services to regulate the radioactive
 

28 portion of mixed wastes pursuant to chapter 70.98 RCW.


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,ESSB 5071	 -4­

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• P4ssed the Stnate April 26, 1987. 

M»l/a. C~~/LJ~ ~u ~~e5ident ofrt~~a~e~

P~5sed the House April 26; 1987. 

/(,....; ~speaker of the House. 

Approved ", ,- ..' 

fILE D 

..... MAY 19 1~67

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