Document ID: EPA-HQ-RCRA-2003-0012-0064
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2006-05-23T04:00Z

MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Hazardous
Waste
Generated
in
Laboratories
FROM:
Elizabeth
Cotsworth,
Director
Office
of
Solid
Waste
TO:
RCRA
Senior
Policy
Advisors,
EPA
Regions
I­
X
The
purpose
of
this
memo
is
to
reiterate
and
clarify
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency's
(
EPA)
policies
under
the
Resource
Conservation
and
Recovery
Act
(
RCRA)
hazardous
waste
management
program
regarding:
1)
who
may
make
a
hazardous
waste
identification,
and
2)
the
regulatory
status
of
on­
site
treatment
of
hazardous
waste.
This
memo
is
aimed
primarily
toward
academic
institutions
that
generate
hazardous
waste
in
laboratories.

Background
Academic
institutions
across
the
country
vary
in
size
and
complexity.
Many
are
large
quantity
generators
(
LQGs)
of
hazardous
waste,
generating
$
1000
kg/
month;
or
>
1
kg
of
acute
hazardous
waste/
month.
LQGs
must
comply
with
the
regulations
in
40
CFR
262.34(
a)
for
the
accumulation
of
waste
on­
site.
Hazardous
wastes
produced
by
LQGs
may
be
accumulated
on­
site
without
interim
status
or
a
permit
for
90
days
or
less.
Many
other
academic
institutions
are
small
quantity
generators
(
SQGs),
generating
>
100
kg/
month
but
<
1000
kg/
month
of
hazardous
waste.
SQGs
must
comply
with
40
CFR
262.34(
d)
for
accumulation
of
waste
on­
site.
Hazardous
wastes
produced
by
SQGs
may
be
accumulated
on­
site
without
interim
status
or
a
permit
for
180
days
or
less.

Many
of
the
hazardous
wastes
managed
at
academic
institutions
are
produced
and
initially
accumulated
in
research
laboratories.
The
satellite
accumulation
provisions
of
40
CFR
262.34(
c)
allow
for
reduced
requirements
for
hazardous
waste
accumulated
in
containers
at
or
near
any
point
of
generation.
Both
LQGs
and
SQGs
may
take
advantage
of
the
reduced
requirements
while
hazardous
waste
is
in
satellite
accumulation
areas,
such
as
laboratories,
provided
the
waste
is
managed
in
accordance
with
the
provisions
of
40
CFR
262.34(
c)
(
e.
g.,
properly
labeled).
2
Who
may
determine
whether
a
waste
is
hazardous?
40
CFR
Section
262.11
states,
"
A
person
who
generates
a
solid
waste...
must
determine
if
that
waste
is
a
hazardous
waste..."
A
"
person"
is
defined
as
"
an
individual,
trust,
firm,
joint
stock
company,
Federal
Agency,
corporation
(
including
a
government
corporation),
partnership,
association,
State,
municipality,
commission,
political
subdivision
of
a
State,
or
any
interstate
body"
(
40
CFR
Part
262.10).
A
"
person"
is
not
limited
to
a
specific
individual.
Therefore,
any
individual
who
is
part
of
the
"
person"
(
as
defined)
may
make
a
hazardous
waste
determination.
The
hazardous
waste
determination
is
not
limited
to
the
individual
who
actually
produces
a
solid
waste.
For
example,
Environmental,
Health
&
Safety
(
EH&
S)
personnel
may
make
a
hazardous
waste
determination
for
a
waste
produced
by
an
individual
researcher,
as
long
as
the
EH&
S
personnel
and
the
researcher
are
part
of
the
same
"
person"
(
e.
g.,
academic
institution).

Of
course,
EPA's
objective
is
to
ensure
accurate
hazardous
waste
identification.
Proper
waste
identification
is
important
in
order
to
allow
the
generator
to
comply
with
applicable
requirements
such
as
those
for
labeling
and
marking
pursuant
to
40
CFR
262.34.
In
short,
it
is
the
"
person's"
responsibility
to
ensure
that
the
individuals
within
the
organization
who
are
making
the
hazardous
waste
determination
obtain
all
the
necessary
information
from
whichever
individuals
within
the
organization
have
that
information.
In
practice,
a
hazardous
waste
determination
in
a
laboratory
setting
would
ideally
be
a
collaborative
effort
between
the
individual
researcher
who
produces
the
waste
and
EH&
S
personnel
who
may
make
the
hazardous
waste
determination.
That
is,
EH&
S
personnel
making
a
hazardous
waste
determination
should
receive
sufficiently
accurate
and
detailed
information
about
each
waste
from
the
individual
researcher
to
ensure
accurate
waste
identification.

We
realize
that
having
addressed
the
question
of
who
may
make
a
hazardous
waste
determination
may
also
raise
the
question
of
where
a
hazardous
waste
determination
is
made.
The
issue
is
whether
a
hazardous
waste
determination
must
be
made
in
the
laboratory
(
typically
a
satellite
accumulation
area)
or
at
a
central
accumulation
area.
EPA
is
not
addressing
this
question
in
this
memo,
but
intends
to
address
this
question
in
a
future
guidance
or
rulemaking.

What
is
the
regulatory
status
of
on­
site
treatment
of
hazardous
waste?
EPA
has
consistently
interpreted
its
regulations
to
allow
generators
to
treat
hazardous
waste
in
their
accumulation
tanks
and
containers,
without
obtaining
a
permit
or
having
interim
status.
This
is
true
for
both
LQGs
and
SQGs.
Of
course,
all
generators
are
allowed
to
treat
only
the
hazardous
waste
that
is
generated
on­
site.
A
permit
would
be
required
to
store
and/
or
treat
hazardous
waste
that
is
consolidated
from
off­
site
locations.
Examples
of
treatment
that
may
be
conducted
in
accumulation
tanks
and
containers
include
precipitating
heavy
metals
from
solutions,
and
oxidation/
reduction
reactions.

There
are
three
reasons
for
this
interpretation.
First,
we
discussed
the
relationship
between
storage,
treatment
and
disposal
in
the
preamble
of
the
January
12,
1981,
Federal
Register
(
46
FR
2806­
2808).
In
that
preamble,
we
noted
that
treatment
can
occur
at
a
permitted
disposal
or
storage
facility
without
affecting
that
facility's
regulatory
status.
We
believe
that
treatment
3
activities
should
similarly
not
change
the
regulatory
status
of
generators.
Since
the
regulations
do
not
impose
additional
standards
for
treatment
when
it
occurs
at
a
storage
facility
that
requires
a
permit,
there
is
no
basis
for
regulating
treatment
more
strictly
at
a
storage
facility
which
does
not
require
a
permit,
such
as
a
generator's
accumulation
area.

Second,
the
provisions
of
40
CFR
262.34(
a)
for
LQGs
and
40
CFR
262.34(
d)
for
SQGs
require
generators
to
comply
with
most
of
the
technical
standards
for
containers
(
Part
265
Subpart
I)
and
tanks
(
Part
265
Subpart
J)
with
which
an
interim
status
storage
facility
would
have
to
comply.
Of
the
provisions
for
treatment,
storage
and
disposal
facilities
only
the
financial
responsibility,
closure/
post­
closure
and
corrective
action
regulations
would
not
apply
to
generators
that
treat
hazardous
waste.

Third,
treatment
often
renders
waste
less
hazardous,
or
more
amenable
for
further
treatment,
recycling,
shipment
off
site,
etc.
A
requirement
for
generators
to
obtain
a
permit
for
any
on­
site
treatment
would
very
likely
discourage
such
practices.

Finally,
with
regard
to
who
may
treat
a
hazardous
waste,
a
generator
is
defined
as
"
any
person,
by
site,
whose
act
or
process
produces
hazardous
waste..."
(
40
CFR.
2601.10).
Therefore,
again,
any
individual
who
is
part
of
the
"
person,"
as
defined,
including
EH&
S
personnel,
is
allowed
to
conduct
treatment,
provided
that
the
individual
complies
with
the
training
requirements
of
40
CFR
262.34(
a)(
4)
for
LQGs
,
or
40
CFR
262.34(
d)(
5)
for
SQGs.
Additionally,
nothing
in
40
CFR
262.34
precludes
generators
from
transferring
waste
between
tanks
or
containers
to
facilitate
storage
or
treatment.

It
should
be
noted,
however,
that
some
forms
of
treatment
by
generators
are
not
allowed
without
a
permit.
For
example,
incineration
is
regulated
by
specific
standards
for
incinerators
(
Part
264/
265
Subpart
O),
and
burning
waste
in
boilers
and
industrial
furnaces
is
regulated
under
the
specific
standards
for
those
units
(
Part
266
Subpart
H).

If
the
waste
is
being
treated
on­
site
and
the
treatment
residue
is
destined
to
be
land
disposed,
the
generator
still
has
responsibilities
under
the
land
disposal
restrictions
(
LDR)
program.
The
LDRs
require
that
hazardous
waste
must
be
treated
by
a
specified
method
or
to
a
specified
constituent
concentration
level
before
it
(
or
its
residue)
may
be
placed
in
the
land.
The
generator
must
know
the
treatment
standard
applicable
to
his/
her
waste
and
either
treat
to
meet
the
treatment
standard
or
send
it
to
a
treater
to
do
so.
Generators
who
treat
waste
on­
site
to
remove
a
hazardous
characteristic
must
prepare
a
waste
analysis
plan
if
treatment
occurs
in
units
that
do
not
require
a
RCRA
permit
(
see
40
CFR
262.34(
a)(
4)
for
LQGs,
and
40
CFR
262.34(
d)(
4)
for
SQGs).
In
addition,
there
are
some
generator
paperwork
requirements
associated
with
the
LDRs
(
40
CFR
268.7(
a)).
More
information
about
the
LDR
program
may
be
found
in
"
Land
Disposal
Restrictions:
Summary
of
Requirements"
at
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
epaoswer/
hazwaste/
ldr/
new.
htm.

Some
treatment
units
have
been
and
continue
to
be
specifically
excluded
from
permitting.
For
4
example,
owners
and
operators
of
elementary
neutralization
units
are
not
required
to
obtain
a
RCRA
permit
(
40
CFR
270.1(
c)(
2)(
v)).
Similarly,
many
forms
of
on­
site
recycling
of
hazardous
waste
can
be
performed
without
a
permit,
since
EPA
generally
does
not
regulate
the
recycling
process
itself.
However,
any
accumulation
of
hazardous
waste
prior
to
placement
in
an
exempt
unit
or
prior
to
recycling
would
be
regulated
under
40
CFR
262.34,
as
discussed
above.

On
a
related
matter,
for
those
LQGs
that
accumulate
hazardous
waste
for
longer
than
90
days,
or
SQGs
that
accumulate
hazardous
waste
for
longer
than
180
days,
and
therefore
require
a
permit,
the
Agency
recently
proposed
a
rule
that
would
streamline
the
permitting
requirements
for
facilities
that
store
and/
or
treat
their
hazardous
waste
on­
site
in
tanks
and
containers
(
October
12,
2001;
66
FR
52192).
The
Agency
anticipates
finalizing
the
rule
in
early
2003.

Please
note
that
this
letter
discusses
only
the
federal
hazardous
waste
regulations.
States
that
are
authorized
to
implement
the
RCRA
program
may
have
regulations
that
are
different
than
the
federal
regulations
provided
they
are
not
less
stringent
than
the
federal
program.
If
you
have
any
questions,
please
contact
Kristin
Fitzgerald
at
(
703)
308­
8286
or
fitzgerald.
kristin@
epa.
gov.