Opinion ID: 184507
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Spent Potliner

Text: All aluminum in the United States is produced by dissolving alumina (aluminum oxide) in a molten cryolite bath andthen introducing a direct electric current to reduce the alumina to aluminum metal. The reduction takes place in electrolytic cells, called pots, consisting of a steel shell lined withbrick with an inner lining of carbon. The carbon lining is upto 15 inches thick and serves as the cathode for the electrolysis process. During a service life of four to seven years, thecarbon lining absorbs the cryolite solution and degrades. Once a liner cracks, the pot is emptied and cooled. The steelshell is stripped away, leaving a large solid block of carbon--aspent potliner. 3 An estimated 100,000 to 125,000 metrictons are produced each year. See 62 Fed. Reg. 1991, 1993(1997). The listing of spent potliner--assigned hazardous wastecode K088--has a tangled history. EPA originally listedK088 in 1980 because it contained high concentrations of __________ 3 A more detailed description is found in 56 Fed. Reg. 32,993,33,002 (1991). cyanide. See 45 Fed. Reg. 47,832 (1980). Before the regulations took effect, Congress enacted the Solid Waste DisposalAct of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-482, 94 Stat. 2334, which includeda provision named after its sponsor, Congressman Tom Bevillof Alabama. The Bevill Amendment excluded mining wastesfrom Subtitle C regulation until EPA had conducted a studyof the adverse effects of such wastes. See RCRAs 8002(p), 42 U.S.C. s 6982(p). EPA interpreted the BevillAmendment to include solid wastes generated during thesmelting and refining of ores and minerals and suspended itslisting of spent potliner. See 46 Fed. Reg. 4614, 4615 (1981). When litigation ensued, EPA announced a proposed reinterpretation narrowing the scope of the Bevill exclusion. See50 Fed. Reg. 40,292 (1985). EPA then changed its mind,withdrew its proposed reinterpretation, and was sued again. In Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA, this court orderedthe Agency to relist spent potliner by August 31, 1988. 852F.2d 1316, 1331 (D.C. Cir. 1988). The Agency complied, see53 Fed. Reg. 35,412 (1988), but missed the six-month statutory deadline for promulgating land disposal restrictions andtreatment standards. As the result of another suit filed byEDF, EPA signed a consent decree requiring it to promulgate a final rule establishing land disposal restrictions forspent potliner by June 30, 1996. See EDF v. Reilly, No.89-0598 (D.D.C.). In April 1996, EPA promulgated the first of three ruleschallenged here. The Rule prohibited land disposal of spentpotliner unless the waste satisfied the s 3004(m) treatmentstandard established in the same rulemaking. See 61 Fed.Reg. 15,566 (Apr. 8, 1996). The April 1996 Rule also granteda nine-month national capacity variance pursuant tos 3004(h)(2) to allow facilities generating K088 adequatetime to work out logistics. 61 Fed. Reg. at 15,589. At the time of the April 1996 rulemaking, only ReynoldsMetals Company was engaged in full-scale treatment of spentpotliner. Reynolds, an intervenor in this case, had beguntreating spent potliner at its facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas several years before any rule was proposed. See Brief forIntervenors at 4. The Reynolds treatment process involves crushing spent potliner to particle size and adding roughlyequal parts limestone and brown sand.4 According to Reynolds, the brown sand prevents the mixture from clogging inthe kiln and the limestone reacts with the fluoride in spentpotliner to transform it into relatively insoluble calcium fluoride. See 56 Fed. Reg. 32,993, 33,003 (1991); see also 56 Fed.Reg. 55,160, 55,180 (1991) (discussing potential for slagging orclogging in thermal treatment of spent potliner). The mixture is fed into a thermal rotary kiln that is 250 feet in lengthand 9.5 feet in diameter. Natural gas heats the kiln to 1200degrees Fahrenheit. When the material exits the kiln, it iscooled and then deposited in an on-site monofill. Under its derived from rule, EPA listed the kiln residueas hazardous because it was generated from the treatment ofa hazardous waste. See 40 C.F.R. s 261.3(c)(2)(i). In August1989, Reynolds petitioned EPA to delist its kiln residue-- exempt it from the list of hazardous wastes--maintaining thatthe treated residue was no longer hazardous. EPA grantedReynolds' delisting petition pursuant to RCRA s 3001(f), 42U.S.C. s 6921(f). See 56 Fed. Reg. 67,197 (1991). Thedelisting allowed Reynolds to dispose of treated spent potliner in non-Subtitle C units. EPA recognized that although itwas not specifying a particular technology, as a practicalmatter Reynolds would wind up treating most spent potlinerbecause Reynolds provided virtually all existing treatmentcapacity. 62 Fed. Reg. at 1993. The April 1996 Rule for spent potliner established a treatment standard expressed as numerical concentration limitsfor various constituents in the waste. The constituents included cyanide, toxic metals, a group of organic compoundscalled polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and fluor__________ 4 Brown sand is an alkaline mud generated in the process ofextracting alumina from bauxite. Reynolds had previously operated a bauxite mine and had stockpiled large quantities of brownsand. See 56 Fed. Reg. at 33,003. ide.5 EPA explained that most of these limits were equivalent to universal treatment standards, which it developed byevaluating all existing Agency data from various technologies. 6 April 1996 Rule, 61 Fed. Reg. at 15,585; see also 40C.F.R. s 268.48 (Universal Treatment Standards Table). The exception was fluoride, for which the concentration limitwas based on data submitted in Reynolds' delisting petition. The standards for cyanide and the organic constituents werebased on a total composition concentration analysis. 61Fed. Reg. at 15,584. For fluoride and the metals, includingarsenic, treatment standards were expressed in terms of theToxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure or TCLP. Id. Because EPA's use of the TCLP is pivotal to the case, itwill be helpful to examine the test in some depth. EPAdeveloped the TCLP in response to a congressional directivein the 1984 Amendments to improve its then-existing toxicitycharacteristic test by making changes necessary to insurethat it accurately predicts the leaching potential of wasteswhich pose a threat to human health and the environment __________ 5 Key treatment standards for non-wastewater forms of K088were established as follows: arsenic 5.0 mg/l TCLP cyanide (total) 590 mg/kg cyanide (amenable) 30 mg/kg fluoride 48 mg/l TCLP See 40 C.F.R. s 268.40, Treatment Standards for HazardousWastes Table. Fluoride itself is not a hazardous constituent, butEPA decided to regulate it because it is capable of causingsubstantial harm in the form of groundwater degradation, adverseecological effects and potential adverse human health effects. TheAgency's view thus is that, unless fluoride in this waste is treated,the legal standard in section 3004(m) would not be satisfied. 61Fed. Reg. 15,566, 15,585 (1996). 6 A universal standard is a single concentration limit established for a specific constituent regardless of the waste matrix inwhich it is present, i.e., the same treatment standard applies to aparticular constituent in each waste code in which it is regulated. Proposed Best Demonstrated Available Technology (BDAT) Background Document for Spent Potliners From Primary AluminumReduction--K088 (Jan. 13, 1995). when mismanaged. 42 U.S.C. s 6921(g). See generallyEdison Electric Inst. v. EPA, 2 F.3d 438, 442 (D.C. Cir. 1993)(discussing EPA's promulgation of revised toxicity characteristic test). The TCLP is designed to simulate the mobility orleachability of toxic constituents into groundwater followingdisposal of a hazardous waste in a municipal solid wastelandfill.7 In 1990 EPA adopted the TCLP as the requiredtest for measuring the mobility of toxic metals in all solidwastes. See 55 Fed. Reg. 11,798 (1990). For solid wastes, the TCLP involves reducing a sample ofthe waste to particle size and mixing it with an extractionfluid. One of two extraction fluids is used depending on thealkalinity of the waste being tested. See 51 Fed. Reg. 21,648,21,655-56 (1986). Any solid is then discarded and the remaining liquid, called the TCLP extract, is analyzed for toxiccontaminants. A solid waste exhibits the characteristic oftoxicity if it contains any one of a number of contaminantsspecified by EPA at a concentration equal to or greater thanthe regulatory level. See 40 C.F.R. s 261.24 & Table 1(Maximum Concentration of Contaminants for the ToxicityCharacteristic). For example, the regulatory level for arsenicis 5.0 mg/l. A waste would be considered toxic--and thushazardous--if, when measured by the TCLP, it revealed aconcentration of arsenic equal to or greater than 5.0 mg/l. Use of the TCLP is widespread in EPA's regulations implementing land disposal restrictions. For all wastes covered bywaste extract standards, the TCLP is used to measure compliance. See 40 C.F.R. s 268.40(b). Without any formal notice and comment, EPA promulgatedthe second spent potliner rule in January 1997, just as thefirst national capacity variance was due to expire. See 62 __________ 7 Leaching is the process whereby constituents in the wastebecome suspended or dissolved in liquids, such as rainwater, thatpercolate through the waste. Leachate is a fluid containing thesecomponents drawn from the original waste. In some cases, solubility--the degree to which a chemical dissolves in water--depends onthe pH of the medium. Some compounds are more soluble inhighly alkaline conditions and others are more soluble in highlyacidic conditions. Fed. Reg. 1992 (Jan. 14, 1997) (January Rule). EntitledEmergency Extension of the K088 Capacity Variance, theJanuary Rule stated that unanticipated performance problems were causing the Agency to postpone implementing theland disposal prohibition for an additional six months. EPAexplained that notwithstanding that the wastes as tested bythe TCLP would have complied with the land disposal restriction treatment standards for the non-wastewater forms ofK088, actual sampling data shows potentially high concentrations of hazardous constituents in the leachate from Reynolds' landfill. 62 Fed. Reg. at 1993.8 The length of theextension was based on EPA's estimate of the time it wouldtake to modify, evaluate, and correct the current deficienciesin treatment performance. Id. at 1992. EPA admitted thatit was not aware of these data until recently, and in particular was not aware of these data during the rulemaking whichestablished the K088 treatment standard. Id. at 1993 n.6. In July 1997, EPA announced that Reynolds' treatment(albeit imperfect) does reduce the overall toxicity associatedwith the waste and consequently was an improvement overthe disposal of untreated spent potliner. 62 Fed. Reg. at37,696. Because Reynolds agreed to give up its delisting andmanage the treated waste in a landfill subject to Subtitle Csafeguards, the Agency decided that protective disposal capacity exists. Id. at 37,697. It authorized a three-monthextension of the national capacity variance to give generatorstime to make arrangements with Reynolds. Id. On October8, 1997, the extension ended and the prohibition on landdisposal of untreated spent potliner took effect. __________ 8 EPA reported the following levels in actual leachate as measured in September 1996: total cyanide 46.5 mg/l arsenic 6.55 mg/l fluoride 45 mg/l Id.