Opinion ID: 184539
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Munitions in storage and transport

Text: 25 The Department of Defense has issued comprehensive design and operating standards for the safe storage of all military munitions. See DOD Ammunition and Explosives Safety Standards, DOD 6055.9-STD (Oct.1992); Defense Transportation Regulation, Part II, Cargo Movement, DOD 4500.9-R (Apr.1996). The DOD has also made the standards for the transportation of hazardous materials promulgated by the Department of Transportation, see 49 C.F.R. §§ 100-179, 350-399, applicable to the transportation of military munitions. The EPA reviewed those standards in detail and determined that, although the DOD storage standards have safety as the primary concern, they meet or exceed RCRA standards in virtually all respects. 62 Fed.Reg. at 6637 (preamble). Similarly, the EPA concluded that the combined regulatory regimes of the Departments of Defense and of Transportation together provide an equivalent level of protection of human health and the environment as the requirements of the RCRA manifest system. Id. at 6634. 26 The Military Munitions Rule takes the pre-existing DOD and DOT regulations into account by granting to nonchemical munitions that are being managed in accordance with those regulations a conditional exemption from classification as a hazardous waste for purposes of Subtitle C. See 40 C.F.R. §§ 266.203(a)(1) (transportation) & 266.205(a)(1) (storage). Thus, a non-chemical [331 U.S.App.D.C. 12] military munition that meets the regulatory definition of solid waste, and that exhibits a hazardous waste characteristic or has been listed as a hazardous waste pursuant to 40 C.F.R. Part 261, is deemed not a hazardous waste for purposes of Subtitle C provided that it is being transported or stored in accordance with the applicable DOD regulations (and that it meets certain other criteria not relevant here). 27