Opinion ID: 561245
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: CERCLA Sec. 103(b)(3)

Text: 70 CERCLA imposes criminal sanctions upon any person in charge of a facility from which a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance is released who fails to immediately notify the appropriate federal agency. CERCLA, Sec. 103(b)(3), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9603(b)(3) (1982 & Supp. V 1987). 21 The default reportable quantity for a hazardous substance is one pound, CERCLA, Sec. 102(b), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9602(b), unless superseded by regulations promulgated pursuant to CERCLA, Sec. 102(a), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9602(a). Appellants MacDonald & Watson and NIC contend that the indictment and jury instructions improperly established the reportable quantity of soil contaminated with toluene as one pound. 22 For this reason, they seek reversal of CERCLA convictions. The government responds that it properly charged, and the district court correctly instructed that the reportable quantity for soil contaminated with commercial chemical product toluene (hereinafter toluene) 23 is one pound. Alternatively, the government argues that, since the evidence was undisputed that ten large truckloads of the hazardous waste was released, any error in the charge and jury instructions was harmless. We hold that the one pound reportable quantity set out in the indictment and charged in the court's instructions was incorrect, but constituted harmless error. 71 We turn first to a determination of the reportable quantity proper for this hazardous substance. The term hazardous substances, for purposes of CERCLA reporting, is defined in CERCLA, Sec. 101(14)(B), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601(14)(B), to include all RCRA hazardous wastes as well as additional materials listed as hazardous wastes pursuant to CERCLA, Sec. 102(a), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9602(a). EPA regulations promulgated under RCRA prior to the Master Chemical cleanup listed toluene as a hazardous waste, 40 C.F.R. Sec. 261.33(f). EPA also promulgated regulations pursuant to Sec. 102(a) prior to the Master Chemical cleanup which establish a reportable quantity for toluene of 1,000 pounds. 40 C.F.R. Sec. 302.4, 50 Fed.Reg. 13,474, 13,498 (April 4, 1985). The RCRA regulations also provide that soil contaminated with toluene is a RCRA hazardous waste, which is, therefore, subject to CERCLA reporting requirements. 40 C.F.R. Sec. 261.33(d). It is necessary to resolve, first, whether toluene or toluene-contaminated soil is the relevant hazardous waste for release reporting purposes here, and second, the reportable quantity of that waste. 72 Appellants contend that reporting is required only where 1,000 pounds of toluene is released, because CERCLA's no-mixing rule provides that at the time of the release, [r]eleases of mixtures and solutions are subject to these notification requirements only where a component hazardous substance of the mixture or solution is released in a quantity equal to or greater than its reportable quantity. 50 Fed.Reg. 13,474, 13,475 (April 4, 1985). See also 40 C.F.R. Sec. 302.6(b)(1) (1989). This contention is incorrect. EPA clearly stated in the preamble to the mixture rule regulations that the rule does not apply where the concentration of the hazardous substance in the mixture is not known: 73 [F]or CERCLA purposes, the [CERCLA] mixture rule applies to ... RCRA F and K waste streams (all of which tend to be mixtures) ... if the concentrations of all the hazardous substances in the waste are known. If the concentrations of the substances are unknown, the [reportable quantity] of the waste or unlisted waste applies.... [I]f the concentrations of the hazardous substances contained in the mixture are known, waste streams should be treated like any other mixture. If the releaser does not know the composition of the listed waste stream, EPA agrees that applying the [reportable quantity] of the entire waste stream is the only reasonably conservative alternative. 74 50 Fed.Reg. 13,463. In the present case, the concentration of toluene in the soil was unknown. 24 The mixture rule is, therefore, inapplicable. A different result would, of course, undermine the CERCLA policy requiring reporting of dangerous releases of hazardous substances. If the concentration of the hazardous constituent in a mixture is unknown, it is impossible to prove the quantity of the constituent that is released, regardless of the magnitude of mixture released. Congress and the EPA could not have intended, and did not intend, that all releases of such mixtures may go unreported. 75 Having established that the amount of toluene-contaminated soil that was released (rather than toluene alone) is the relevant hazardous waste triggering the reporting obligation, the next question is the reportable quantity of toluene-contaminated soil. The government argues that, because soil contaminated with commercial chemical product toluene is an independent RCRA hazardous waste for which EPA has established no independent reportable quantity, the reportable quantity is one pound pursuant to CERCLA Sec. 102(b). While there is some basis for this contention, it leads to the totally illogical result that one pound of toluene diluted by soil must be reported whereas only 1,000 pounds of pure toluene need be. We conclude that the reportable quantity for soil contaminated with toluene is the reportable quantity for toluene alone--1,000 pounds. 76 The fundamental concern underlying release reporting is the danger associated with the release of a listed hazardous waste. The reportable quantity for listed hazardous wastes is determined based on chemical toxicity. 40 C.F.R. Sec. 302.5 (1989). The primary concern with the amount of the listed hazardous waste released is reflected in the no-mixing rule, which provides that released mixtures need be reported only when a reportable quantity of the component hazardous waste is released. Here, because the concentration of the toluene in the soil was unknown, the amount of toluene released could not be shown. 77 To resolve this problem, it makes no sense--given the EPA's determination that only 1,000 pounds or more of toluene need be reported--to require the reporting of one pound of toluene when mixed with soil. To the contrary, since soil itself is non-reportable, and since any amount of soil when mixed with toluene lowers the proportion of the latter in the total mix, the EPA's purpose is fully, and conservatively served simply by establishing the reportable quantity of the mixture at 1,000 pounds, the same as toluene. To be sure, as the concentration of toluene is not known, there is no principled way, based on toxicity, to determine a reportable quantity greater than 1,000 pounds. But anything less assures full compliance. The EPA appears to have recognized this in its regulations: 78 Finally, the Agency wishes to clarify that, except as noted below, all hazardous wastes newly designated under RCRA will have a statutorily imposed [reportable quantity] of one pound until adjusted by regulation under CERCLA. See CERCLA section 102. If a newly listed hazardous waste stream has only one constituent of concern, the waste will have the same [reportable quantity] as that of the constituent. (The [reportable quantity] to be considered for this purpose would be the final [reportable quantity] of the constituent, whether statutorily imposed or by regulation.) 79 51 Fed.Reg. 6539 (Feb. 25, 1986). (Emphasis supplied). 80 Examination of the RCRA scheme establishing that a listed hazardous waste mixed with soil, water or other debris is itself a hazardous waste also reveals that the government's argument here is flawed. See 40 C.F.R. Sec. 261.33(d). 25 The government relies on a technical argument that Sec. 261.33(d) designates independent hazardous wastes--for which EPA established no independent reportable quantity--and the reportable quantity must therefore be one pound under CERCLA Sec. 102(b). EPA, however, could not have intended that 40 C.F.R. Sec. 261.33 establish independent hazardous wastes for CERCLA reporting purposes. Under the RCRA regulatory scheme, wastes are deemed hazardous if they either (1) exhibit certain characteristics which are known to be correlated with a danger to human health or the environment; or (2) appear on a list of individual wastes found to pose certain dangers. See 40 C.F.R. Subparts B, C and D, Secs. 261.10 et seq. EPA addressed in 40 C.F.R. Sec. 261.33(d) a possible contention that a mixture of a listed hazardous waste and soil is an independent waste which, in its own right, is neither a characteristic hazardous waste nor a listed hazardous waste. Since listed hazardous wastes may not lose their dangerous nature through mixture with soil, water or other debris, 26 EPA simply deemed such contaminated media to also be hazardous wastes. We think that EPA did not believe that, in closing this loophole, it would establish new and independent hazardous wastes consisting of each listed hazardous waste mixed with receiving media which would then require establishment of an independent reportable quantity under CERCLA Sec. 102(b), else that reportable quantity of the mixture would remain one pound. 27 To find that toluene-contaminated soil is an independent hazardous waste with a default reportable quantity of one pound would be to truly elevate linguistic form over substance. 81 We conclude that the reportable quantity for the toluene-contaminated soil was 1,000 pounds. The indictment charging that a reportable quantity of one pound of toluene-contaminated soil was not reported and the jury instructions to the same effect were, nevertheless, harmless error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(a). It was never a subject of dispute that the toluene-contaminated soil was delivered to the Poe Street Lot in other than nine 25-yard dump trucks and one 20-yard dump truck. We see no basis on which it could be rationally concluded by any juror that less than 1,000 pounds of contaminated soil was released. Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497, 107 S.Ct. 1918, 95 L.Ed.2d 439 (1987); Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 576-79, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 3105-07, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986). Likewise, we find no substance in appellants' argument that the indictment was constitutionally flawed because it failed to allege an essential element of the offense. See Portnoy v. United States, 316 F.2d 486, 488 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 815, 84 S.Ct. 48, 11 L.Ed.2d 50 (1963) (It is a cardinal principle of our criminal law that an indictment is sufficient which apprises a defendant of the crime with which he is charged so as to enable him to prepare his defense and to plead judgment of acquittal or conviction as a plea to a subsequent prosecution for the same offense.) We see no basis on which the difference between 1,000 pounds and one pound would, in these circumstances, have affected defendants' ability to defend.