Opinion ID: 529912
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Responsibility for Testing Wastes Prior to Disposal.

Text: 39 A determination as to whether and to what degree treatment of a waste is required prior to land disposal depends upon the concentration of hazardous constituents in the waste. To facilitate these determinations and to ensure compliance with the land disposal prohibitions and applicable treatment standards, EPA proposed to implement requirements for mandatory testing in some circumstances. Proposed Rule at 1691. 40 The Agency was immediately confronted with the question of who, among generators, treatment facilities and land disposal facilities, should shoulder the responsibility of testing the waste prior to disposal. While several alternatives were available, EPA initially proposed that the land disposal facility alone be responsible for such testing. Proposed Rule at 1692. 41 Under this approach, the disposal facility must either conduct an analysis of the waste or obtain an analysis of the waste from the generator or treater. Similarly, the owner or operator of a land disposal facility could arrange for the generator or treatment facility to supply all or part of the required testing data. However, if the generator or treater did not supply the testing data and the land disposal facility owner or operator chose to accept the waste, the owner or operator would be responsible for conducting the required testing. 42 Id. at 1691. The agency cautioned that this approach did not leave the generator without responsibility altogether. The generator was still obliged to determine whether he must treat his waste prior to disposal. Id. [R]ather than specifically requiring the generator to conduct testing, [however], the Agency [proposed to] allow determination of whether wastes meet the regulatory thresholds to be based on either testing or knowledge of the characteristics of the waste. Id. The Agency found this proposal desirable because [i]t is flexible, does not require redundant testing, fits into the current regulatory scheme for the waste analysis plan and requires the testing to take place where the liability for disposal exists--at the land disposal facility. Id. at 1691. 43 The Final Rule bears substantial resemblance to that initially proposed by EPA, with one principal exception. As the agency explained, [b]ecause the [treatment] approach promulgated [in the Final Rule] does not cap BDAT with screening levels, more wastes will require treatment to meet the specified treatment standards. Final Rule at 40,597. Given this expanded role for the treatment industry, EPA decided in the Final Rule to impose testing requirements on both treatment facilities and land disposal facilities. But, the agency followed the proposed rule insofar as it did not require testing by generators. See id. Thus, when sending waste to either a treatment facility for pretreatment or directly to a land disposal facility, the Final Rule permits generators to base their determinations as to the concentration of hazardous constituents in the waste on waste analysis data, knowledge of the waste, or both. Id. No matter what the basis for their determinations, generators forwarding wastes directly to land disposal facilities must certify their conclusions to the facilities' operators. False certifications, under the Final Rule, may result in criminal penalties. See 40 C.F.R. Sec. 268.7 (1988); see also 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6928(d)(3) (Supp. IV 1986). 44 Petitioners HWTC and NRDC contend that it is arbitrary and capricious for EPA to require operators of treatment and land disposal facilities, but not generators, to test wastes within the land disposal prohibition.