Opinion ID: 2630606
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Utah's Regulatory Definition of Hazardous Material

Text: ¶ 66 Having determined that hydrogen sulfide does not qualify as a hazardous material under section 19-6-302(7) by virtue of it being a substance regulated under 42 U.S.C. § 6991(2), I next turn to the question of whether hydrogen sulfide qualifies as a hazardous material under section 19-6-302(7) by virtue of it being a hazardous waste as defined in the Utah Hazardous Waste Management Regulations. Utah Code Ann. § 19-6-302(7). The Utah Hazardous Waste Management Act, Utah Code Ann. § 26-37-1, was repealed in 1981, 1981 Utah Laws 126, § 1, and was replaced by the Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste Act, Utah Code Ann. § 19-6-101 to -123 (1998 & Supp.2002). The hydrogen sulfide at issue here constitutes hazardous waste under section 19-6-302(7) if it falls within the Utah regulatory definition of hazardous waste. ¶ 67 The Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste regulations define hazardous waste to be [a] solid waste as defined in section R315-2-2. Utah Admin. Code R315-2-3(a) (2000). Solid waste is defined as any discarded material that is not excluded by subsection R315-2-4(a). Id. at R315-2-2(a)(1). Discarded material excluded by subsection R315-2-4(a) from the definition of solid waste includes [d]omestic sewage or any mixture of domestic sewage and other wastes that passes through a sewer system to a publicly-owned treatment works for treatment. `Domestic sewage' means untreated sanitary wastes that pass through a sewer system. Id. at R315-2-4(a)(1). Although it is not defined in the Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste regulations, sanitary waste is elsewhere defined in the Water Quality regulations as liquid or solid wastes originating solely from humans and human activities, such as wastes collected from toilets, showers, wash basins, sinks used for cleaning domestic areas, sinks used for food preparation, clothes washing operations, and sinks or washing machines where food and beverage serving dishes, glasses, and utensils are cleaned. Sources of these wastes may include single or multiple residences, hotels and motels, restaurants, bunkhouses, schools, ranger stations, crew quarters, guard stations, campgrounds, picnic grounds, day-use recreation areas, other commercial facilities, and industrial facilities provided the waste is not mixed with industrial waste. Id. at R317-7-2.44. If the hydrogen sulfide vented by the District was domestic sewage, then it was not a solid waste and is therefore excluded from the regulatory definition of hazardous waste. However, there is a dispute among the parties as to the origin of this hydrogen sulfide. Since the hydrogen sulfide vented by the District is not one of the substances regulated by 42 U.S.C. § 6991(2), and factual disputes prohibit a determination of whether it fits within Utah's regulatory definition, I cannot conclude as a matter of law that hydrogen sulfide is a hazardous material.