Opinion ID: 490091
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Applicability of Section 264.101 to Fossil Fuel Combustion Wastes

Text: 42 EEI claims that 40 C.F.R. Sec. 264.101(a) (1986) appears to require owners and operators to take corrective action for all releases of hazardous waste or constituents from any solid waste management unit at the facility, without explicitly exempting solid waste management units devoted to the handling of fossil fuel combustion wastes. It maintains that section 3001(b)(3)(A) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6921(b)(3)(A) (1982), specifically exempts fossil fuel combustion wastes from regulation under the Act, unless and until the procedures set forth in section 3001(b)(3)(C) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6921(b)(3)(C) (1982), are complied with. EEI argues that, because the section 3001(b)(3) exemption was not repealed by the 1984 Amendments, section 3004(u) cannot be seen as relieving the Agency of the obligation to perform the study required under section 3001(b)(3)(C) before placing fossil fuel combustion wastes within the regulatory scope of the Act. Because the Agency never conducted such a study, EEI contends that section 264.101(a) goes beyond the scope of the Act to the extent that it imposes a duty to take corrective action for releases from solid waste management units devoted to handling fossil fuel combustion wastes. 43 It is clear to us that, in formulating section 264.101(a), the Agency merely mirrored the language used in section 3004(u). At oral argument, the EPA maintained that it has taken no position as to whether section 264.101(a) applies to fossil fuel combustion wastes. Moreover, the Agency has assured us that it does not currently seek to take any enforcement actions with respect to releases from fossil fuel combustion waste management units. Accordingly, we find that EEI's claim is not yet ripe for adjudication. If and when the Agency takes a position with regard to the applicability of section 264.101(a) to fossil fuel combustion wastes, EEI or some other proper party may institute an appropriate action.