[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 4 (Thursday, January 6, 1994)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 709-714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-182]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 6, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 261

[FRL-4822-9]

 

Availability of Report to Congress on Cement Kiln Dust; Request 
for Comments and Announcement of Public Hearing

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the Agency's Report 
to Congress on Cement Kiln Dust, that is required by section 8002(o) of 
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. 6982(o). 
The Report to Congress contains a detailed study of cement kiln dust 
(CKD), which is within the scope of the exemption from hazardous waste 
regulations provided by section 3001(b)(3)(A)(iii) of RCRA as codified 
at 40 CFR 261.4(b)(8); this exemption is often referred to as the 
Bevill Exemption. The report also presents the Agency's decision making 
rationale and a series of options being considered regarding regulatory 
options for cement kiln dust waste. Information submitted in public 
comments and at a public hearing will be used in conjunction with the 
Report to Congress to make a final determination on the regulatory 
status of these wastes.

DATES: EPA will accept public comments on the Report to Congress on 
Cement Kiln Dust until February 22, 1994. The Agency will hold a public 
hearing on the Report to Congress on February 15, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the public hearing should be submitted 
in writing to the Public Hearing Officer--Cement Kiln Dust, Office of 
Solid Waste, Special Waste Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street (5302W), SW., Washington, DC 20460. The February 
15, 1994 public hearing will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in 
Washington, DC, located at 999 9th Street, NW. The hearing will begin 
at 9 a.m. with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. The hearing will end 
at 5 p.m. unless concluded earlier. Oral and written statements may be 
submitted at the public hearing. Persons who wish to make oral 
presentations must restrict them to 15 minutes, and are requested to 
provide written comments for inclusion in the record.
    Copies of the full report are available for inspection and copying 
at the EPA Headquarters library, at the RCRA Docket in Washington, DC, 
and at all EPA Regional Office libraries. Copies of the full report can 
be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (call 
(703) 487-4660 or (800) 553-NTIS). Copies of the Executive Summary 
(Volume I) can be obtained by calling the RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 
(800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810.
    Those wishing to submit public comments for the record must send an 
original and two copies of their comments to the following address: 
RCRA Docket Information Center (5305), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC, 20460. Please place the 
docket number F-93-RCKA-FFFFF on your comments.
    The RCRA docket is located in room M2616 at EPA Headquarters in 
Washington, DC. The docket is open from 9 to 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. In order to view the docket, please 
call (202) 260-9327 to make an appointment. Copies are free up to 100 
pages and thereafter cost $0.15/page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
RCRA/Superfund Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810; for 
technical information contact Bill Schoenborn, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (5302W), 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, at 
(703) 308-8483.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:

A. Background Information

    RCRA section 3001(b)(3) (hereafter referred to as the Bevill 
Exemption) exempts, among other things, cement kiln dust waste from 
regulation under RCRA subtitle C, pending completion of a Report to 
Congress and a subsequent determination of whether such regulation is 
warranted. In RCRA section 8002(o), Congress directed EPA to conduct a 
detailed and comprehensive study based on eight study factors 
(discussed below) and submit a Report to Congress on ``the adverse 
effects on human health and the environment, if any, of the disposal 
and utilization of cement kiln dust waste''. RCRA section 3001(b)(3)(C) 
then requires that EPA determine, within six months of the date of 
submission of the Report to Congress, either to promulgate regulations 
for CKD under subtitle C or determine that subtitle C regulation is 
unwarranted.
    The Bevill Exemption was added to RCRA on October 12, 1980, as part 
of the 1980 Solid Waste Disposal Act Amendment. In response to the 1980 
RCRA amendments, EPA published an interim final amendment to its 
hazardous waste regulations to reflect the provisions of the Bevill 
Exemption (40 CFR 261.4(b)(8)). Since that time, cement kiln dust has 
remained exempt from subtitle C of RCRA, meaning that this material has 
never been subject to hazardous waste regulations under Federal law.
    On March 8, 1989, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed suit 
against EPA for failing to complete the RTC as required by RCRA. On 
June 19, 1991, EPA entered into a proposed consent decree with EDF. In 
the proposed consent decree, EPA agreed to complete the Report to 
Congress on Cement Kiln Dust by April 30, 1993. The proposed consent 
decree was later modified to extend the deadline for issuance of the 
Report to Congress to December 31, 1993.

B. Report to Congress

    EPA has completed its study of CKD waste and prepared the Report to 
Congress on Cement Kiln Dust. In keeping with the statutory 
requirements, the report addresses the following factors (hereafter 
``study factors'') required under section 8002(o) of RCRA:
    (1) The source and volumes of such materials generated per year;
    (2) Present disposal practices;
    (3) Potential danger, if any, to human health and the environment 
from the disposal of such materials;
    (4) Documented cases in which danger to human health or the 
environment has been proved;
    (5) Alternatives to current disposal methods;
    (6) The costs of such alternatives;
    (7) The impact of those alternatives on the use of natural 
resources; and
    (8) The current and potential utilization of such materials.

In addition, section 8002(o) directs the Agency review other Federal 
and state studies and actions (e.g., regulations) to avoid duplication 
of effort.
    The Agency's approach in preparing the Report to Congress was to 
combine certain study factors for purposes of analysis and to evaluate 
these study factors in a step-wise fashion. This evaluation process, 
hereafter referred to as EPA's decision rationale, is a three-step 
methodology that was used in making the regulatory determinations for 
Mineral Processing Special Wastes (56 FR 27305, June 13, 1991) and the 
four large-volume Wastes from the Combustion of Coal by Electric 
Utilities (58 FR 42466, August 9, 1993). The decision rationale 
contributed to the development of the proposed options for managing CKD 
waste. EPA is soliciting comment on how the decision rationale can be 
used in the Agency's decision-making process.
    The resulting review and discussion of EPA's analysis is organized 
into ten chapters in Volume II of the Report to Congress: Methods and 
Findings. (Volume I is an Executive Summary.) The first chapter of 
Volume II briefly summarizes the purpose and scope of the report, 
general methods and information sources used, and EPA's decision making 
methodology. The second chapter provides a brief overview of the cement 
industry, including a description of CKD waste, the industry structure 
and characteristics, the cement manufacturing process, the types of 
production processes used, and significant process inputs (RCRA Study 
Factor 1). The third chapter discusses the generation and chemical and 
physical characteristics of CKD (Study Factors 1 and 3). The fourth 
chapter outlines the range of CKD management methods employed at 
domestic cement plants (Study Factor 2). The fifth chapter identifies 
and summarizes cases of potential and documented damages to human 
health and the environment (Study Factor 4). The sixth chapter includes 
a discussion of EPA's risk assessment in which the Agency examined 
inherent hazards posed by CKD, evaluated site-specific risk factors, 
and performed quantitative transport, fate and exposure modeling (Study 
Factor 3). The seventh chapter summarizes applicable federal and state 
regulatory controls. The eighth chapter investigates alternative waste 
management practices and potential utilization of the wastes (Study 
Factors 5, 6, and 7). The ninth chapter discusses costs and impacts 
under each of several regulatory and operational scenarios (Study 
Factor 8). The tenth and final chapter of Volume II of the Report to 
Congress summarizes and analyzes the findings of EPA's evaluation of 
the above study factors and presents a series of options the Agency is 
considering, based on these findings, concerning the management of 
cement kiln dust.

C. Decision Rationale

    After studying cement kiln dust, the Agency used the decision 
rationale to evaluate the findings of the study factors, and to 
formulate a series of options being considered regarding the level of 
control needed for CKD. In Step 1 of the decision rationale, the Agency 
first determined whether the management of CKD poses human health/
environmental problems and the potential for current practices to cause 
problems in the future. In Step 2, the Agency looked at waste 
management practices and existing regulations to examine the potential 
for releases and exposure under current practices. In Step 3, the 
Agency evaluated the costs and impacts associated with regulating this 
waste under Subtitle C and, possibly, other regulatory scenarios.
    The rationale for the order of questions is that cement kiln dust 
should first be considered to present risk to human health or the 
environment or a potential risk under plausible mismanagement scenarios 
before the Agency considers it for regulation under RCRA subtitle C. 
Second, before it considers regulating the waste under subtitle C, the 
Agency should determine that current management practices and existing 
state and Federal regulatory controls are inadequate to limit the risks 
posed by a waste. Then it should consider whether subtitle C regulation 
would be effective and appropriate. Finally, the special statutory 
status of the waste requires that the Agency consider the impacts to 
the industry that regulation under subtitle C would create in making a 
decision to regulate the waste as hazardous. Therefore, the decision 
rationale allows EPA to systematically narrow its focus as to whether 
the waste may present significant risk of harm and whether additional 
regulatory controls are necessary and desirable.
    The tentative answers to the questions posed in its three-step 
decision rationale are discussed below:
    Step 1: Does management of CKD pose human health and environmental 
problems? Might current practices cause problems in the future?
    After reviewing evidence of damage to human health and the 
environment, performing a risk assessment, and reviewing the results of 
laboratory analyses of waste samples, EPA has concluded that risks 
associated with CKD management are generally low, however, there is a 
potential under certain circumstances for CKD to pose a danger to human 
health and environment, and may do so in the future.
    Data collected from state files and EPA site visits identify common 
CKD waste management practices, including management in exposed, 
unlined piles, abandoned quarries, and landfills, that have caused, and 
may continue to cause, contamination of air and nearby surface water 
and ground water. Management practices such as disposal in a water-
filled quarry and management in piles adjacent to grazing and 
agricultural fields or surface water bodies also pose a potential 
danger to human health and the environment. In addition, risk modeling 
results supports the conclusion that CKD can potentially pose risks to 
human health and the environment under certain hypothetical, yet 
plausible scenarios.
    Step 2: Is more stringent regulation necessary or desirable?
    EPA has reached no conclusions with respect to the need for more 
stringent regulation. EPA's preliminary analysis of the effectiveness 
of State and Federal regulations and controls suggests that additional 
controls should be evaluated; for example, controls for CKD management 
scenarios which potentially present high risks, if those scenarios 
exist. While CKD is regulated under State and local laws, the specific 
requirements for CKD vary from state to state. In many instances, 
minimal controls are applied to these wastes. Also, recycling 
technologies could be used as a means to improve waste management 
practices.
    Step 3: What would be the operational and economic consequences of 
a decision to regulate CKD under subtitle C?
    Operational costs of CKD regulation are largely dependent on the 
management alternative selected. If CKD is managed as a hazardous waste 
under RCRA subtitle C, facilities that manage their CKD through on-site 
land disposal are estimated to incur significant compliance costs. 
However, the financial burden of compliance, even for waste dust 
generated in kilns that burn RCRA hazardous waste, may be reduced, if 
facilities are able to adopt pollution prevention technologies which 
recycle CKD.
    The possible economic outcomes of a decision to regulate CKD under 
RCRA subtitle C cover a broad spectrum. An economic analysis of 
innovative pollution prevention technologies (including alkali 
leaching, flue gas desulfurization, and fluid-bed dust recovery), 
suggests that the potentially high compliance costs of CKD land 
disposal may drive the industry toward more recycling of their CKD. 
However, at this early stage of their development, it is uncertain that 
these recycling technologies can be widely adopted by the industry. 
Moreover, even if CKD is recycled, some facilities may incur 
substantial disposal costs.

D. Regulatory Options

    This section presents a series of options the Agency is considering 
concerning the management of cement kiln dust waste based on the 
findings of this Report. In accordance with RCRA section 3001(b)(3)(C), 
EPA will make a regulatory determination for cement kiln dust waste 
after submitting this Report to Congress, and after holding a public 
hearing, and accepting and reviewing public comments.
    As stated previously, cement kiln dust waste generally presents a 
low inherent toxicity, is only rarely characteristically hazardous, 
and, in most cases based on risk modeling, does not present a risk to 
human health and the environment. However, cement kiln dust waste may 
pose a potential threat to human health and the environment considering 
plausible worst case conditions under certain hypothetical management 
scenarios (see Chapters 5 and 6). Major factors increasing the 
potential for human health and environmental damages include proximity 
to potential exposure points such as agricultural fields and surface 
water bodies, as well as the concentrations of key constituents of 
concern.
    Based on the findings, and an initial evaluation of regulatory 
options, the Agency has not decided whether to retain or remove the CKD 
exemption. The Agency considered a number of options which represent a 
wide range of scenarios that would subject CKD to different management 
requirements and enforcement oversight. From these, the Agency has 
chosen to highlight five, including three in which CKD would be managed 
under subtitle C, with the intent to focus public comment from 
environmental groups, industry, and other interested parties regarding 
the most appropriate approach to manage CKD.
    EPA notes that regulations for the management of CKD waste under 
subtitle C may not be warranted or appropriate if other Agency-
administered programs are better suited to address the concerns 
identified in this Report. Among the statutes that may have authority 
to address the indirect foodchain risks associated with CKD are the 
Clean Water Act (stormwater management regulations), the Clean Air Act 
(the program defining the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous 
Air Pollutants), and the Toxic Substances Control Act (which gives the 
Agency authority to issue appropriate regulations to address the risks 
from hazardous chemical substances or mixtures). These alternative 
authorities are being explored and a decision to pursue regulation of 
CKD under one or more of these statutes may form the basis for a 
decision that subtitle C regulation of CKD may be limited or even 
unwarranted.
    Whether or not the Agency lifts the exemption, dust suppression and 
storm water management at facilities that burn hazardous waste, as well 
as on-site CKD management practices at all other facilities would be 
subject to current and potential future regulation under the Federal 
Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and where such provisions exist, all 
applicable state laws and regulations. Damages at existing CKD disposal 
sites also could be addressed by RCRA section 7003 and CERCLA section 
104 and 106, if the site posed an imminent and substantial danger to 
human health and the environment.
    Option 1: Retain the CKD Exemption.
    Since CKD exhibits low inherent toxicity and poses minimal risk 
when evaluating the various exposure pathways using average or best 
case conditions, it may be appropriate to retain the exemption for 
cement kiln dust waste, that is, maintain the status quo. Under this 
option, CKD management would continue to be regulated by the States, if 
at all.
    Option 2: Retain the CKD Exemption, but enter into discussions with 
the industry, in which they voluntarily implement dust recycling 
technologies, reduce waste, and monitor and control certain off-site 
uses.
    Since certain management scenarios may present risks when assuming 
plausible worst case conditions and pollution prevention alternatives 
may be promising in certain instances, the Agency could enter into 
discussions with the cement manufacturing industry to urge it to 
implement selected waste minimization/pollution prevention technologies 
or implement, more environmentally protective management practices, 
including controlling certain off-site uses.
    For example, some of the potential higher risk situations that have 
been identified in the hypothetical scenarios relate to on-site CKD 
management and derive from CKD releases from waste piles or other 
points via wind-blown dust or storm water runoff or a combination of 
the two. These contaminant release situations may be controllable (and 
at some facilities are currently being controlled) at relatively low 
cost by careful location of the waste pile and active use of 
conventional dust suppression and storm water management practices. The 
Agency would hold discussions with the industry to encourage them to 
voluntarily agree to implement these practices.
    An exception to the above conclusion would appear to be the 15 
percent or so of cement plants where CKD waste is managed in areas of 
karst topography or other areas characterized by flow in fractured or 
cavernous bedrock, where leachate may directly percolate to groundwater 
with little or no attenuation. For some of these facilities, the 
groundwater pathway may become of increased concern, depending on other 
site specific considerations. Again, EPA would discuss with the 
industry opportunities to either use appropriate liners or relocate the 
CKD management unit.
    About 20 percent of current net CKD generation is used off-site for 
a wide variety of purposes, most of which according to the Agency's 
risk assessment do not pose human health or other risks. However, the 
use of raw CKD containing higher measured levels of certain metals and/
or dioxins as a direct substitute for lime on agricultural fields and 
gardens can concentrate toxic constituents in crops and animal products 
at levels of concern for human health. This use of CKD, though not 
widely practiced at present, is otherwise not currently controlled, and 
may warrant further consideration by the Agency.
    The Agency, under this option, could also develop guidance for 
States regarding site management, off-site uses, and pollution 
prevention and waste minimization technologies. This guidance would 
assist States in reducing the potential risks posed by mismanagement of 
CKD and recommend implementation of technologies that would promote 
recycling of CKD.
    Under this option, CKD management would not be controlled by the 
provisions of RCRA subtitle C. However, since the exemption for CKD 
remains in place, CKD generated in kilns that burn hazardous waste 
would still be subject to the two-part test for residuals under 40 CFR 
266.112. If CKD does not pass the two-part test, it would be treated to 
standards for land disposal (40 CFR 268.43) and disposed in a subtitle 
C facility. Damages at existing CKD disposal sites would still be 
addressed by RCRA section 7003 and CERCLA sections 104 and 106, if the 
site posed an imminent and substantial danger to human health and the 
environment.
    Option 3: Remove the CKD Exemption but delay implementation for 
some period of time (e.g., two years), that would allow industry time 
to employ pollution prevention options.
    While CKD may not present risks when evaluating the various 
exposure pathways using average or best case conditions, CKD may pose a 
potential danger to human health and the environment if managed in 
certain ways under a limited set of exposure pathways assuming 
plausible worst case conditions. Also, damages to the environment 
resulting from poor CKD management practices have been recorded and are 
continuing to occur at some facilities. For these reasons, removing the 
Bevill exemption (codified at 40 CFR 261.4(b)(8)) may be appropriate. 
Accordingly, provisions of the Boiler and Industrial Furnace rule (40 
CFR 266.112) would no longer apply to hazardous waste-derived CKD.
    Under this option, on-site CKD management practices at those 
facilities with dust that exhibited any of the RCRA hazardous waste 
characteristics, or CKD derived from the burning of listed hazardous 
wastes (see 40 CFR 261.3(c)(2)(i)) would be affected by the provisions 
of RCRA subtitle C. CKD disposal piles which are inactive on or before 
the effective date of the Final Rule would be unaffected by the 
provisions of subtitle C, unless subsequently managed.
    By delaying lifting the exemption for some period of time (e.g., 
two years after the Regulatory Determination), industry would be 
provided an opportunity to implement pollution prevention alternatives 
and thus, manage the hazardous waste management costs they would incur. 
During this interim period between submittal of the Report to Congress 
and the effective date of the Final Rule, the CKD exemption would still 
be in effect. The Agency believes that many of the affected facilities 
would utilize the time to adopt pollution prevention technologies which 
would reduce, if not eliminate the amount of hazardous CKD they 
generate or stop burning hazardous waste.
    Once the exemption is removed, CKD generated from cement 
manufacturing facilities that burn RCRA hazardous wastes would be RCRA 
hazardous waste under the derived-from rule (40 CFR 261.3(c)(2)(i)). 
The goal of avoiding subtitle C compliance costs would provide an 
incentive for each facility to look for pollution prevention 
alternatives to recycle their CKD and reduce the amount of hazardous 
waste generated. The Agency is requesting additional information on the 
viability of the CKD recycling options discussed in the RTC and any 
other available pollution prevention or recycling option not considered 
in the Report.
    Those facilities that do not burn hazardous waste would not 
generally be affected by removing the exemption unless they generated 
characteristic RCRA hazardous waste. The Agency expects the number of 
non-hazardous waste burning facilities affected by this option would be 
small, since CKD rarely exhibits a characteristic of hazardous waste. 
These facilities would have an incentive to control their cement 
manufacturing process to avoid generating characteristic CKD.
    Option 4: Remove the CKD Exemption, and rely on existing hazardous 
waste rules to control cement kiln dust.
    This option is similar to Option 3, except the exemption would be 
removed in accordance with RCRA section 3010(b). (Under subtitle C of 
RCRA, wastes brought under regulatory control have up to six months 
from the Regulatory Determination before they become subject to 
hazardous waste control.) Thus, CKD that is hazardous waste-derived or 
exhibits a RCRA hazardous characteristic would be made subject to the 
provisions of RCRA subtitle C. Otherwise, this option is the same as 
Option 3.
    Option 5: Promulgate Regulatory Standards for the Management of CKD 
Waste.
    As previously stated, the Agency's analysis of the risks associated 
with cement kiln dust suggest that by merely lifting the exemption at 
40 CFR 264.1(b)(8), certain pathways of potential concern under the 
hypothetical scenarios may not be adequately addressed under Options 3 
and 4, should EPA decide that subtitle C regulation is warranted for 
CKD in the first instance. Specifically, EPA's risk assessment 
indicates indirect foodchain risks are of potential concern from 
releases of CKD from disposal piles to nearby surface waters and crop 
lands and from the direct application of CKD to croplands as a soil 
amendment assuming reasonable worst-case conditions. The Agency 
acknowledges, as discussed in detail in Chapter 6, that these modelled 
risks, while plausible, are of probably minimal incidence.
    As described above, the likely regulatory result under Options 3 
and 4 would be to make CKD generated by a kiln that burns listed 
hazardous wastes itself a hazardous waste under the derived-from rule 
(40 CFR 261.3(c)(2)(i)). The indirect foodchain risks potentially 
identified in this Report, however, are not associated only with CKD 
generated by hazardous waste burning kilns. As a result, EPA is also 
considering regulatory mechanisms that would specifically address these 
risks, including promulgating regulatory standards under subtitle C for 
the management of CKD waste that would provide adequate protection 
against these risks.
    RCRA section 3001(b)(3)(C) provides that EPA shall within six 
months of the RTC ``determine to promulgate regulations under this 
subchapter * * * or determine that such regulations are unwarranted.'' 
The statute does not describe the type of regulation that EPA should 
consider promulgating (if any), other than that such regulation be 
under subtitle C of RCRA. For example, RCRA does not expressly direct 
EPA to determine whether to list CKD as hazardous, as required for 
other wastes under the mandates in RCRA section 3001(c). Furthermore, 
RCRA section 2002(a) gives the Administrator the broad authority to 
``prescribe * * * such regulations as are necessary to carry out his 
functions under this chapter.'' The Agency believes it has the 
authority where appropriate to promulgate Federally-enforceable 
regulatory standards under subtitle C for the management of CKD. EPA 
could explore mechanisms for imposing regulatory standards for CKD, 
e.g., under grant of rulemaking authority under section 3001(b)(3)(C). 
Alternatively, EPA could consider conditioning the CKD exemption from 
the definition of hazardous waste (40 CFR 261.4(b)(8)) on compliance 
with appropriate management standards.
    EPA could promulgate minimally burdensome management standards for 
cement kiln dust that would adequately control the indirect foodchain 
risks, such as: (1) Requiring that dust piles be kept covered to 
control fugitive emissions and institute surface water runoff and 
erosion controls; (2) maintaining groundwater protection, perhaps by 
requiring that CKD piles be maintained on a non-earthen base or by 
requiring a liner; and (3) establishing risk-based concentration 
thresholds for all constituents of concern (including 2,3,7,8-TCDD, 
arsenic, cadmium, and lead) for CKD used as a direct soil amendment. 
Additional or alternative standards may be appropriate, and EPA 
welcomes comments and suggestions on this aspect of its options.
    Of the five options being considered by the Agency, Options 3, 4 
and 5 would provide more control through implementation of the 
provisions of subtitle C. The principal difference between Options 3 
and 4 is the timing of the implementation of the regulatory controls. 
Option 3 provides industry additional time to implement waste 
minimization/pollution prevention options and more protective CKD 
management standards. Option 4 would bring CKD under subtitle C 
regulatory control more quickly. Removing the exemption also would 
impose regulatory equity between CKD generated from kilns that burn 
RCRA hazardous waste and residues from other incinerators that burn 
RCRA hazardous waste that do not have such an exemption. Option 5 would 
provide management standards to control all CKD, and would be targeted 
to specifically address only those risks of potential concern.
    The Agency did not evaluate the risk from the land application of 
agricultural lime, so it cannot determine whether there is an increase 
in incremental risk when CKD is substituted. In any event, CKD-sewage 
sludge derived fertilizers and soil amendments are considered safe for 
such uses as fertilizer and pose minimal risk because these final 
products are required to be tested to assure they comply with all 
provisions of 40 CFR part 503, which are fully protective of human 
health and the environment. It should be noted that if the exemption is 
removed, fertilizer that is derived from CKD generated from a kiln that 
burns listed hazardous waste is itself a hazardous waste under the 
derived-from rule (40 CFR 261.3(c)(2)(i)); the extent of regulation, 
however, is limited (see 40 CFR 266.20(b)).
    In addition, it should also be noted that under current rules, if 
CKD is recycled, the resulting clinker is not automatically subject to 
the provisions of subtitle C. By removing the exemption, however, 
clinker may be affected by the derived-from rule (40 CFR 
261.3(c)(2)(i)) if the kiln burns listed hazardous waste, thereby 
becoming a hazardous waste. The Agency has not yet fully analyzed 
available data on trace constituents in clinker. Based on our 
understanding of current data, however, the Agency does not believe 
that clinker produced from kilns that burn listed hazardous waste 
generally poses a hazard to human health and the environment. The 
Agency is, therefore, considering crafting appropriate regulatory 
language for clinker. The Agency, however, is interested in receiving 
comment on this issue.

E. Public Comment

    The Agency encourages all interested parties to obtain a copy of 
the Report to Congress and provide comments or further information that 
might be necessary to the Agency on the data, analysis, and findings 
contained in the Report to Congress, and on the types of specific 
requirements that might be necessary under RCRA subtitle C or D for 
this waste. In addition to receiving input from the various 
stakeholders regarding the appropriateness of each of the five 
regulatory options presented for the management of CKD, the Agency is 
interested in receiving additional information and/or comment on the 
following:
     CKD sampling data (analytical results, including 
conditions of sampling, fuels burned at time of sampling, types of 
samples collected and analytical methods used).
     Documented cases of damage to human health and the 
environment traceable to CKD disposal, including notices of violation, 
administrative orders, and scientific studies.
     How the burning of RCRA hazardous wastes, non-hazardous 
wastes (such as tires and non-hazardous used oils), and fossil fuels 
affect the quantity and chemistry of generated CKD, as well as the 
partitioning of toxic metals, chlorides, and alkalis between stack 
gases, CKD, and clinker.
     The Agency's consideration of drafting appropriate 
regulatory language for clinker acknowledging that, based on the 
Agency's preliminary assessment, clinker produced from kilns that burn 
hazardous waste generally poses no hazard to human health or the 
environment.
     The extent to which activities such as farming (including 
the recreational gardening of vegetables) and fishing occur around 
these facilities.
     Any concerns related to the location of cement 
manufacturing facilities with respect to environmental justice matters 
(i.e., the fair treatment of people of all cultures, incomes, and 
educational levels with respect to protection from environmental 
hazards).
     The viability of implementing the CKD recycling options 
discussed in the RTC and any other available pollution prevention or 
recycling option not considered in the Report.
     How pollution prevention technologies, including flue gas 
desulfurization, fluid-bed dust recovery, and alkali leaching affect 
the quantity and chemistry of air emissions, as well as the 
partitioning of toxic metals, chlorides, and alkalis between CKD and 
clinker.
     Additional or alternative management standards from those 
presented in the Report (e.g., covers for dust piles, runoff controls, 
groundwater protection, and the establishment of risk-based thresholds 
for all constituents of concern), that might be appropriate for control 
of indirect foodchain risks.
    Public comments and other documents related to the Report to 
Congress will be available for inspection at the docket, together with 
information obtained at the public hearing.
    Following publication of this report, the Agency will consider 
public comments received during a 45-day public comment period in 
accordance with RCRA section 3001(b)(3)(c). After evaluating and 
responding to public comments, the Agency will make a regulatory 
determination on the status of this waste.

    Dated: December 30, 1993.
Carol Browner,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-182 Filed 1-5-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P