[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8576]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 11, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 261

[SW-FRL-4861-9]

 

Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of 
Hazardous Waste; Proposed Amendment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Proposed amendment and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is 
proposing to modify an exclusion from the lists of hazardous wastes 
previously granted for certain solid wastes generated by POP Fasteners 
(POP) in Shelton, Connecticut. This action is taken in response to a 
petition for amendment submitted by POP to increase the maximum annual 
waste volume covered in its exclusion. The exclusion was granted under 
regulations that allow generators to petition EPA to remove their waste 
from hazardous waste control by excluding them from the hazardous waste 
lists.

DATES: EPA is requesting public comments on this proposed amendment. 
Comments will be accepted until May 11, 1994. Comments postmarked after 
the close of the comment period will be stamped ``late''.
    Any person may request a hearing on this proposed amendment by 
filing a request with the Director, Characterization and Assessment 
Division, Office of Solid Waste, whose address appears below, by April 
26, 1994. The request must contain the information prescribed in 40 CFR 
260.20(d).

ADDRESSES: Send three copies of your comments to EPA. Two copies should 
be sent to the Docket Clerk, Office of Solid Waste (5305), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20460. A third copy should be sent to Jim Kent, Delisting Section, 
Waste Identification Branch, CAD/OSW (5304), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. Identify 
your comments at the top with this regulatory docket number: ``F-94-
DHWA-FFFFF''.
    Requests for a hearing should be addressed to the Director, 
Characterization and Assessment Division, Office of Solid Waste (5304), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20460.
    The RCRA regulatory docket for this proposed amendment is located 
at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20460, and is available for viewing (Room M2616) from 9 
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Call 
(202) 260-9327 for appointments. The public may copy material from any 
regulatory docket at no cost for the first 100 pages, and at $0.15 per 
page for additional copies.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
RCRA Hotline, toll free at (800) 424-9346, or at (703) 412-9810. For 
technical information concerning this notice, contact Shen-yi Yang, 
Office of Solid Waste (5304), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 
M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, (202) 260-1436.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On March 5, 1990, POP Fasteners (POP), a division of Black and 
Decker Corporation, of Shelton, Connecticut petitioned the Agency under 
Secs. 260.20 and 260.22, to exclude from hazardous waste control its 
F006 metal hydroxide filter cake resulting from the treatment of 
wastewater originating from its electroplating operation. In support of 
its petition, POP submitted sufficient information to EPA to allow the 
Agency to determine that: (1) The waste is not hazardous based upon the 
criteria for which it was listed, and (2) no other hazardous 
constituents or factors that could cause the waste to be hazardous are 
present in the waste at levels of regulatory concern. After evaluating 
the petition, the EPA published its final decision in the Federal 
Register (57 FR 57673, December 7, 1992) to exclude POP's waste from 
the lists of hazardous waste contained at Secs. 261.31 and 261.32.
    POP's final exclusion only applies to the process and waste volume 
(a maximum of 300 cubic yards generated annually) covered by its 
original petition. Any waste generated in excess of 300 cubic yards per 
year must be handled as hazardous unless an amendment to its final 
exclusion is granted.

II. Disposition of Petition for Amendment

POP Fasteners, Shelton, Connecticut

A. Petition for An Amendment
    As a result of its business growth, POP petitioned the Agency on 
May 10, 1993 for an amendment to its 1992 final exclusion for an 
increase of its annual maximum waste generation from 300 cubic yards to 
1,000 cubic yards.
    POP stated in its April 19, 1993 letter that: (1) The increase in 
the filter cake generation was attributable to an increase in rivet 
production since the petition was filed; (2) there have been no changes 
in the manufacturing process, feed materials, or waste water treatment 
process; and (3) the hours of POP's operation have increased.
    To confirm that the waste characteristics have not changed, POP 
submitted results from the analyses of one filter cake composite for 
all Toxicity Characteristic (TC) constituents listed in 40 CFR 261.24 
and nickel using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP, 
SW-846 Method 1311). POP also submitted a signed certification dated 
May 10, 1993 stating that all submitted information is true, accurate, 
and complete.
B. Agency Evaluation
    The Agency reviewed its previous decision to grant POP's original 
delisting petition (57 FR 37921, 57 FR 57673 and the administrative 
record in docket) and the analytical results provided by POP in support 
of this petition. The analytical results submitted to support this 
amendment show that the constituents detected in the waste sample, as 
well as their respective leachate concentration levels, are consistent 
with the waste data in POP's original petition. Furthermore, POP has 
certified that there have been no changes in process or feed materials. 
Therefore, the Agency believes that the waste characteristics have not 
changed.
    The Agency evaluated the potential impact of POP's petitioned waste 
on human health and the environment, at the increased annual maximum 
waste volume, following the same approach used in POP's original 
petition evaluation. Specifically, the Agency evaluated the waste using 
the requested annual maximum waste volume estimate of 1,000 cubic yards 
and the maximum reported leachate concentration of POP's waste using 
the same ground-water model described in the Agency's original decision 
(see 57 FR 37921, August 21, 1992 and the RCRA docket ``F-92-PEEP-
FFFFF'' to that rule). The Agency notes that the modeling results are 
the same for 300 and 1,000 cubic yards, and the increased waste volume 
has no significant impact. Thus, the constituents in POP's waste would 
not leach and migrate at concentrations above the Agency's health-based 
levels used in delisting decision-making.
    EPA also considered the impact of the increased waste volume on 
potential risks posed by other exposure routes (i.e., air emission, 
surface water). Since the total concentration levels of hazardous 
constituents of concern in the petitioned waste and the active landfill 
area remain unchanged, the Agency believes that no significant exposure 
to contaminants via air emission and surface runoff from POP's 
petitioned waste is likely. See 57 FR 37921 (August 21, 1992), 57 FR 
57673 (December 7, 1992), and the RCRA docket for these notices for a 
detailed description of the evaluation.
C. Conclusion
    The Agency believes that POP's waste is non-hazardous at the 
maximum generation rate of 1,000 cubic yards per year, and should be 
excluded from hazardous waste control. The Agency, therefore, proposes 
to amend POP's exclusion to reflect a waste volume increase. This 
proposed amendment would only apply to the process covered by POP's 
original petition, and would allow a maximum annual waste volume of 
1,000 cubic yards. All other conditions listed in POP's exclusion would 
remain unchanged. Waste generated in excess of 1,000 cubic yards per 
year or from changed processes would remain hazardous unless a new 
exclusion is granted.

III. Effective Date

    This amendment, if finally published, will become effective 
immediately upon such final publication. The Hazardous and Solid Waste 
Amendments of 1984 amended section 3010 of RCRA to allow rules to 
become effective in less than six months when the regulated community 
does not need the six-month period to come into compliance. That is the 
case here, because this amendment, if finalized, would reduce the 
existing requirements for persons generating hazardous wastes. In light 
of the unnecessary hardship and expense that would be imposed on this 
petitioner by an effective date six months after publication and the 
fact that a six-month deadline is not necessary to achieve the purpose 
of section 3010, EPA believes that this amendment should be effective 
immediately upon final publication. These reasons also provide a basis 
for making this amendment effective immediately, upon final 
publication, under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(d).

IV. Regulatory Impact

    Under Executive Order 12866, EPA must conduct an ``assessment of 
the potential costs and benefits'' for all ``significant'' regulatory 
actions. This proposal to amend an exclusion is not significant, since 
its effect would be to reduce the overall costs and economic impact of 
EPA's hazardous waste management regulations. This reduction would be 
achieved by excluding additional amount of waste generated at a 
specific facility from EPA's lists of hazardous wastes, thereby 
enabling this facility to treat its waste as non-hazardous. Therefore, 
this rule would not be a significant regulation, and no cost/benefit 
assessment is required. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has 
also exempted this rule from the requirement for OMB review under 
section 6 of Executive Order 12866.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, 
whenever an agency is required to publish a general notice of 
rulemaking for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make 
available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that 
describes the impact of the rule on small entities (i.e., small 
businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions). 
No regulatory flexibility analysis is required, however, if the 
Administrator or delegated representative certifies that the rule will 
not have any impact on any small entities.
    This amendment, if promulgated, will not have any adverse economic 
impact on any small entities since its effect would be to reduce the 
overall costs of EPA's hazardous waste regulations and would be limited 
to one facility. Accordingly, I hereby certify that this proposed 
regulation, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities. This regulation, therefore, 
does not require a regulatory flexibility analysis.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act

    Information collection and recordkeeping requirements associated 
with this proposed amendment have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the provisions of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub.L. 96-511, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and have 
been assigned OMB Control Number 2050-0053.

VII. List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 261

    Environmental protection, Hazardous Waste, Recycling, and Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: March 14, 1994.
Michael Shapiro,
Director, Office of Solid Waste.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 261 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 261--IDENTIFICATION AND LISTING OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

    1. The authority citation for part 261 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921, 6922, and 6938.

Appendix IX--[Amended]

    2. In Table 1 of appendix IX of part 261, the entry for ``POP 
Fasteners, Shelton, Connecticut'' is revised to read as follows:

                               Table 1.--Wastes Excluded From Non-specific Sources                              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Facility                            Address                            Waste description            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                
                                                  * * * * * * *                                                 
POP Fasteners....................  Shelton, Connecticut.............  Wastewater treatment sludge (EPA Hazardous
                                                                       Waste No. F006) generated from           
                                                                       electroplating operations (at a maximum  
                                                                       annual rate of 1,000 cubic yards) after  
                                                                       [date of publication of final rule]. In  
                                                                       order to confirm that the characteristics
                                                                       of the waste do not change significantly,
                                                                       the facility must, on an annual basis,   
                                                                       analyze a representative composite sample
                                                                       for the constituents listed in Sec.      
                                                                       261.24 using the method specified        
                                                                       therein. The annual analytical results,  
                                                                       including quality control information,   
                                                                       must be compiled, certified according to 
                                                                       Sec. 260.22(i)(12), maintained on site   
                                                                       for a minimum of five years, and made    
                                                                       available for inspection upon request by 
                                                                       any employee or representative of EPA or 
                                                                       the State of Connecticut. Failure to     
                                                                       maintain the required records on site    
                                                                       will be considered by EPA, at its        
                                                                       discretion, sufficient basis to revoke   
                                                                       the exclusion to the extent directed by  
                                                                       EPA.                                     
                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                
                                                  * * * * * * *                                                 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 94-8576 Filed 4-8-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P