[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17863-17864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9973]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 262, 264, 265, and 270
[IL-64-2-5807; FRL-5459-9]
Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities and
Hazardous Waste Generators; Organic Air Emission Standards for Tanks,
Surface Impoundments, and Containers
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of data availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of additional data that
are being considered by the EPA in amending the air emission standards
for hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDF)
that were published December 6, 1994 under the authority of the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended (59 FR
62896). This notice addresses the narrow issue of an Other Thermal
Treatment Facility subject to regulation under subpart P of Part 265
(40 CFR 265.370 through 265.383) being eligible to receive spent
activated carbon which is a hazardous waste. The additional data are
available for public inspection at the EPA RCRA Docket Office.
DATES: Comments on these additional data will be accepted through May
7, 1996.
DOCKET: The information referenced by today's notice is available for
public inspection and copying in the RCRA docket. The RCRA docket
numbers pertaining to this rulemaking are F-91-CESP-FFFFF, F-92-CESA-
FFFFF, F-94-CESF-FFFFF, F-94-CE2A-FFFFF, and F-95-CE3A-FFFFF. The RCRA
docket is located at Crystal Gateway, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway,
First Floor, Arlington, Virginia. Hand delivery of items and review of
docket materials are made at the Virginia address. The public must have
an appointment to review docket materials. Appointments can be
scheduled by calling the Docket Office at (703) 603-9230. The mailing
address for the RCRA docket office is RCRA Information Center (5305W),
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW., Washington, DC
20460.
COMMENTS: Written comments regarding these data may be mailed to the
Docket Clerk at the above-mentioned Washington, DC mailing address.
Please send an original and two copies of all comments, and refer to
Docket Number F-96-CE4A-FFFFF. The EPA will consider comments on the
additional data that are received through May 7, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this notice and
the associated rulemaking contact the RCRA Hotline at (703) 412-9877 or
toll-free at 1-800-424-9346.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is available on the EPA's Clean-
up Information Bulletin Board (CLU-IN). To access CLU-IN with a modem
of up to 28,800 baud, dial (301) 589-8366. First time users will be
asked to input some initial registration information. Next, select
``D'' (download) from the main menu. Input the file name ``RCRA-
NDA.496'' to download this notice. Follow the on-line instructions to
complete the download. More information about the download procedure is
located in Bulletin 104; to read this type ``B 104'' from the main
menu. For additional help with these instructions, telephone the CLU-IN
help line at (301) 589-8368.
On December 6, 1994, the EPA published in the Federal Register (59
FR 62896) under authority of the RCRA standards requiring the use of
air emission controls on certain tanks, surface impoundments, and
containers at hazardous waste TSDF. These standards are codified in 40
CFR parts 264 and 265 under subpart CC (referred to as the ``subpart CC
standards'').
This Notice of Data Availability addresses the appropriateness of
an Other Thermal Treatment Facility subject to regulation under subpart
P of Part 265 (40 CFR 265.370 through 265.383) being eligible to
receive spent activated carbon which is a hazardous waste. In the
December 6, 1994 final subpart CC standards (59 FR 62896), the EPA
established a requirement that spent activated carbon removed from a
control device had to be managed at particular types of facilities,
namely regulated incinerators, regulated boilers or industrial
furnaces, or ``thermal treatment units that [are] permitted under
subpart X of 40 CFR part 264 or subpart P of [Part 265]''. See 40 CFR
265.1033(l)(1) as promulgated at 59 FR at 62935 (Dec. 6, 1994). A
parallel requirement was contained in 40 CFR 264.1033(m), but no
reference to subpart P was included (59 FR at 62927). In the February
9, 1996 technical correction notice, the EPA amended these provisions
to clarify that they apply only to activated carbon which is a
hazardous waste, and that interim status incinerators and boilers and
industrial furnaces which had certified compliance could receive such
activated carbon. See 61 FR at 4910, 4911, and 4913. In so doing, the
EPA removed the reference to subpart P facilities in 265.1033(l)(1),
thus removing such facilities from eligibility to receive hazardous
waste spent activated carbon from interim status facilities, but did
not provide any explanation for this omission.
The Response to Comment Background Information Document to the
Final Rule does not completely clarify the EPA's intent. At one point
the EPA mentioned subpart P facilities as potentially eligible to
receive hazardous waste spent activated carbon (BID page 6-113 and
114), but at other points indicated that only other thermal treatment
units permitted under subpart X would be eligible (BID at 6-116 and
117).
After publication of the February 9 notice, the EPA received a
letter from a subpart P facility which reactivates spent activated
carbon questioning the omission of subpart P facilities from amended
265.1033(l). The EPA is noticing this letter, along with memoranda
documenting EPA's further contacts with the facility, for comment. The
EPA is also seeking comment on the following issues. The subpart CC
standards specify the types of facilities that can manage hazardous
waste spent activated carbon so that EPA can ensure that any adsorbed
hazardous organic
[[Page 17864]]
constituents released from the carbon are adequately controlled or
destroyed, rather than emitted to the atmosphere (BID page 6-115). It
is not clear that the subpart P standards, taken by themselves, provide
this assurance, since subpart P standards do not contain substantive
air emission controls. Thus, in addition to soliciting comment on the
information in the docket, the EPA solicits comment on whether some
further limitation should be necessary if subpart P facilities are to
be eligible. For example, should eligibility be limited to facilities
whose regeneration units provide adequate protection from the emission
of desorbed organics? If so, is it appropriate to require compliance
with subpart CC, or comparable controls to ensure such protection? The
EPA will consider all comments on the new data received by the close of
the comment period when making a final regulatory determination on the
regulatory requirements for this regulation.
This notice does not represent the only provision of the final
subpart CC standards which the EPA is considering revising. The EPA is
planning to publish technical amendments to the rule within the next
two months which will include revisions described in the August 14,
1995 Federal Register document entitled, ``Proposed rule; data
availability'' (60 FR 41870), as well as a finding on the issue
discussed in today's notice.
Dated: April 11, 1996.
Richard Wilson,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 96-9973 Filed 4-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P