[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