[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 135 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38139-38141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-18731]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 261

[FRL-6124-2]
RIN 2050-AD88


Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of 
Hazardous Waste; Petroleum Refining Process Wastes; and Land Disposal 
Restrictions for Newly Hazardous Wastes; Notice of Data Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Data Availability and Request for Comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available 
for public comment data and information relating to its Notice 
published in the Federal Register on November 20, 1995 (60 FR 57747). 
That Notice proposed to amend EPA regulations under the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by designating as hazardous wastes 
certain petroleum refining waste streams, and to apply universal 
treatment standards under the Land Disposal Restrictions program to the 
wastes proposed for listing. That Notice also proposed to broaden 
existing RCRA exclusions for the recycling of oil-bearing residuals in 
petroleum refineries. In response to that proposal (and related to a 
separate, recently-finalized rulemaking on fuels produced from 
hazardous waste), EPA has received specific information on a technology 
(gasification) that can

[[Page 38140]]

recycle oil-bearing residuals into fuels. EPA is assessing whether or 
not, as a result of this new information, the proposed rule should also 
exclude oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials recycled in 
gasification units. Today's Notice seeks comment on the additional 
information the Agency has received on gasification, specifically in 
the context of recycling oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials.

DATES: The Agency is reopening the comment period only for the limited 
purpose of obtaining information and views on the new data and 
information described in this document. Comments on the additional data 
will be accepted through August 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Commenters must send an original and two copies of their 
comments referencing docket number F-98-PR2A-FFFFF to: RCRA Docket 
Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, 
D.C. 20460. Hand deliveries of comments should be made to the 
Arlington, VA, address listed below. Comments may also be submitted 
electronically by sending electronic mail through the Internet to: 
[email protected]. Comments in electronic format should also 
be identified by the docket number F-98-PR2A-FFFFF. All electronic 
comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. If comments are not submitted 
electronically, EPA is asking prospective commenters to voluntarily 
submit one additional copy of their comments on labeled personal 
computer diskettes in ASCII (TEXT) format or a word processing format 
that can be converted to ASCII (TEXT). It is essential to specify on 
the disk label the word processing software and version/edition as well 
as the commenter's name. This will allow EPA to convert the comments 
into one of the word processing formats utilized by the Agency. Please 
use mailing envelopes designed to physically protect the submitted 
diskettes. EPA emphasizes that submission of comments on diskettes is 
not mandatory, nor will it result in any advantage or disadvantage to 
any commenter.
    Commenters should not submit electronically any confidential 
business information (CBI). An original and two copies of CBI must be 
submitted under separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document Control Officer, 
Office of Solid Waste (5305W), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, 
D.C. 20460.
    Public comments and supporting materials are available for viewing 
in the RCRA Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway I, 
First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The RIC is 
open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding federal 
holidays. To review docket materials, it is recommended that the public 
make an appointment by calling (703) 603-9230. The public may copy a 
maximum of 100 pages from any regulatory docket at no charge. 
Additional copies cost $0.15/page. For information on accessing paper 
and/or electronic copies of the document, see the ``Supplementary 
Information'' section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
RCRA Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing 
impaired). In the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, call (703) 412-
9810 or TDD (703) 412-3323. For information on specific aspects of this 
Notice, contact Maximo Diaz, Jr. or Ross Elliott, Office of Solid Waste 
(5304W), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, 
Washington, D.C. 20460. [E-mail addresses and telephone numbers: 
D[email protected], (703) 308-0439; [email protected], 
(703) 308-8748].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The index to the docket is available on the 
Internet. Follow these instructions to access the information 
electronically:

www: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/hazwaste.htm#id
FTP: ftp.epa.gov
Login: anonymous
Password: your Internet address
Files are located in /pub/epaoswer

    The official record for this action will be kept in paper form, and 
will be maintained at the address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 
document. EPA will transfer all comments received electronically into 
paper form and place them in the official record, which will also 
include all comments submitted directly in writing. The official record 
is the paper record.
    EPA responses to comments, whether the comments are written or 
electronic, will be in a notice in the Federal Register or in a 
response to comments document placed in the official record for this 
rulemaking. EPA will not immediately reply to commenters electronically 
other than to seek clarification of electronic comments that may be 
garbled in transmission or during conversion to paper form, as 
discussed above.

Background

    On April 19, 1996, EPA proposed to exclude so-called ``comparable 
fuels'' from the regulatory definition of solid waste. 62 FR at 17459. 
A comparable fuel is a fuel produced from a hazardous waste which meets 
a series of specifications for hazardous constituents and other 
properties based on comparable levels in representative fossil fuels. 
EPA included among these proposed specifications one for synthesis gas 
fuel (more usually referred to as syngas) when produced from hazardous 
wastes. Id. at 17465.
    Commenters from the gasification industry maintained that syngas 
fuels were not contained gases and so were not solid wastes and could 
not be regulated under subtitle C under any circumstance. EPA 
disagrees, due to the plenary authority to regulate fuels produced from 
hazardous wastes set out in RCRA section 3004 (q)(1). See 62 FR at 
24253 (May 2, 1997). However, it appears to the Agency that 
gasification of petroleum industry secondary materials might be an 
activity warranting exclusion as a matter of Agency discretion (rather 
than due to a statutory mandate), since gasification of such materials 
can potentially be viewed as a means of recovering otherwise un-
utilizable hydrocarbons from the secondary materials and thus 
potentially be regarded as a final stage of crude oil refining. These 
are issues at the heart of the instant rulemaking involving listing and 
exclusion determinations for petroleum refining wastes and secondary 
materials. Consequently, as the Agency indicated in the recently-
finalized comparative fuels rule, we have decided to consider the 
possibility of a regulatory exclusion for petroleum refining industry 
secondary materials being gasified in the present proceeding.
    Specifically, EPA is assessing whether oil-bearing hazardous 
secondary materials generated within the petroleum industry should be 
excluded from the definition of solid waste when inserted into 
gasification units, in a manner similar to insertion into petroleum 
cokers as proposed at 40 CFR 261.4(a)(12). 60 FR at 57796. EPA has 
decided that this Notice of data availability is a useful exercise and 
will help to strengthen the record for the Agency's decisions, and 
provide a useful opportunity for further public comment.
    The remainder of this Notice addresses new data prompted by public 
comments.

[[Page 38141]]

Description of Gasification Process

    Gasification is a chemical conversion process that converts 
hydrocarbon feedstocks into a synthetic natural gas product, often 
called ``synthesis gas'' or ``syngas''. This process occurs under 
oxygen-starved (or reducing) conditions, which distinguishes 
gasification from combustion. Under high temperature and pressure, the 
hydrocarbon feedstocks are converted primarily into carbon monoxide, 
hydrogen gas, nitrogen gas, and hydrogen sulfide. Solid residues from 
gasification include a glass-like slag produced in the gasification 
process, and sulfur from clean-up of the synthesis gas. Information the 
Agency has received indicates the potential advantages of gasification, 
including very efficient conversion of hydrocarbons to synthesis gas, 
the lack of air emissions (i.e., SOx and NOx 
compounds) formed during gasification, and a relatively clean product 
fuel. Based upon the information submitted to the Agency, the 
gasification process in some ways might compete with the petroleum 
coker for the same types of oil-bearing materials, but in a somewhat 
different manner such that gasification does a better job of recovery 
of energy values. For example, the synthesis gas produced from oil-
bearing materials can be used as a fuel (i.e., a substitute for natural 
gas) in units such as a combustion turbine for producing electricity 
and/or steam. In addition, the syngas can be used as a feedstock in 
producing other chemicals, or processed further to produce hydrogen.

Hydrocarbon Feedstocks for Gasification

    According to information supplied to EPA suitable hydrocarbon 
feedstocks for gasification include many of the oil-bearing secondary 
materials generated at petroleum refineries that are the subject of the 
proposed exclusions in the November 21, 1995 proposal, including 
primary and secondary wastewater treatment sludges, and API separator 
sludges. 60 FR at 57747. Petroleum coke itself (both on-spec and off-
spec) can be used as a gasification feedstock. The continued extraction 
and recovery of hydrocarbon values from these oil-bearing hazardous 
secondary materials within the petroleum industry is the basis for 
these proposed exclusions. 60 FR at 57754. It is from this perspective 
that the Agency is interested in information that would help determine 
whether or not to extend the exclusion for oil-bearing hazardous 
secondary materials that are inserted into petroleum refineries, to the 
same materials when they are inserted into gasification units. The 
Agency would consider the same conditions on the exclusion as was 
proposed for materials inserted into petroleum refineries, such as the 
limitation on the source of the oil-bearing materials, the condition 
barring land placement or speculative accumulation, and the regulation 
of residuals generated during the processing of oil-bearing hazardous 
secondary materials (if the residuals are to be disposed).1
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    \1\ See example of letter to interested parties requesting 
comment on the issue of residuals dated October 1, 1997 from David 
Bussard to Kyle Isakower, American Petroleum Institute; see also 
comment in response from Amoco Petroleum Products, Comment #PRA-
L0011.
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Information in the Docket

    Information placed in the docket for this Notice was submitted to 
the Agency primarily from members of the Gasification Technologies 
Council, both before and after the proposed rulemaking on April 19, 
1996 and November 20, 1995. This information includes descriptions of 
the gasification process, suitable feedstocks for gasification, a 
description of gasification activities worldwide, and environmental and 
economic benefits of gasification. Also included are (1) public 
comments submitted by the gasification industry to EPA during the 
related comparative fuels rulemaking mentioned above; (2) EPA's letter 
of May 28, 1995 to Mr. William Spratlin of EPA Region VII describing 
the present regulatory status of a particular gasification operation 
operated by Texaco; (3) public comments of Strategic Environmental 
Analysis, Inc. in this proceeding, maintaining that the gasification 
process is an environmentally superior means of recovering hydrocarbon 
values from petroleum industry secondary materials. EPA will evaluate 
any new comments on whether this additional information supports 
inclusion of gasification units, along with petroleum refining units, 
as places where certain oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials can 
be recycled and still be excluded under the proposed rule.

    Dated: June 4, 1998.
Elizabeth A. Cotsworth,
Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 98-18731 Filed 7-14-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P