[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 174 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48124-48127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24045]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 268

[FRL-6155-7]


Characteristic Slags Generated From Thermal Recovery of Lead by 
Secondary Lead Smelters; Land Disposal Restrictions; Final Rule; 
Extension of Compliance Date

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Extension of compliance date of final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing an 
extension of the compliance date until November 26, 1998 for a limited 
portion of the Phase IV Final Rule, published on May 26, 1998 (63 FR 
28556), which, in part, amended the Land Disposal Restriction (LDR) 
treatment standards for metal-bearing hazardous wastes exhibiting the 
toxicity characteristic. EPA is extending the date for treatment 
standards only for secondary lead slags exhibiting the toxicity 
characteristic for one or more metals that are generated from thermal 
recovery of lead-bearing wastes (principally batteries). The Agency is 
taking this action because there appear to be short-term logistical 
difficulties resulting in a temporary shortage of available treatment 
capacity for these particular wastes. In the interim, the slags 
affected by this extension remain subject to the treatment standards 
for toxicity characteristic metals promulgated in the Third Third Final 
Rule (55 FR 22520; June 1, 1990) and codified at 40 CFR 268.40.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for this document extending the effective 
date is available for public inspection at EPA's RCRA Information 
Center, located at Crystal Gateway, First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis 
Highway, Arlington, Virginia. The regulatory docket contains a number 
of background materials pertinent to this action. To obtain a list of 
these items, contact the RCRA Docket at (703) 603-9230 and request the 
list of references in EPA Docket #F-98-LABS-FFFFF.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact the 
RCRA Hotline at (800) 424-9346 (toll free) or (703) 920-9810 in the 
Washington, DC metropolitan area. For information on this notice 
contact Elaine Eby, Anita Cummings or Katrin Kral (5302W), Office of 
Solid Waste, 401 M Street, SW, Washington DC 20460. Elaine Eby may be 
reached at (703) 308-8449; Anita Cummings may be reached at (703) 308-
8303; and Katrin Kral may be reached at (703) 308-6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Rule on Internet

    This notice is available on the internet, at:

www: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/hazwaste/ldrmetal/facts.htm
FTP: ftp.epa/gov

[[Page 48125]]

Login: anonymous
Password: your Internet address

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Today's Action
III. Legal Authority and Rationale for Immediate Effective Date
IV. Analyses under Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 12875, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1995, Executive Order 13045, and Executive Order 
13084: Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments; 
Congressional Review Directory Act

I. Background

    On May 26, 1998, the Agency promulgated the Land Disposal 
Restrictions (``LDR'') Phase IV Final Rule. This rule revises universal 
treatment standards (``UTS'') for 12 metal hazardous constituents. The 
Phase IV Final Rule also requires toxicity characteristic (``TC'') 
metal wastes--those wastes exhibiting the characteristic levels set out 
in 261.24, as measured using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching 
Procedure (``TCLP'')--to meet the UTS levels for those metal 
constituents prior to land disposal. In addition, the LDR rules require 
that underlying hazardous constituents (``UHCs'')--hazardous 
constituents that are present below characteristic levels but still 
present at levels higher than those necessary to minimize threats posed 
by land disposal (see 40 CFR 268.2 (i) (defining ``underlying hazardous 
constituent'')--present in TC metal wastes must also meet UTS levels 
before land disposal. Because the Agency found that there was ample 
stabilization capacity available to treat these metal-bearing wastes, 
this rule took effect 90 days from the date of promulgation, i.e., 
August 24, 1998, which date corresponded generally to the time needed 
to make logistical arrangements for treatment of wastes that were 
affected by Phase IV (see 63 FR at 285624-25, May 26,1998).
    Prior to Phase IV, TC metal wastes were only subject to treatment 
standards if the wastes exceeded the characteristic level for the 
various hazardous metals, as established in the Third Third Final Rule 
(55 FR 22520, June 1, 1990). There was also no requirement to treat 
these wastes for underlying hazardous constituents. The Phase IV rule 
amends most of the standards for metals to make them more stringent, 
and also requires treatment of UHCs in all TC metal wastes. For 
example, of most relevance here, the treatment standard for lead 
nonwastewaters exhibiting the Toxicity Characteristic is now 0.75 mg/L 
(measured by the TCLP), rather than 5.0 mg/L (measured by either the 
TCLP or the predecessor Extraction Procedure). Further, all UHCs in 
characteristic lead wastes have to be treated to meet the standards for 
hazardous constituents set out in Section 268.48. The rule thus assures 
that threats posed by land disposal of these wastes will be minimized 
as required by RCRA section 3004 (m). See Chemical Waste Management v. 
EPA, 976 F. 2d 2, 16, 27, 32 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (holding first that 
treatment to characteristic levels was insufficient to minimize threats 
within the meaning of RCRA section 3004 (m), particularly when further 
increments of treatment are demonstrated and available, and second that 
treatment of underlying hazardous constituents was required (id. at 16-
18)).
    The secondary lead industry consists of lead smelters that recover 
lead metal from secondary materials, primarily spent lead acid 
batteries. Secondary lead smelters generate slag as a by-product of 
this process. Secondary lead slags sometime exhibit the toxicity 
characteristic for lead, and occasionally for other metals as well. 
These slags, however, may also be nonhazardous. Today's action applies 
only to secondary lead slags that exhibit the toxicity characteristic 
for one or more RCRA metals and are therefore characteristically 
hazardous. See 63 FR at 28566 (May 26, 1998) (secondary lead slags 
which do not exhibit a characteristic are not subject to further LDR 
treatment requirements).

II. Today's Action

    EPA is today amending the compliance date of the prohibition and 
treatment standards for slags from secondary lead smelting until 
November 26, 1998 (i.e., three months from the original effective 
date). Although EPA believes that the treatment standards for these 
slags are achievable through stabilization or other means and that 
there is an ample amount of treatment capacity for these slags, there 
are certain short-term logistical difficulties in utilizing this 
capacity resulting in a short-term unavailability of treatment 
capacity.
    Secondary lead slag is generated in the form of large solid blocks 
of material. Before the slag can be successfully stabilized to meet the 
amended treatment standards, it must be crushed, a process 
necessitating use of specialized equipment. One commercial treater 
presently has such equipment on-site, but most commercial stabilization 
facilities do not. However, a number of secondary lead plants operate 
their own on-site crushing equipment. Overall there is enough available 
crushing equipment to provide sufficient pretreatment capacity for the 
secondary lead slag. Once the slags are crushed, there should be ample 
capacity to stabilize the crushed material, either at off-site 
commercial treatment facilities or on-site.
    Based on these facts, EPA reiterates its finding that there is an 
adequate amount of treatment capacity available to treat secondary lead 
slag, within the meaning of RCRA section 3004(h)(2). Notwithstanding 
the fact that this capacity is divided between different entities (i.e. 
crushing equipment at one locale, stabilization capacity at another), 
capacity still exists and must be utilized. The whole premise of the 
Land Disposal Restrictions program is that existing treatment capacity 
is to be used in lieu of land disposal of untreated hazardous wastes. 
See 130 Cong. Rec. S9178 (daily ed. July 25, 1984) (statement of Sen. 
Chafee); see also S. Rep. No. 198, 98th Cong. 1st Sess. 18 (1984). 
Thus, EPA emphasizes that it does not (and will not) accept any 
argument that treatment is unavailable because generators refuse to 
perform pretreatment necessary to facilitate treatment to meet LDR 
levels.
    However, EPA recognizes in this particular case that the physically 
separate pretreatment and treatment operations result in a situation 
where additional time is needed to arrange for logistical coordination 
and shipping. Prospective customers typically send waste samples to 
commercial treaters, who then develop a stabilization recipe for the 
waste, a process normally taking several weeks. This process has not 
yet begun for several reasons. There apparently was some confusion 
regarding the physical form of the waste to be treated, the result 
being that at least some treatment facilities believed they would need 
to treat uncrushed material, resulting in not-fully-informed refusals 
to accept the waste for treatment. As a result, some limited additional 
time is needed for commercial treaters to receive crushed samples, 
develop treatment recipes for that sample, enter into necessary 
contractual relationships with the generators of secondary lead slag, 
and finalize other logistical coordination necessities, such as 
shipping.
    In addition, the secondary lead industry is not currently prepared 
to ship pulverized slag to commercial treaters. Although the crushed 
slag can readily be shipped by rail car (among other means), it will 
still take the industry some time to make alternative transport 
arrangements (contracting to

[[Page 48126]]

use a different type of rolling stock, etc.). The Agency estimates that 
an additional 90 days is needed to resolve these logistical obstacles. 
Accordingly, the Agency is extending the compliance date of the 
prohibition and treatment standards for secondary lead slags exhibiting 
the toxicity characteristic for one or more metals until November 26, 
1998. During this time, the slags will remain subject to the existing 
LDR treatment standards promulgated in the Third Third Final Rule (55 
FR at 22690, June 1, 1990), which standards are codified in the present 
section 268.40, and will also be subject to any other applicable, 
ancillary LDR requirements (e.g. tracking and recordkeeping 
requirements in Sec. 268.7).
    Two other points regarding this extension should be noted. First, 
today's limited extension of the compliance date of the land disposal 
prohibition and treatment standards affects only the date of 
compliance. It does not mandate a particular means of compliance. Thus, 
secondary lead smelters are not obligated to have their characteristic 
slags treated commercially if there is another means of compliance 
available. Many secondary lead plants operate their own stabilization 
equipment, and these on-site stabilization processes may be optimized 
to achieve the amended treatment standards adopted in the Phase IV 
final rule (63 FR at 28565). Secondary lead plants remain free to treat 
their own slags (or to adopt some other means of compliance not 
requiring shipment of pulverized slag to commercial treatment 
facilities), provided of course that the waste complies with LDR 
treatment standards before it is land disposed.
    Second, the secondary lead industry has questioned whether the 
amended UTS for lead nonwastewaters (.75 mg/l in a TCLP extract) is 
achievable for secondary lead blast furnace slags and has raised this 
as an issue in a petition for judicial review of the Phase IV Final 
Rule. EPA believes the standard is achievable, based on the information 
in the administrative record for the rule. However, today's action 
briefly delaying the Phase IV compliance date also provides an 
opportunity to develop further treatment data on this particular waste. 
Based on reasonable assurances from industry representatives, the 
Agency expects secondary lead facilities to be forthcoming in providing 
proper samples (i..e., of the crushed slag) to treaters for the 
verification testing described earlier, and to allow this information 
to be utilized (with suitable safeguards for business confidentiality) 
in confirming (or calling into question) the achievability of the Phase 
IV metal treatment standards with respect to secondary lead slags. If 
certain slags cannot be treated to meet the UTS lead nonwastewater of 
0.75 mg/L, a treatment variance may be sought under the criteria of 
Sec. 268.44(h) (i.e., physical or chemical properties of the waste 
differ significantly from wastes analyzed in developing treatment 
standard).

III. Legal Authority and Rationale for Immediate Effective Date

    This document extending the LDR prohibition date for secondary lead 
smelting slags is being issued without notice and opportunity for 
general public comment. Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 
U.S.C. 553 (b) (B), an agency may forego notice and comment in 
promulgating a rule when the agency for good cause finds (and 
incorporates the finding and a brief statement of the reasons for that 
finding into the rule) that notice and public comment procedures are 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. For the 
reasons set forth below, EPA finds good cause to conclude that notice 
and comment would be unnecessary and contrary to the public interest, 
and therefore is not required.
    First, many secondary lead plants are currently in a position of 
being unable to comply with the existing rule because they are not 
meeting the treatment standards with their own stabilization processes 
and have not been able to finalize arrangements with commercial 
treaters (as explained earlier). An immediate delay of the rule's 
compliance date for this particular waste is needed to provide further 
time to make the administrative arrangements necessary for the 
treatment capacity to become available (again as explained earlier).
    EPA believes that this short-term emergency arose even though both 
the generating and commercial treatment industries acted in good faith 
in preparing to comply with the standards, so that this is not an 
artificially manipulated situation created in the hope of delaying the 
rule's compliance date. (Now that the necessary pretreatment steps are 
identified and understood, however, EPA will not consider a further 
extension based on generators' need for more time in making 
arrangements with commercial treatment facilities.)
    Second, EPA has been involved in detailed discussions with both the 
generating and commercial treatment industries, so that there has been 
direct notice about the possibility of today's extension to the 
entities most directly affected by today's action.
    EPA therefore concludes that notice and comment would be 
unnecessary and contrary to the public interest in these special 
circumstances. For these reasons, EPA believes that there is good cause 
to issue this extension of the compliance date immediately and without 
prior notice and comment.

IV. Analysis Under Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 12875, 
the Paperwork Reduction Act, National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1995, Executive Order 13045, and Executive Order 
13084: Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal 
Governments; Congressional Review Directory Act

    This action extends the compliance date for treatment standards 
established in the recently promulgated LDR Phase IV Rule for secondary 
lead slags that exhibit the toxicity characteristic for metals. Since 
the rule simply extends the rule's compliance date it imposes no new 
costs and does not raise novel policy issues. EPA therefore does not 
consider it to be a ``significant regulatory action'' for the purposes 
of Executive Order 12866, and it therefore is not subject to executive 
review under that Order. For the same reason, today's rule also does 
not impose obligations on State, local or tribal governments for the 
purposes of Executive Order 12875.
    Furthermore, this action is not subject to the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (RFA) since this rule is exempt from notice and comment 
rulemaking requirements for good cause, as explained in Section III. 
The Administrator is, therefore, not required to certify under the RFA 
regarding the significance of any economic impact on small entities. 
However, because today's action simply extends the rule's compliance 
date for 90 days for one type of waste and does not impose any new 
costs, the Agency believes that the rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Pub L. No. 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its 
regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with 
applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards 
are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, 
sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or 
adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA 
to provide Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides 
not to use available and applicable

[[Page 48127]]

voluntary consensus standards. There are no voluntary consensus 
technical standards directly applicable to treatment of secondary lead 
slags that exhibit the toxicity characteristic for metals. Therefore, 
EPA did not consider the use of any voluntary standards in today's 
action.
    Today's action is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled ``Protection 
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997), because this limited extension of the Phase IV 
compliance date for one waste is not an economically significant rule, 
and it is not expected to create any environmental health risks or 
safety risks that may disproportionately affect children. In that 
regard, the Agency notes that secondary lead slags will continue to be 
subject to the currently-existing LDR treatment standards during this 
ninety day period.
    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., EPA must 
consider the paperwork burden imposed by any information collection 
request in a proposed or final rule. Today's extension of the Phase IV 
compliance date for one waste will not impose any new information 
collection requirements and therefore EPA has met all Paperwork 
Reduction Act obligations.
    Under Executive Order 13084, EPA may not issue a regulation that is 
not required by statute, that significantly or uniquely affects the 
communities of Indian tribal governments, and that imposes substantial 
direct compliance costs on those communities, unless the Federal 
government provides the funds necessary to pay the direct compliance 
costs incurred by the tribal governments. If the mandate is unfunded, 
EPA must provide to the Office of Management and Budget, in a 
separately identified section of the preamble to the rule, a 
description of the extent of EPA's prior consultation with 
representatives of affected tribal governments, a summary of the nature 
of their concerns, and a statement supporting the need to issue the 
regulation.
    In addition, Executive Order 13084 requires EPA to develop an 
effective process permitting elected and other representatives of 
Indian tribal governments ``to provide meaningful and timely input in 
the development of regulatory policies on matters that significantly or 
uniquely affect their communities. Today's action simply delays the 
compliance date of Phase IV for one waste for ninety days, and does not 
significantly or uniquely affect the communities of Indian tribal 
governments. Accordingly, the requirements of section 3(b) of Executive 
Order 13084 do not apply to this rule.
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. Section 808 allows the issuing agency to make a good 
cause finding that notice and public procedure is impracticable, 
unnecessary or contrary to the public interest. This determination must 
be supported by a brief statement. 5 U.S.C. 808(2). As stated 
previously, EPA has made such a good cause finding, including the 
reasons therefore, and thus is promulgating this document as a final 
rule. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other required 
information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and 
the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication of 
the rule in the Federal Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' 
as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 268

    Environmental protection, Hazardous waste, Land disposal 
restrictions.

    Dated: August 28, 1998.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, title 40 chapter I of 
the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 268--LAND DISPOSAL RESTRICTIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 268 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921, and 6924.

Subpart D--Treatment Standards

    2. Section 268.34 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (b) 
through (e) as paragraphs (c) through (f) and by adding a new paragraph 
(b) to read as follows:


Sec. 268.34  Waste specific prohibitions--toxicity characteristic metal 
wastes.

* * * * *
    (b) Effective November 26, 1998, the following waste is prohibited 
from land disposal: Slag from secondary lead smelting which exhibits 
the Toxicity Characteristic due to the presence of one or more metals.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-24045 Filed 9-8-98; 8:45 am]
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