[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 202 (Thursday, October 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52918-52920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26087]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7085-2]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Guidance on Demonstrating 
Compliance With the Land Disposal Restrictions Alternative Soil 
Treatment Standards, and the Draft Interpretative Memorandum on the 
Stabilization of Organic-Bearing Hazardous Wastes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The intent of this notice is to announce the availability for 
public comment of two draft documents. The first document is titled 
``Guidance on Demonstrating Compliance With the Land Disposal 
Restrictions Alternative Soil Treatment Standards.'' The second 
document is titled ``Interpretative Memorandum on the Stabilization of 
Organic-Bearing Hazardous Wastes.'' By making these documents available 
for review and comment, we hope to encourage greater involvement by 
states, industry, and the public.

DATES: To make sure we consider your comments on these documents, we 
must receive them by December 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment on the draft ``Guidance on 
Demonstrating Compliance With the Land Disposal Restrictions 
Alternative Soil Treatment Standards,'' you must submit an original and 
two copies of the comments referencing Docket No. F-2001-DRG1-FFFFF. If 
you wish to comment on the draft ``Interpretative Memorandum on the 
Stabilization of Organic-Bearing Hazardous Wastes,'' you must submit an 
original and two copies of the comments referencing Docket No. F-2001-
DRG2-FFFFF. If using regular U.S. Postal Service mail to: RCRA Docket 
Information Center (RIC), Office of Solid Waste (5305G), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters (EPA HQ), Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. If using 
special delivery, such as overnight express service, send to: RCRA 
Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway

[[Page 52919]]

One, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, First Floor, Arlington, Virginia 
22202. Hand deliveries of comments should be made to the Arlington, VA 
address above. You may also submit comments electronically by sending 
electronic mail through the Internet to: [email protected]. 
You should identify comments in electronic format with the appropriate 
docket number. You must submit all electronic comments as an ASCII 
(text) file, avoiding the use of special characters and any type of 
encryption. If you do not submit comments 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 us 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. We emphasize 
that submission of diskettes is not mandatory, nor will it result in 
any advantage or disadvantage to any commenter.
    You should not submit electronically any confidential business 
information (CBI). You must submit an original and two copies of the 
CBI under separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document Control Officer, Office 
of Solid Waste (5305W), U.S. EPA, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
    The Agency urges commenters submitting data in support of their 
views to include data evidence that appropriate quality assurance/
quality control \1\ (QA/QC) procedures were followed in generating the 
data. Data that the Agency cannot verify through QA/QC documentation 
may be given less consideration or disregarded in developing the final 
documents.
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    \1\ For guidance as to how to do so, see Final Best Demonstrated 
Available Technology (BDAT) Background Document for Quality 
Assurance/Quality Control Procedures and Methodology; USEPA, October 
23, 1991.
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    You may view public comments and supporting materials in the RCRA 
Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway One, 1235 
Jefferson Davis Highway, First Floor, Arlington, Virginia. The RIC is 
open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for Federal 
holidays. To review docket materials, the public must 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 per page. Each docket index and notice is available 
electronically. See the Supplementary Information section for 
information on accessing these materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information or to obtain 
copies of the draft documents, contact the RCRA Hotline at (800) 424-
9346 (toll-free) or TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing impaired). In the 
Washington, DC, metropolitan area, call (703) 412-9810 or TDD (703) 
412-3323. For information on specific aspects of the draft ``Guidance 
on Demonstrating Compliance With the Land Disposal Restrictions 
Alternative Soil Treatment Standards,'' contact Rhonda Minnick, Office 
of Solid Waste (5302W), U.S. EPA, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Rhonda Minnick may be 
reached at 703-308-8771, [email protected]. For specific 
information on specific aspects of the draft ``Interpretative 
Memorandum on the Stabilization of Organic-Bearing Hazardous Wastes,'' 
contact Rita Chow, Office of Solid Waste (5302W), U.S. EPA, Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Rita 
Chow may be reached at 703-308-6158, [email protected]. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Availability of Draft Documents on Internet

    Please follow these instructions to access the draft documents from 
the World Wide Web (WWW): (1) For the draft ``Guidance on Demonstrating 
Compliance With the Land Disposal Restrictions Alternative Soil 
Treatment Standards,'' type http://www.epa.gov/ and (2) For the draft 
``Interpretative Memorandum on the Stabilization of Organic-Bearing 
Hazardous Wastes,'' type http://www.epa.gov/. 

II. Guidance on Demonstrating Compliance With the Land Disposal 
Restrictions Alternative Soil Treatment Standards

A. What Are the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) Alternative Soil 
Treatment Standards?

    The Agency promulgated alternative LDR treatment standards for 
hazardous soil in the Phase IV rule, published May 26, 1998 (63 FR 
28556 and 40 CFR 268.49). The LDR treatment standards apply to soils 
contaminated with hazardous wastes which are excavated and will be land 
disposed. Under the LDR regulations, you may elect to meet either the 
alternative soil treatment standards at 40 CFR 268.49, or the more 
generic treatment standards at 40 CFR 268.40. The alternative treatment 
standards require that such hazardous soil be treated to reduce 
concentrations of hazardous constituents by 90 percent, or to meet the 
hazardous constituent concentrations that are 10 times the Universal 
Treatment Standard (UTS) found at 40 CFR 268.48, whichever is greater.

B. What Is Included in the Draft Guidance Document?

    The interim guidance discusses the alternative treatment standards 
and why they were developed. It then presents step-by-step guidance on 
statistical and non-statistical approaches that can help you measure 
compliance with the alternative soil treatment standards.

C. Can the Draft Guidance Be Used Now?

    We are requesting comment on the guidance before it is finalized. 
However, since the document provides guidance regarding existing rules, 
and does not impose any regulatory requirements, it may be referred to 
for assistance in how to apply those underlying rules.

III. Interpretative Memorandum on the Stabilization of Organic-
Bearing Hazardous Wastes

A. What Is the Purpose of This Draft Interpretative Memorandum?

    The use of stabilization for organic-bearing hazardous wastes to 
comply with Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) has been of interest to 
the regulated community. This draft interpretative memorandum discusses 
circumstances where stabilization of hazardous organic constituents may 
be a permissible form of treatment, where it may be classified as 
impermissible dilution under the LDR program, and describes factors to 
consider when making these evaluations.

B. Request for Comment

    The Agency is requesting comment on this draft interpretative 
memorandum prior to being finalized. Specifically, the Agency is 
seeking comment on the need for this interpretative memorandum, 
additional situations and factors where stabilization may be 
inappropriate, as well as appropriate for organic-bearing hazardous 
wastes, and treatment performance data on cases where stabilization was 
used to treat organic-bearing hazardous wastes.
    The guidance document is not a binding regulation, and any 
decisions regarding legality of organic stabilization activities must 
still be

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justified on a case-by-case basis, not merely by reference to the 
guidance document. Within these constraints, persons are free to 
consult the interpretive memorandum as an aid in addressing issues 
regarding legality under existing rules of organic stabilization 
activities.

    Dated: October 4, 2001.
Elizabeth A. Cotsworth,
Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 01-26087 Filed 10-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P