[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 2 (Thursday, January 3, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 486-489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-25575]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0833; FRL-8513-2]


Waste Management System; Testing and Monitoring Activities; 
Notice of Availability of Final Update IV of SW-846

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is 
providing notice of the availability of ``Final Update IV'' to the 
Third Edition of the manual, ``Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, 
Physical/Chemical Methods,'' EPA publication SW-846. Final Update IV 
contains new and revised analytical methods that may be used in 
monitoring or complying with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 
(RCRA) hazardous waste regulations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Kirkland, EMRAD, Office of Solid 
Waste (5307P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460-0002; telephone number: (703) 308-
8855, fax number: (703) 308-0509, e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. How Can I Get Copies of Final Update IV and Other Related 
Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-RCRA-2006-0833; FRL-6908-4. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically through http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OSWER RCRA Docket in the EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the OSWER RCRA Docket is (202) 
566-0270.
    Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.

B. How Can I Get Copies of the Third Edition of SW-846 and All of Its 
Updates?

    The Third Edition of SW-846, as amended by Final Updates I, II, 
IIA, IIB, III, IIIA, IIIB, and IV is available in pdf format on the 
Internet at http://www.epa.gov/SW-846. Table 1 below provides sources 
for both paper and electronic copies of the Third Edition of SW-846 and 
all of its updates.

[[Page 487]]



      Table 1.--Sources for SW-846, Third Edition, and Its Updates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Source                    Available portions of SW-846
------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Technical Information Service   --Paper copy of an integrated
 (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road,            version of SW-846, Third
 Springfield, VA 22161, (703) 605-6000    Edition, as amended by Final
 or (800) 553-6847.                       Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, III,
                                          and IIIA.
                                         --Individual paper copies of
                                          the SW-846, Third Edition,
                                          basic manual and of certain
                                          updates, including Final
                                          Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, III,
                                          IIIA, and IIIB.
                                         --CD-ROM of integrated version
                                          of SW-846, Third Edition, as
                                          amended by Final Updates I,
                                          II, IIA, IIB, and III (pdf and
                                          WordPerfect electronic
                                          copies).
                                         --CD-ROM of Draft Update IVA
                                          (pdf and WordPerfect
                                          electronic copies).
Internet http://www.epa.gov/SW-846.....  --Integrated version of SW-846,
                                          Third Edition, as amended by
                                          Final Updates I, II, IIA, IIB,
                                          III, IIIA, IIIB, and IV (pdf
                                          electronic copy).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. How Is the Rest of This Notice Organized?

    We list below the order of the major sections of this notice.

II. What is the Subject and Purpose of this Notice?
III. Why is this Update to SW-846 Being Announced in a Notice 
Instead of Being Promulgated as a Final Rule?
IV. What Does Final Update IV Contain?

II. What Is the Subject and Purpose of This Notice?

    We are announcing the availability of Final Update IV to ``Test 
Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,'' EPA 
Publication SW-846. Final Update IV of SW-846 contains analytical 
methods that we have evaluated and determined to be appropriate and may 
be used for monitoring or complying with the RCRA hazardous waste 
regulations.
    The Agency revises the content of SW-846 over time as new 
information and data are developed. We continually review advances in 
analytical instrumentation and techniques and periodically incorporate 
such advances into SW-846 as method updates by adding new methods to 
the manual, and replacing existing methods with revised versions of the 
same method. These updates improve analytical method performance and 
cost effectiveness. To date, we have finalized Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, 
III, IIIA, and IIIB to the SW-846 manual, which can be found on the 
Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/test/sw846.htm.
    On May 8, 1998, we published a notice of availability for Draft 
Update IVA in the Federal Register (see 63 FR 25430-25438, Docket No. 
F-98-4TMA-FFFF) and, on November 27, 2000, we published a notice of 
availability for Draft Update IVB in the Federal Register (see 65 FR 
70678-70681, Docket No. F-2000-4BTA-FFFF). In today's notice, we are 
announcing the availability of Final Update IV, which combines Draft 
Updates IVA, IVB, and subsequent revisions made to these Updates based 
on public comments received.

III. Why Is This Update to SW-846 Being Announced in a Notice Instead 
of Being Promulgated as a Final Rule?

    In the past, EPA proposed and finalized updates to SW-846 as part 
of a rulemaking. On June 14, 2005, however, EPA published a final rule, 
referred to as the Methods Innovation Rule (MIR), which removed from 
the RCRA hazardous waste regulations any requirement to use an 
analytical method found in SW-846, unless that method is the only one 
capable of measuring a method-defined parameter (MDP) (70 FR 34538-
34592). See the preamble of that rule regarding the Agency's basis for 
that rulemaking. In addition, the MIR allows the Agency to issue final 
updates to SW-846 as guidance, provided the analytical methods 
contained in the update are not required by the RCRA hazardous waste 
regulations. The Agency will continue to follow Agency guidelines to 
ensure that methods incorporated into SW-846 are scientifically sound, 
including the peer review of method documents, as appropriate. We will 
also continue to request public comment on methods we update through 
Federal Register notices prior to their incorporation into SW-846.
    As the analytical methods contained in Final Update IV are not 
required by the RCRA hazardous waste regulations, EPA is issuing this 
update as guidance. EPA solicited public comments on the analytical 
methods found in Final Update IV in two Federal Register notices (see 
notice of availability for Draft Update IVA of SW 846 (63 FR 25430) and 
Draft Update IVB of SW-846 (65 FR 70678)). The docket to Final Update 
IV (EPA-RCRA-2006-0833) contains a background document with our 
response to public comments.

IV. What Does Final Update IV Contain?

    Final Update IV contains new and revised analytical methods, each 
dated ``February 2007'' in its footer. The new and revised analytical 
methods can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/test/main.htm. Tables 2 through 4 list the documents found in Final Update 
IV. Table 5 lists those methods that have been deleted.
    Table 2 provides a listing of the twenty-four revised SW-846 
analytical methods, seven revised chapters and the table of contents 
and title page. Chapter Eleven (``Ground Water Monitoring'') is 
included in this listing because, as described in the Draft Update IVA 
notice, EPA has removed the outdated text of Chapter Eleven of SW-846 
and replaced the text with a note to refer the reader to the most 
current version of the ground-water monitoring guidance originally 
issued by EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) in 1992.
    Table 3 provides a listing of twenty-three new analytical methods 
found in Update IV. It should be noted that two of the analytical 
methods (Methods 4500 and 9058) on which the Agency solicited public 
comment in Draft Updates IVA and IVB are not included in Final Update 
IV. Specifically, Method 4500, ``Mercury in Soil by Immunoassay,'' a 
method in Draft Update IVA, is not included because the method kit is 
no longer available from its original source. Method 9058, 
``Determination of Perchlorate Using Ion Chromatography with Chemical 
Suppression Conductivity Detection,'' a method in Draft Update IVB, is 
not included because EPA determined, based on public comment and other 
source information, that this version of the analytical method is 
subject to biased results due to matrix interferences. However, the 
Agency developed two new and improved analytical methods for 
perchlorate analyses, SW-846 Methods 6850 and

[[Page 488]]

6860. These methods are not part of the Final Update IV package, but 
have been validated and are available for use at the EPA Methods Web 
site, under the heading ``New Methods,'' http://www.epa.gov/SW-846. 
Given the development and availability of Methods 6850 and 6860, EPA 
recommends that Method 9058 only be used for screening or long-term 
monitoring purposes. Confirmation of perchlorate detection is 
recommended when analyzing unfamiliar samples using an additional 
technique. EPA currently plans to include a final version of Method 
9058 in the Fourth Edition of SW-846 after additional validation. The 
final version will also be posted on the EPA Methods Web site if the 
method is completed prior to official publication of the Fourth 
Edition.
    Table 4 identifies three air sampling methods for which we are 
providing references in SW-846 as part of Final Update IV. These one 
page references indicate how one may obtain a copy of each method. We 
are providing this information in SW-846, for the convenience of the 
reader.
    Finally, Table 5 identifies the forty-four analytical methods to be 
integrated or deleted from SW-846 as part of Final Update IV. All but 
one of these analytical methods is an individual flame or graphite 
furnace atomic absorption method. The exception is Method 3810, 
``Headspace,'' an obsolete headspace screening method which was 
replaced by Method 5021, ``Volatile Organic Compounds in Soils and 
Other Solid Matrices Using Equilibrium Headspace Analysis.'' The Agency 
is deleting Method 3810 because Method 5021, added to SW-846 as part of 
Final Update III, can be used for screening applications (in addition 
to quantitative uses), and can be expected to perform better than 
Method 3810 as a screening method. The 43 individual atomic absorption 
methods are being deleted because their inclusion is redundant given 
that their procedures and target analytes are fully integrated into 
revised Method 7000B (see Table 2) or new Method 7010 (see Table 3), 
the general methods for the atomic absorption techniques.

  Table 2.--Revised Analytical Methods and Chapters of SW-846 in Final
                                Update IV
------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Analytical method No.               Method or chapter title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Table of Contents.
                                   Chapter Two--Choosing the Correct
                                    Procedure.
                                   Chapter Three--Inorganic Analytes.
                                   Chapter Four--Organic Analytes.
                                   Chapter Five--Miscellaneous Test
                                    Methods.
                                   Chapter Six--Properties.
                                   Chapter Ten--Sampling Methods.
                                   Chapter Eleven--Ground Water
                                    Monitoring.
3015A............................  Microwave Assisted Acid Digestion of
                                    Aqueous Samples and Extracts.
3051A............................  Microwave Assisted Acid Digestion of
                                    Sediments, Sludges, Soils, and Oils.
3500C............................  Organic Extraction and Sample
                                    Preparation.
3535A............................  Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE).
3545A............................  Pressurized Fluid Extraction (PFE).
3550C............................  Ultrasonic Extraction.
3620C............................  Florisil Cleanup.
6010C............................  Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic
                                    Emission Spectrometry.
6020A............................  Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass
                                    Spectrometry.
7000B............................  Flame Atomic Absorption
                                    Spectrophotometry.
7471B............................  Mercury in Solid or Semisolid Waste
                                    (Manual Cold-Vapor Technique).
8015C............................  Nonhalogenated Organics by Gas
                                    Chromatography.
8041A............................  Phenols by Gas Chromatography.
8081B............................  Organochlorine Pesticides by Gas
                                    Chromatography.
8082A............................  Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) by
                                    Gas Chromatography.
8141B............................  Organophosphorus Compounds by Gas
                                    Chromatography.
8270D............................  Semivolatile Organic Compounds by Gas
                                    Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/
                                    MS).
8280B............................  Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins
                                    (PCDDs) and Polychlorinated
                                    Dibenzofurans (PCDFs) by High
                                    Resolution Gas Chromatography/Low
                                    Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRGC/
                                    LRMS).
8290A............................  Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins
                                    (PCDDs) and Polychlorinated
                                    Dibenzofurans (PCDFs) by High-
                                    Resolution Gas Chromatography/High-
                                    Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRGC/
                                    HRMS).
8318A............................  N-Methylcarbamates by High
                                    Performance Liquid Chromatography
                                    (HPLC).
8321B............................  Solvent-Extractable Nonvolatile
                                    Compounds by High-Performance Liquid
                                    Chromatography/Thermospray/Mass
                                    Spectrometry (HPLC/TS/MS) or
                                    Ultraviolet (UV) Detection.
8330A............................  Nitroaromatics and Nitramines by High
                                    Performance Liquid Chromatography
                                    (HPLC).
9056A............................  Determination of Inorganic Anions by
                                    Ion Chromatography.
9210A............................  Potentiometric Determination of
                                    Nitrate in Aqueous Samples with Ion-
                                    Selective Electrode.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


      Table 3.--New Analytical Methods of SW-846 in Final Update IV
------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Analytical method No.                     Method title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1040.............................  Test Method for Oxidizing Solids.
1050.............................  Test Methods to Determine Substances
                                    Likely to Spontaneously Combust.
3546.............................  Microwave Extraction.
3562.............................  Supercritical Fluid Extraction of
                                    Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and
                                    Organochlorine Pesticides.
3815.............................  Screening Solid Samples for Volatile
                                    Organics.
4425.............................  Screening Extracts of Environmental
                                    Samples for Planar Organic Compounds
                                    (PAHs, PCBs, PCDDs/PCDFs) by a
                                    Reporter Gene on a Human Cell Line.
4670.............................  Triazine Herbicides as Atrazine in
                                    Water by Quantitative Immunoassay.
6200.............................  Field Portable X-Ray Fluorescence
                                    Spectrometry for the Determination
                                    of Elemental Concentrations in Soil
                                    and Sediment.
6500.............................  Dissolved Inorganic Anions in Aqueous
                                    Matrices by Capillary Ion
                                    Electrophoresis.
6800.............................  Elemental and Speciated Isotope
                                    Dilution Mass Spectrometry.
7010.............................  Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption
                                    Spectrophotometry.
7473.............................  Mercury in Solids and Solutions by
                                    Thermal Decomposition, Amalgamation,
                                    and Atomic Absorption
                                    Spectrophotometry.
7474.............................  Mercury in Sediment and Tissue
                                    Samples by Atomic Fluorescence
                                    Spectrometry.

[[Page 489]]

 
8085.............................  Compound-Independent Elemental
                                    Quantitation of Pesticides by Gas
                                    Chromatography with Atomic Emission
                                    Detection (GC/AED).
8095.............................  Explosives by Gas Chromatography.
8261.............................  Volatile Organic Compounds by Vacuum
                                    Distillation in Combination with Gas
                                    Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (VD/
                                    GC/MS).
8510.............................  Colorimetric Screening Procedure for
                                    RDX and HMX in Soil.
8535.............................  Screening Procedure for Total
                                    Volatile Organic Halides in Water.
8540.............................  Pentachlorophenol (PCP) by UV-Induced
                                    Colorimetry.
9000.............................  Determination of Water in Waste
                                    Materials by Karl Fischer Titration.
9001.............................  Determination of Water in Waste
                                    Materials by Quantitative Calcium
                                    Hydride Reaction.
9074.............................  Turbidimetric Screening Method for
                                    Total Recoverable Petroleum
                                    Hydrocarbons in Soil.
9216.............................  Potentiometric Determination of
                                    Nitrite in Aqueous Samples with Ion-
                                    selective Electrode.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


   Table 4.--Analytical Method References Provided by SW-846 in Final
                                Update IV
------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Analytical method No.                     Method title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
25D..............................  Determination of the Volatile Organic
                                    Concentration of Waste Samples.
25E..............................  Determination of Vapor Phase Organic
                                    Concentration in Waste Samples.
207..............................  A Method for Measuring Isocyanates in
                                    Stationary Source Emissions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                  Table 5.--Deleted Analytical Methods
------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Analytical method No.                     Method title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3810 \a\.........................  Headspace.
7020 \b\.........................  Aluminum (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7040 \b\.........................  Antimony (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7041 \c\.........................  Antimony (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7060 \a\.........................  Arsenic (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7080A \b\........................  Barium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7081 \c\.........................  Barium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7090 \b\.........................  Beryllium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7091 \c\.........................  Beryllium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7130 \b\.........................  Cadmium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7131A \c\........................  Cadmium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7140 \b\.........................  Calcium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7190 \b\.........................  Chromium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7191 \c\.........................  Chromium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7200 \b\.........................  Cobalt (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7201 \c\.........................  Cobalt (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7210 \b\.........................  Copper (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7211 \c\.........................  Copper (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7380 \b\.........................  Iron (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7381 \c\.........................  Iron (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7420 \b\.........................  Lead (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7421 \c\.........................  Lead (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7430 \b\.........................  Lithium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7450 \b\.........................  Magnesium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7460 \b\.........................  Manganese (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7461 \c\.........................  Manganese (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7480 \b\.........................  Molybdenum (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7481 \c\.........................  Molybdenum (Atomic Absorption,
                                    Furnace Technique).
7520 \b\.........................  Nickel (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7521 \c\.........................  Nickel (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Method).
7550 \b\.........................  Osmium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7610 \b\.........................  Potassium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7740 \c\.........................  Selenium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7760A \b\........................  Silver (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7761 \c\.........................  Silver (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7770 \b\.........................  Sodium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7780 \b\.........................  Strontium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7840 \b\.........................  Thallium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7841 \c\.........................  Thallium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7870 \b\.........................  Tin (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7910 \b\.........................  Vanadium (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7911 \c\.........................  Vanadium (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique).
7950 \b\.........................  Zinc (Atomic Absorption, Direct
                                    Aspiration).
7951 \c\.........................  Zinc (Atomic Absorption, Furnace
                                    Technique)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ Replaced by Method 5021.
\b\ Integrated into Method 7000B.
\c\ Integrated into Method 7010.


    Dated: December 20, 2007.
Susan Parker Bodine,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. E7-25575 Filed 1-2-08; 8:45 am]
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