[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 6, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19003-19004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8180]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 268

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0851; FRL-9290-5]


Land Disposal Restrictions: Nevada and California; Site Specific 
Treatment Variances for Hazardous Selenium Bearing Waste

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to issue both a site-specific treatment 
variance to U.S. Ecology Nevada (USEN) located in Beatty, Nevada and 
withdraw an existing site-specific treatment variance issued to 
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. (CWM) located in Kettleman Hills, 
California. This proposal pertains to the treatment of a hazardous 
waste generated by the Owens-Brockway Glass Container Company in 
Vernon, California that is unable to meet the concentration-based 
treatment standard for selenium established under the Land Disposal 
Restrictions program. The site-specific treatment variance proposed to 
be issued to USEN would provide an alternative treatment standard of 59 
mg/L for selenium as measured by the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching 
Procedure. EPA has determined that the treatment performed by USEN 
provides the best demonstrated treatment available for this waste by 
reducing the amount of selenium potentially released to the 
environment, while minimizing the total volume of hazardous waste land 
disposed. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal 
Register, EPA has also published a direct final rule granting a site-
specific treatment variance to USEN, and withdrawing the site-specific 
treatment variance previously granted to CWM for this same waste 
without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we 
will not take further action on this proposed rule and the direct final 
rule will become effective as provided in that action.

DATES: Written comments must be received by May 6, 2011. Comments 
postmarked after the close of the comment period will be stamped 
``late'' and may or may not be considered by the Agency.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
RCRA-2010-0851, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]. 
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0851.
     Fax: 202-566-9744. Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2010-0851.
     Mail: RCRA Docket (28221T), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0851. Please include a total of 2 
copies.
     Hand Delivery: Please deliver 2 copies to EPA/DC, EPA 
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2010-0851. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the HQ-Docket Center, 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0851, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Docket Facility 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 RCRA Docket is (202) 566-
0270. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on this 
rulemaking, contact Jesse Miller, Materials Recovery and Waste 
Management Division, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (MC 
5304 P), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone (703) 308-1180; fax (703) 308-
0522; or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 19004]]

I. Why is EPA issuing this proposed rule?

    This action proposes to issue both a site-specific treatment 
variance to U.S. Ecology Nevada (USEN) located in Beatty, Nevada and 
withdraw an existing site-specific treatment variance issued to 
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. (CWM) located in Kettleman Hills, 
California. This proposal pertains to the treatment of a hazardous 
waste generated by the Owens-Brockway Glass Container Company in 
Vernon, California that is unable to meet the concentration-based 
treatment standard for selenium established under the Land Disposal 
Restrictions program. The site-specific treatment variance proposed to 
be issued to USEN would provide an alternative treatment standard of 59 
mg/L for selenium as measured by the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching 
Procedure. EPA has determined that the treatment performed by USEN 
provides the best demonstrated treatment available for this waste by 
reducing the amount of selenium potentially released to the 
environment, while minimizing the total volume of hazardous waste land 
disposed.
    In the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register, we 
have also published a direct final rule granting a site-specific 
treatment variance to USEN and withdrawing the site-specific treatment 
variance previously granted to CWM for this same waste. We are issuing 
a direct final rule for this action because we view this as 
noncontroversial and anticipate no adverse comment. We have explained 
our reasons for this in the preamble to the direct final rule.
    If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action 
on this proposed rule and the direct final rule will become effective 
as provided in that action. If we do receive adverse comment, we will 
publish a timely notice in the Federal Register withdrawing the direct 
final rule and it will not take effect. We will address all public 
comments in any subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. We 
do not intend to institute a second comment period on this action. Any 
parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. For further 
information about commenting on this rule, see the ADDRESSES section of 
this document.

II. Does this action apply to me?

    This proposal applies only to U. S. Ecology Nevada located in 
Beatty, Nevada and Chemical Waste Management located in Kettleman 
Hills, California.

III. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives, 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

Direct Final Rule Location of Regulatory Text for This Proposal

    The regulatory text for this proposal is identical to that for the 
direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of 
this Federal Register. For further supplemental information, the 
detailed rationale for the proposal, and the regulatory revisions, see 
the information provided in the direct final rule published in the 
Rules and Regulations section of today's Federal Register.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    For a complete discussion of all the administrative requirements 
applicable to this action, see the direct final rule in the Rules and 
Regulations section of this Federal Register.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency 
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to the 
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative 
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, 
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
    This site-specific treatment variance, as proposed, does not create 
any new requirements. Rather, it proposes an alternative treatment 
standard for a specific waste that applies to only one facility, USEN 
and proposes to withdraw an existing site-specific treatment variance 
for the same waste at CWM in Kettleman Hills, California. Therefore, we 
hereby certify that this action, as proposed would not add any new 
regulatory requirements to small entities. This proposal rule, 
therefore, does not require a regulatory flexibility analysis.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 268

    Environmental Protection, Hazardous Waste, Variances.

    Dated: March 31, 2011.
Mathy Stanislaus,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 2011-8180 Filed 4-5-11; 8:45 am]
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