65FR36365 Organobromines Production Wastes; Petroleum Refining Wastes; Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Land Disposal Restrictions; Final Rule and Correcting Amendments
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Posting-number: Volume 65, Issue 111, Page 36365
[Federal Register: June 8, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 111)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 36365-36367]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08jn00-19]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 148, 261 and 268
[FRL-6711-4]
Organobromines Production Wastes; Petroleum Refining Wastes;
Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Land Disposal
Restrictions; Final Rule and Correcting Amendments
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendments.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is correcting errors
that appeared in the March 17, 2000 final rule (65 FR 14472) that
announced the vacature of regulatory provisions governing the
identification of certain organobromine production wastes as listed
hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA). EPA also is correcting a typographical error that appeared in
the August 6, 1998 final rule (63 FR 42110) listing four wastes from
the petroleum refining industry as hazardous.
This final rule creates no new regulatory requirements. Rather, it
corrects errors associated with the March 17, 2000 Federal Register
document. The rule also corrects a typographical error that appeared in
the August 6, 1998 Federal Register document.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective June 8, 2000.
ADDRESSES: EPA does not seek comment on this document. EPA will keep
the official records for today's action in paper form. The official
record for the Listing Determination for Organobromine Production
Wastes is identified by Docket Number F-98-OBLF-FFFFF. The official
record for the Listing Determination for Petroleum Refining Wastes is
Docket Number F-98-PRLF-FFFFF. The public may view supporting materials
in the RCRA Information Center (RIC), located at EPA, Crystal Gateway
#1, 1st Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The RIC is
open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
Federal holidays. To review docket materials, we recommend that you
make an appointment by calling (703) 603-9230. You may copy a maximum
of 100 pages from any regulatory docket at no charge. Additional copies
cost $0.15/page. Supporting materials are available for viewing in the
RCRA Information Center (RIC), Office of Solid Waste (5305G), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, US EPA Ariel Rios (5101),
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20460.
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 the
rule, contact Patricia Overmeyer of the Office of Solid Waste (5304W),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, US EPA Ariel Rios, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. (E-mail address and
telephone numbers: Overmeyer.Patricia @epa.gov, (703) 605-0708.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The rule, ``Organobromine Production Wastes;
Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Land Disposal
Restrictions; Listing of CERCLA Hazardous Substances, Reportable
Quantities,'' was issued in the Federal Register at 63 FR 24596 (May 4,
1998). The rule vacating the listing determination for organobromine
production wastes was issued in the Federal Register at 65 FR 14472
(March 17, 2000). The rule, ``Hazardous Waste Management System;
Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Petroleum Refining
Process Wastes; Land Disposal Restrictions for Newly Identified
Wastesa; and CERCLA Hazardous Substance Designation and Reportable
Quantities,'' was issued the Federal Register at 63 FR 42110 (August 6,
1998). EPA will keep the official records for these actions in paper
form. The official records are the paper records maintained at the
address in the ADDRESSES section.
Contents of this Final Rule
I. Background
II. Amended Regulations
III. Good Cause Exemption from Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking
Procedures
IV. Administrative Assessments
I. Background
On March 17, 2000 EPA published a final rule announcing the
vacature of regulatory provisions governing the identification of
certain wastes listed as hazardous. In that final rule, EPA amended its
regulations to conform with an order issued by the United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Cir.) in Great
Lakes Chemical Corporation v. EPA (No. 98-1312). That court order
vacated Agency regulations listing certain organobromine wastes as
hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA). The hazardous waste listing determinations that were vacated by
the court and deleted from the regulations in the March 17, 2000 final
rule included the wastes listed as K140 and U408. The effect of
vacating the hazardous waste listing determination for these wastes was
to clarify that these two wastestreams are not subject to the hazardous
waste management and treatment standards under RCRA, as well as not
subject to emergency notification requirements for releases of
hazardous substances to the environment.
On August 6, 1998, EPA amended the regulations for hazardous waste
management under RCRA to list as hazardous four wastes generated by the
petroleum refining industry. The effect of the final rule was to
subject the four wastes to stringent management and treatment standards
under RCRA and to emergency notification requirements for releases of
hazardous substances to the environment. As part of this final
regulation, the Agency also amended the existing listing description
for hazardous waste code F037 in 40 CFR 261.31. The intent of the
amendment was to clarify that residuals generated from processing or
recycling oil-bearing hazardous secondary materials (which are excluded
from the definition of solid waste due to the newly promulgated
exclusion at 40 CFR 261.4(a)(12)(i)) that are not returned to refinery
operations and would otherwise meet a listing under subpart D of 40 CFR
part 261, were to be designated as F037 listed wastes when disposed of
or intended for disposal. However, the amending language included in
the August 6, 1998 FR document included a typographical error that made
the intent of the amendment unclear.
II. Amended Regulations
In the March 17, 2000 final rule vacating the hazardous waste
listings for K140 and U408, EPA inadvertently removed and reserved
paragraph (f) of 40 CFR 148.18. The Agency should have removed and
reserved paragraph (h) of 40 CFR 148.18. Paragraph (h) of 40 CFR 148.18
is the provision prohibiting the underground injection of K140 and
U408. Today, EPA is correcting this error by reinstating paragraph (f)
and removing and reserving paragraph (h) of 40 CFR 148.18.
In addition, in the March 17, 2000 final rule, EPA neglected to
delete the reference to U408 in appendix VII of 40 CFR part 268. Today,
EPA is deleting the reference to U408 in appendix VII to 40 CFR part
268.
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In the August 6, 1998 final rule, a typographical error appeared in
the amended listing description for hazardous waste code F037. Today,
EPA is revising the listing description for hazardous waste code F037
in 40 CFR 261.31(a) to reflect the Agency's original intent of the
amendment, as described in the preamble to the August 6, 1998 final
rule.
III. Good Cause Exemption from Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking
Procedures
The Administrative Procedure Act generally requires agencies to
provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment before issuing
a final rule (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). Rules are exempt from this requirement
if the issuing agency finds for good cause that notice and comment are
unnecessary (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B)).
EPA has determined that providing prior notice and opportunity for
comment on today's notice that corrects regulations amending the RCRA
hazardous waste management requirements to comply with the court
decision vacating the hazardous waste listing determinations for waste
codes K140 and U408, is not necessary. The regulations are no longer
legally in effect by order of the federal court of appeals. Thus,
amending the hazardous waste regulations has no legal impact and only
states the current legal status of the rules.
For the same reasons stated above, EPA believes there is good cause
for making the amending regulations immediately effective. (See 5
U.S.C. 553(d))
IV. Administrative Assessments
Today's amendments to the RCRA hazardous waste management
regulations only correct errors in Federal Register documents issued on
March 17, 2000 and August 6, 1998. These corrections have no regulatory
impact, and do not impose annual costs of $100 million or more.
Therefore, this action is not a ``significant'' regulatory action, as
defined by Executive Order 12866, and is not subject to review by the
Office of Management and Budget. In addition, the amending regulations
promulgated today will have no effect on small entities. This is
evidenced by the fact that today's rule only corrects errors in the
CFR. There is no impact on public or private entities, or on state,
local, and tribal governments. Because the rule will not have a
``significant'' economic impact on small entities, a regulatory
flexibility analysis is not required. Also, this final rule is not
subject to the Executive Order 13045, ``Protection of Children from
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23,
1997), because it is not economically significant as defined in
Executive Order 12866, and because the Agency does not have reason to
believe the environmental health or safety risks addressed by this
action present a disproportionate risk to children. Today's rule does
not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3510 et seq.).
Today's action will have no impact upon state, local, and tribal
governments, or on the private sector. The amending regulations
promulgated today reflect current law, there will be no legal impact on
public or private entities. Therefore, today's rule is not subject to
the provisions of sections 202, 204 or 205 of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (Public Law 104-4).
For the same reasons stated above, this rule will not have
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as
specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999).
This rule does not involve technical standards; thus, the
requirements of section 12(c) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. As required
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996),
in issuing this rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate
drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and
provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has complied
with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining
the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney
General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and
Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the executive order.
Today's final rule will have no effect upon minority and/or low-
income populations. Therefore, today's rule is not subject to Executive
Order 12898, ``Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low Income Populations.''
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 148
Environmental Protection Administrative practice and procedure,
Hazardous waste, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Water
supply.
40 CFR Part 261
Environmental protection, Hazardous materials, Recycling, Waste
treatment and disposal.
40 CFR Part 268
Environmental protection, Hazardous materials, Land disposal
restrictions, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treatment
standards, Waste management.
Dated: May 30, 2000.
Timothy R. Fields, Jr.,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, title 40, chapter 1 of
the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 148--HAZARDOUS WASTE INJECTION RESTRICTIONS
1. The authority citation for part 148 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: Sec. 3004, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42
U.S.C. 6901 et seq.
2. Section 148.18 is amended by removing and reserving paragraph
(h) and adding paragraph (f), to read as follows:
Sec. 148.18 Waste specific prohibitions-newly listed and identified
wastes.
* * * * *
(f) On January 8, 1997, the wastes specified in 40 CFR 261.32 as
EPA Hazardous waste number K088 is prohibited from underground
injection.
* * * * *
PART 261--IDENTIFICATION AND LISTING OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
3. The authority citation for part 261 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: Sec. 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921, 6922, 6924(y),
and 6938.
4. In Sec. 261.31(a), the table is amended by revising the entry
for F037, to read as follows:
Sec. 261.31 Hazardous wastes from non-specific sources.
(a) * * *
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Industry and EPA hazardous waste
No. Hazardous waste Hazard code
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* * * * * *
*
F037.............................. Petroleum refinery primary oil/water/solids (T)
separation sludge--Any sludge generated from the
gravitational separation of oil/water/solids during
the storage or treatment of process wastewaters and
oil cooling wastewaters from petroleum refineries.
Such sludges include, but are not limited to, those
generated in oil/water/solids separators; tanks and
impoundments; ditches and other conveyances; sumps;
and stormwater units receiving dry weather flow.
Sludge generated in stormwater units that do not
receive dry weather flow, sludges generated from non-
contact once-through cooling waters segregated for
treatment from other process or oily cooling waters,
sludges generated in aggressive biological treatment
units as defined in Sec. 261.31(b)(2) (including
sludges generated in one or more additional units
after wastewaters have been treated in aggressive
biological treatment units) and K051 wastes are not
included in this listing. This listing does include
residuals generated from processing or recycling oil-
bearing hazardous secondary materials excluded under
Sec. 261.4(a)(12)(i), if those residuals are to be
disposed of.
* * * * * *
*
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* * * * *
PART 268--LAND DISPOSAL RESTRICTIONS
5. The authority citation for part 268 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912(a), 6921, and 6924.
Appendix VII to Part 268 [Amended]
6. In appendix VII to part 268 Table 1 is amended by removing the
entry for U048.
[FR Doc. 00-14321 Filed 6-7-00; 8:45 am]
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