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How to Determine If Your Waste Is Hazardous

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How to Determine If Your Waste Is Hazardous Fact Sheet How to Determine if Your Waste is Hazardous Background reclaimed or processed before reuse. For any Federal and state of Oregon hazardous waste material to be a hazardous waste, it must first be regulations ensure that the generation, transport, a solid waste. Hazardous Waste treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous 700 NE Multnomah St wastes are conducted in a way that protects Step 2: Determine if the solid waste is Suite 600 human health and the environment. exempted or excluded from hazardous Portland, OR 97232-4100 waste regulation Phone: 503-229-5696 This fact sheet will help you properly identify all Not all solid wastes are hazardous wastes. 800-452-4011 Fax: 503-229-5675 wastes that you generate, treat or send off site for Certain wastes, such as household wastes or used www.oregon.gov/DEQ recycling, energy recovery or disposal as oil destined for recycling, are exempted or hazardous waste. For a complete description of excluded from the hazardous waste definition waste determination requirements, consult and regulation. Oregon Administrative Rule 340-101and the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 261. Don’t proceed to Step 3, which is evaluating the actual chemical or physical hazard a waste poses, As a waste generator, you must: until you’ve determined the waste is not Determine if your waste is hazardous, then somehow excluded from hazardous waste Ensure your waste is managed properly regulation. Wastes excluded or exempted are listed in CFR Title 40, Part 261.4 and 261.6-9, and OAR 340-101-0004. Waste management companies may perform or offer to help you, the generator, with your hazardous waste determination, but generators Note: Even if you’ve determined your waste is are ultimately responsible for any excluded from hazardous waste regulation, you should re-evaluate your status periodically to mismanagement of their hazardous waste. Failure to do an adequate hazardous waste verify that conditions affecting the composition determination is the top violation cited by DEQ of your waste haven’t changed. You also need to hazardous waste inspectors and can lead to document that exemption or exclusion in your files. (See CFR Title 40, Part 268.7 (a)(7) for mismanagement of your waste, often leading to environmental and human health damage. these requirements.) Three steps in performing a hazardous Step 3: Determine if the waste is hazardous waste determination You need to know: This step involves evaluating the waste against Is your material a solid waste? the regulatory definition of hazardous waste. If it is a solid waste, is it exempted or There are three ways your waste can be considered hazardous: excluded from management as a hazardous waste? Is the waste a listed, characteristic or state- 1. If you find your waste isn’t exempted or only hazardous waste? excluded from hazardous waste regulation, you must determine if the waste meets one Step 1: Determine if the material is solid or more of the hazardous waste listing waste descriptions in the Code of Federal The term “solid waste” is somewhat misleading. Regulations (CFR Title 40, Part 261, Subpart D): The word “solid” does not refer to the physical state of the waste. Solid waste can be a solid, liquid, or contained gas. Under the federal F-listed wastes: 40 CFR 261.31 lists Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a hazardous wastes from non-specific sources (termed “F-listed wastes” after the F prefix solid waste is any material that you’ll no longer use for its originally intended purpose and will in the hazardous waste code). An example is be discarded, or a material that must be F002 wastes (spent halogenated solvents, such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, methylene chloride). Last Updated: 07/2017 By: M. Fritzmann K-listed wastes: 40 CFR 261.32 lists Produces toxic fumes, gases or vapors when hazardous wastes from specific sources, mixed with water in a quantity sufficient to such as K062 waste spent pickle liquor present a danger to the environment generated by steel finishing operations in the Is a cyanide- or sulfide-bearing waste that iron and steel industries. when exposed to a pH between 2.0 and 12.5 produces toxic fumes sufficient to present a P- and U-listed wastes: 40 CFR 261.33 danger to the environment lists discarded or unused commercial Is capable of detonation or explosive chemical products, off-specification reaction if it’s subjected to a strong initiating products, container residues and spill source or heated under confinement residues of such products. Examples of these Is readily capable of detonation or explosive wastes include the unused commercial decomposition or reaction at standard chemical products of mercury, potassium temperature and pressure, or cyanide, creosote and phenol. Is a forbidden explosive or a Class A or Class B explosive as defined in 49 CFR, 2. Characteristic hazardous waste Part 173 If you determine the waste is not listed hazardous waste, you must conduct waste Wastes exhibiting reactivity are classified as sampling and analysis. Or, you can apply EPA Hazardous Waste Code D003. Examples of generator knowledge of the process used to reactive wastes include pressurized aerosol cans produce the waste to determine if it exhibits and certain cyanide- or sulfide-bearing wastes. any of the four characteristics of a hazardous waste: Toxicity: The toxicity of a characteristic waste is determined by having a laboratory analyze an Ignitability: A waste is ignitable if it: extract of the waste using the Toxicity Is a liquid and its flash point is less than 140 Characteristic Leaching Procedure. Results of degrees F (60 degrees C), or the analysis are compared to the regulatory limits Is an oxidizer or ignitable compressed gas as of 40 constituents, primarily heavy metals, defined by U.S. Department of organic compounds and pesticides/herbicides. If Transportation regulations in 49 CFR Part the extract from the leaching procedure contains 173, or levels of any of the 40 constituents at or above Has the potential to ignite under standard regulatory limits, the waste is considered temperature and pressure, and burn hazardous. persistently and vigorously once ignited Wastes exhibiting toxicity are classified as EPA Wastes exhibiting ignitability are classified as Hazardous Waste Codes D004 through 043. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Examples of toxic wastes include contaminated Hazardous Waste Code D001. Examples include soils and sludge, waste solvents, paint residues, spent solvents, such as mineral spirits. wastes from chemical manufacturing and pesticide/herbicide wastes. Corrosiveness: A waste is corrosive if it is: Aqueous and its pH is less than or equal to State-only hazardous wastes 2.0 or greater or equal to 12.5, or If a solid waste is not excluded/exempted and is A liquid that corrodes steel at a rate of more not a federal hazardous waste as listed above, it than a quarter-inch per year may be a state of Oregon-only hazardous waste. Oregon Administrative Rule 340-101-0033 lists Wastes exhibiting corrosiveness are classified as these wastes, which include pesticide residues EPA Hazardous Waste Code D002. Examples and mixtures of wastes containing constituents of include spent sulfuric acid and concentrated federal P (3 percent) and U (10 percent) listed waste sodium hydroxide solutions. wastes. For details, see Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Parts 261.31 and 261.32. Reactivity: A waste exhibits reactivity if it: Is normally unstable and readily undergoes a Waste sampling and analysis violent change without detonating Sampling and analysis of the waste may be Reacts violently with water necessary to complete the determination when: Forms potentially explosive mixtures with You begin a new process or change an water existing one How to Determine if Your Waste is Hazardous You’ve not provided appropriate laboratory by processes similar to that which generated your information to an off-site treatment, storage waste. and disposal facility You’re not able to determine with available For example, comparing the specific process that information the chemical makeup of your generated your waste to those processes waste stream described in the listings rather conducting a An off-site hazardous waste facility has chemical/physical analysis of the waste identifies reason to believe the wastes you shipped listed wastes. Therefore, with many listed were not identified accurately wastes, generator knowledge is appropriate EPA amends RCRA waste because the chemical/physical makeup of the identification/classification rules, or waste is generally well known and consistent A facility receives your waste for the first from facility to facility. time Note: From a cost-saving standpoint, use of Waste sampling and analysis is more accurate existing or historical records of analysis may and defensible than other options such as using seem preferable compared to conducting knowledge of process (explained below). sampling and analysis. However, you must ensure that your information reflects current Procedures and equipment for obtaining and processes and materials being used and that no analyzing samples are in the EPA document differences exist between the process in the “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, documented data and your own. Physical/Chemical Methods” (SW-846, third edition). If you use generator knowledge alone or in conjunction with sampling and analysis, you DEQ recommends you prepare a sampling and must maintain detailed documentation that analysis plan before sample collection and clearly demonstrates the information is sufficient testing. See chapters 1 and 9 of the above-listed to identify the waste. EPA document for this information. Documentation to support generator knowledge Note: In making your determination, be sure to may include but is not limited to: include all applicable waste codes, whether it’s a Material safety data sheets or similar listed hazardous waste, characteristic hazardous documents waste or a combination of both.
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