UW PIT Comments, Part II

["Peter REINHARDT" <Peter.Reinhardt@ccmail.adp.wisc.edu>]

     Please contact me for more information.
     
     Peter A. Reinhardt
     Assistant Director, Chemical & Environmental Safety University of 
     Wisconsin-Madison Safety Department 30 N. Murray St., Madison, WI 
     53715-2609 608/262-9735 FAX: 608/262-6767 
     peter.reinhardt@mail.admin.wisc.edu
     ..................................................................
     
     University of Wisconsin-Madison 
     Comments on EPA PIT Recommendations, Part II
     
     PLEASE CLARIFY OR PROVIDE GUIDANCE
     
     The Task Force recommended providing guidance or otherwise clarifying 
     enforcement discretion regarding generator 90 day accumulation and 
     treatment. We agree that violations of 40 CFR 262.34 should not be 
     handled as a failure to have a permit.
     
     We urge EPA to take this opportunity to clarify other EPA guidance 
     that pertains to hazardous waste treatment and RCRA permits:
     
     EPA should clarify existing guidance that treatment in containers may 
     take place in satellite accumulation areas as well as in a 
     less-than-90 day facility. Current guidance is silent with respect to 
     in-container treatment in satellite accumulation areas.
     
     EPA should also clarify that radioactive decay of mixed waste does not 
     constitute treatment in the regulatory sense, and does not require a 
     permit. The "Joint Nuclear Regulatory Commission/Environmental 
     Protection Agency Guidance on the Storage of Mixed Radioactive and 
     Hazardous Waste," is misleading by stating, "'Decay-in-storage' meets 
     the definition of treatment in 40 CFR 260.10 insofar as it is a method 
     or technique designed to change the physical character or composition 
     (amount of radioactivity) in the mixed waste."<9>
     
     We urge that EPA clarify or provide guidance that treatment as part of 
     a laboratory process or experiments does not require a permit, or 
     provide a conditional exemption in this instance. For laboratories, 
     this is analogous to "totally enclosed treatment" that is allowed for 
     industrial generators.
     
     CONCLUSION
     
     Without a doubt, PIT recommendations would improve the effectiveness 
     and efficiency of the permitting process. They will facilitate waste 
     minimization and recycling, and provide sensible relief to many 
     generators of laboratory waste.
     
     We appreciate EPA's efforts to involve stakeholders (such as permit 
     holders and hazardous waste generators) in Task Force activities. We 
     encourage EPA to continue these communications and hope that 
     stakeholders can play a role in drafting a new permitting system that 
     is both efficient and protective of health and the environment. Please 
     notify us of any future opportunities for stakeholder input.
     
     Thank you for considering these comments, and for providing the 
     University the opportunity to comment on these recommendations. Should 
     you have questions after you've reviewed this letter, please contact 
     Peter A. Reinhardt, UW-Madison Safety Department, at (608) 262-8769.
     
     Sincerely,
     
     
     
     John Torphy, Vice Chancellor
     
     c: David Drummond, Safety Department Director
        Bruce Braun, Assistant Vice Chancellor
        Ian Carlson, Chair, University Chemical Safety Committee 
        Leigh Leonard, University of Wisconsin System Administration
     
     <1> Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Disposal of 
     Chemicals, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1995, p. 
     9.
     <2> "Mixed waste" is defined in the Federal Facilities Compliance Act 
     of 1992 as "waste that contains both hazardous waste and source, 
     special nuclear, or byproduct material subject to the Atomic Energy 
     Act of 1954" (RCRA   1004(41), 42 USC 6903(41)).
     <3> "Joint Nuclear Regulatory Commission/Environmental Protection 
     Agency Guidance on the Storage of Mixed Radioactive and Hazardous 
     Waste," Federal Register, Vol. 60, p. 40209, 7 August 1995.
     <4> Adapted from Prudent Practices, p. 154. 
     <5> Prudent Practices, p. 10.
     <6> "Extension of the Policy on Enforcement of RCRA 3004(j) Storage 
     Prohibition at Facilities Generating Mixed Radioactive/Hazardous 
     Waste," Federal Register, Vol. 61, p. 18589, 26 April 1996.
     <7> Prudent Practices, p. 9.
     <8> Two widely-recognized sources of chemical treatment procedures for 
     laboratories are:
     Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Disposal of 
     Chemicals, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1995. 
     Hazardous Laboratory Chemicals Disposal Guide, second edition, 
     Margaret-Ann Armor, CRC Press/Lewis Publishers, 1996.
     <9> Federal Register, Vol. 60, p. 40209, 7 August 1995.