United States Environmental Protection Agency                
Solid Waste and Emergency Response                   
Office of Solid Waste (5305W)                                
EPA530-F-00-038
November 2000

               
Environmental Fact Sheet: Regulations to Be Revised for Zinc
Fertilizer Recycling
               
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s proposal to
modify existing regulations for zinc fertilizers made from
recycled industrial wastes will conserve natural resources,
prevent pollution, and save money. These provisions are
expected to improve and increase legitimate zinc recycling,
and reduce contaminant levels in these types of fertilizers. 
While ensuring that recycled zinc fertilizers are good,
clean fertilizers, regulatory restrictions on this industry
will be streamlined. As a result of this action, industry
should save around seven million dollars.


Background

In 1997, the public and press particularly in the Pacific
Northwest raised concerns about the use of hazardous wastes
to manufacture agricultural fertilizers and soil amendments.
As a result, EPA launched a major effort to assess hazardous
contaminants in fertilizers, and to reassess existing Agency
regulations governing these recycling practices. The Agency
found that:

     - With a few exceptions, fertilizers generally do not   
       appear to contain contaminants (such as lead,         
       cadmium, or arsenic) at levels that present public    
       health concerns.  
     - Most fertilizers are relatively "clean," so there is
       not an apparent need for EPA to develop comprehensive
       new federal regulations for fertilizer products.
     - The majority of fertilizers made from recycled        
       hazardous wastes are zinc micronutrient fertilizers,
       which are applied sparingly to farmlands (typically,
       a few pounds per acre a year), and are used to        
       fertilize crops such as corn, potatoes, and fruit     
       trees.  
     - About half of all zinc fertilizers are made from      
       hazardous industrial wastes (a practice regulated by
       EPA), which can include the use of emission control   
       dusts from electric arc steel furnaces and brass      
       foundries, as well as ash from energy recovery        
       facilities that burn tires.  Zinc fertilizers can     
       also be made from nonhazardous wastes and "virgin"    
       materials, such as ore concentrates.  

EPA's studies of fertilizer contaminants also found that the
current regulations covering this kind of recycling need to
be revised, for three main reasons: (1) the current EPA
standards for contaminants in these types of fertilizer
products are applied inconsistently, allowing exemptions for
certain recycled zinc fertilizers with relatively high
contaminant levels; (2) legitimate recycling of hazardous
waste into fertilizers is currently hampered by unnecessary
regulatory restrictions; and (3) existing standards for
contaminants in hazardous waste-derived fertilizers can and
should be tightened to reflect levels that industry can
achieve through demonstrated, affordable, sound
manufacturing practices.


Action

The Agency is proposing to make zinc-bearing industrial
waste recycling simpler and more consistent by using a
common-sense regulatory approach.  In summary, this 
proposal will: 

     - Make current regulations stronger and more consistent
       by making all hazardous waste derived fertilizers     
       meet stringent contaminant standards (including       
       fertilizers made from electric-arc furnace dust, or   
       K061, which are now exempt from the standards).  

     - Limit hazardous metals in recycled zinc fertilizers   
       by setting standards based on demonstrated good       
       manufacturing practices, and by setting a standard    
       for dioxins based on "background" levels in soils.    
       The overall result will be to reduce the volumes of   
       contaminants particularly heavy metals that are       
       applied to the nation's farmlands from hazardous      
       waste-derived zinc fertilizers.

     - Impose more appropriate management controls on waste
       materials used in zinc fertilizer recycling. The      
       proposal will better define "legitimate recycling"    
       for zinc fertilizers, and will streamline and         
       strengthen existing regulatory controls over the
       management of hazardous wastes used as feedstocks in
       zinc fertilizer manufacturing.

The proposal also discusses the prospect of removing the
current exemption for certain mining wastes that exhibit a
hazardous waste characteristic and that are used to make
fertilizer products.


State vs. Federal Role

Virtually all states have regulatory programs for
fertilizers, which are administered by state agricultural
agencies primarily to ensure that fertilizers meet the
manufacturers' plant nutrient claims, and that they are
accurately classified and labeled. Some states, such as the
state of Washington, have recently begun to regulate
contaminant levels in nearly all fertilizers and soil
amendment products. Since EPA regulates contaminants in only
a very small percentage of the fertilizers currently on the
market (perhaps as little as one percent or less), the
Agency supports and encourages these state efforts.

  
For More Information

.Address written requests to:
rcra-docket@epa.gov or RCRA Information Center (5305W), US
EPA, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20460-0002.