United States Environmental Protection Agency

Solid Waste and Emergency Response

Office of Solid Waste (5305W)



April 1998                                                  





EPA530-F-98-010

 



Environmental Fact Sheet: Treatment Standards Set for

Toxicity Characteristic (TC) Metal Wastes, Mineral

Processing Wastes, and Contaiminated Soil



   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing

regulatory controls that encourage the safe recycling and

disposal of hazardous metal waste, and newly identified

waste from mineral processing.





Background



   The widespread practice of disposing of hazardous waste

in units located directly on the land has been regulated by

EPA's Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) program for many

years.  A major part of the LDR program is to adequately

protect public health and safety by establishing treatment

standards for hazardous wastes before they can be disposed

of in land disposal units.  These treatment standards either

specify that the waste be treated by a specified technology,

or that they be treated by any technology as long as the

concentration of hazardous constituents is below a certain

level.  Universal Treatment Standards specify the

concentration levels for hazardous constituents. 



   In addition to setting new treatment standards, another

continuing task of the EPA is to better define which

industrial materials are wastes, thus subject to regulation,

and which should be excluded from regulation.

   



Action



   LDR treatment standards are established for metal-bearing

wastes--including TC waste (those with high levels of metal

constituents)--and waste generated in mineral processing

operations. These standards are based on the best

technologies available to treat these or similar wastes. The

UTS for 12 metal constituents is revised to better reflect

the entire universe of wastes that are subject to the

treatment standards. Consequently, listed and characteristic

hazardous wastes containing one or more metal constituents

may have to comply with new treatment standards.

 

   Hazardous waste regulations are modified to define which

secondary materials from mineral processing are considered

waste, and thus subject to LDR treatment standards. 

Materials that are legitimately recycled and kept off the

land prior to recycling are conditionally excluded.  These

provisions promote the safe recycling of mineral processing

secondary materials by reducing regulatory obstacles to

recycling, while ensuring the proper treatment and disposal

of hazardous wastes. Other miscellaneous issues related to

mineral processing wastes also are covered. In particular,

the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure is retained

as a test for evaluating the toxicity characteristic in

these wastes.



   EPA is also amending the LDR treatment standards for soil

contaminated with hazardous waste.  These standards are

tailored to be more appropriate for soils to make it more

feasible to clean up contaminated sites without using

combustion technologies. Finally, EPA is excluding from

regulation certain wastewaters from wood preserving

operations.





For More Information



   The Federal Register notice is available in electronic

format on the Internet at <www.epa.gov/laws and

regulations>. This fact sheet and other documents related to

this rule are available at <www.epa.gov/osw/treat, store,

and dispose of waste>.  Write to the RCRA Information Center

(5305W), US EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460.