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Land Ban Provisions of the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA)

Introduction

The 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) ban certain wastes from land disposal but companies can apply for an exemption under the UIC program to dispose of these wastes underground through injection wells. Granting or denying such an exemption is a Federal authority that remains the sole responsibility of EPA to carry-out. Under this responsibility, EPA regulates all hazardous waste injection wells disposing of restricted waste in all Region 5 states.

Companies seeking exemption in EPA Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin and on all tribal lands within these states) must submit a petition to our regional office for approval. There are currently nine active facilities in Region 5 with approved exemptions. Three of these facilities are up for a mandatory review to reassess whether the projections on waste isolation remain valid.

To continue injecting banned hazardous wastes under these regulations, operators must:

  1. treat the wastes below the EPA specified contaminant levels (referred to as treatment standards), or
  2. submit a petition demonstrating that there is no migration of hazardous constituents from the injection zone.

All exemptions granted in Region 5 use the no-migration option.

We have prepared a general discussion of the containment of wastes under the land ban program to explain the process of obtaining an exemption from the ban on land disposal of hazardous wastes and the components of a no-migration petition.

Land Ban Exemptions in Region 5

In Region 5, the following hazardous waste facilities have approved land ban exemptions:

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download, to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more about PDF, and for a free link to the free Acrobat Reader.
State Facility Date of Exemption End of Modeling Period* Draft and Final Decisions**
Illinois Allied Signal, Inc., Danville, IL (Well plugged 11/99) May 8, 1990 2003 Draft 55 FR 5265 - 5268 (2/14/90)
Final 55 FR 20630- 20631 (5/18/90)
1993 Modification (four additional waste codes):
Draft 57 FR 40028 - 40029 (9/1/92)
Final 58 FR 11601 - 11602 (2/26/93)
Cabot Corp., Tuscola, IL Nov. 6, 1990 2007 Draft 55 FR 34739 - 34744(8/24/90)
Final 55 FR 49340 - 49341 (11/27/90)
March 5, 2010 Dec. 31, 2027 Draft (PDF) (10 pp, 54K) (12/28/09)
Final (PDF) (2 pp, 174K) 75 FR 30392 - 30393 (6/1/10)
ArcelorMittal Hennepin Hennepin, IL
(Originally LTV Steel Co.) (Well plugged in 2014.)		 July 24, 1990 2007 Draft 55 FR 19032 - 19036 (5/7/90)
Final 55 FR 32294 (8/8/90)
Mar. 3, 2009 12/31/2028 Draft (PDF) (11 pp, 427K) (11/24/08)
Approval of a Petition for Exemption From Hazardous Waste Disposal Injection Restrictions to ArcelorMittal Hennepin, Inc., Hennepin, IL (PDF) (2 pp, 48 K) 74 FR 9241 - 9242 (3/3/09)
Indiana ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor, LLC, Burns Harbor, IN
(Originally Bethlehem Steel Corp.)		 Aug. 8, 1990 2007 Draft: 55 FR 8527 - 8532 (3/8/90)
Final: 55 FR 32293 - 32294 (8/8/90)
Oct. 25, 2010 Dec. 31, 2027 Draft (PDF) (12 pp, 498K) (2/19/10)
Final (PDF) (2 pp, 57K) (10/25/10)
Mar. 6, 2015 Dec. 31, 2027 Added Waste Ammonia Liquor Well #3:
Draft (PDF) (14 pp, 693K) (10/30/14)
Final (PDF) (2 pp, 177K) (3/6/15)
US Steel Corp., Portage, IN (well plugged 10/09)
(Originally Midwest Division of National Steel Corp.)		 Aug. 8, 1990 2007 Draft 55 FR 2691 - 2695 (1/26/90)
Final 55 FR 33373 - 33374 (8/15/90)
Michigan Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc., Romulus, MI
Commercial Hazardous Waste Disposal 		Mar. 16, 2004 2026 Notice of Intent To Grant an Exemption for the Injection of Certain Hazardous Wastes to Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. for Two Injection Wells Located at 28470 Citrin Drive, Romulus, MI (PDF) (14 pp, 671 K) Draft 67 FR 77981 - 77994 (12/20/02)
Underground Injection Control Program Hazardous Waste Disposal Injection Restrictions Petition for Exemption--Class I Hazardous Waste Injection Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc., Romulus, MI (PDF) (15 pp, 104 K) Final 69 FR 15328 - 15342 (3/25/04)
Pharmacia & Upjohn, Kalamazoo, MI Feb. 27, 1990 2014 Draft (PDF) (6 pp, 752K) 54 FR 42448 - 42453 (10/16/89)
Final (PDF) (2 pp, 281K) 54 FR 7934 - 7935 (3/6/90)
1997 Modification (four additional waste codes, increased volume):
Final 62 FR 47205 (9/8/97)
Renewal application received
July 28, 2014		 Dec. 31, 2039 Under review
Warner-Lambert Co., Pfizer Global Manufacturing , Holland, MI
(Originally Parke-Davis)		 Apr. 6, 1998 Feb. 28, 2009 Draft (3/2/98)
Final: Underground Injection Control Program, Hazardous Waste Disposal Injection Restrictions Petition for Exemption--Class I Hazardous Waste Injection Parke-Davis Division, Warner-Lambert Company of Morris Plains, NJ, Holland, MI Plant (PDF) (1 pg, 12 K) 63 FR 23786 (4/30/98)
Sept. 24, 2014   Added four waste codes:
Draft PDF (5/7/14) (2 pp, 326K)
Final PDF (9/24/14) (1 p, 98K) 79 FR 57079
Renewal application received
Sept. 8, 2010		 Oct. 2035 Under review
Ohio AK Steel Co., Middletown, OH
(Formerly Armco Steel)		 July 30, 1990 2007 Draft 55 FR 21236 - 21240 (5/23/90)
Final 55 FR 33373 (8/15/90)
Oct. 30, 2008 Oct. 1, 2017 Draft (PDF) (10 pp, 1.1M) (6/21/08)
Final (PDF) (2 pp, 174K) (10/3/08) 73 FR 64614-64615
Ineos USA LLC , Lima, OH
(Formerly BP Chemicals, Inc.)		 May 7, 1992 2011 Draft 57 FR 8753 - 8759 (3/12/92)
Final 57 FR 23094 - 23095 (6/1/92)
1993 Modification (add Well #4):
Draft 58 FR 30926 -30927 (5/27/93)
Final (PDF) (2 pp, 282K) 58 FR 50920 - 50921 (9/29/93)
1995 Modification:
Intent To Grant BP Chemicals, Inc. a Modification of an Exem: Federal Register: EPA (PDF) (3 pp, 151 K) Draft 60 FR 37892 - 37894 (7/24/95)
Notice of Final Decision To Grant BP Chemicals, Inc. a Modification of an Exemption From the Land Disposal Restrictions of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (PDF) (2 pp, 24 K) Final 60 FR 51476 - 51477 (10/2/95)
Renewal application received
Aug. 18, 2005		 Jan. 31, 2025 Under review
Vickery Environmental, Vickery, OH
(formerly Chemical Waste Management, Inc.)
Commercial Hazardous Waste Disposal 		Aug. 7, 1990 2009 Draft 55 FR 24629 - 24636 (6/18/90)
Final 55 FR 34734 - 34736 (8/24/90)
1995 Modification (additional waste codes):
Notice of Final Decision To Grant Chemical Waste Management, Inc. a Modification of an Exemption From the Land Disposal Restrictions of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 Regarding Injection of Hazardous Wastes (PDF) (3 pp, 101 K) Final 60 FR 29592 - 29594 (6/5/95)
1996 Modification (additional waste codes):
Notice of Final Decision To Grant Chemical Waste Management, Inc., a Modification of An Exemption From the Land Disposal Restrictions of the Solid and Waste Disposal Amendments of 1984 Regarding Injection of Hazardous Wastes (PDF) (2 pp, 20 K) Final 61 FR 36880 - 36881 (7/15/96)
1997 Modification (11 additional waste codes):
Final Decision To Grant Chemical Waste Management, Inc. a Modification of an Exemption From the Land Disposal Restrictions of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 Regarding Injection of Hazardous Wastes (PDF) (3 pp, 36 K) Final 63 FR 43109 - 43111 (8/12/97)
2002 Modification (additional waste codes):
Notice of Final Decision To Grant Vickery Environmental, Incorporated a Modification of an Exemption From the Land Disposal Restrictions of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 Regarding Injection of Hazardous Wastes (PDF) (3 pp, 41 K) Final 67 FR 20971 - 20973 (4/29/02)
Renewal application received
October 2007		 June 2027 Draft PDF (15 pp, 740K)
Response to Comments PDF (3 pp, 272K)
Notice of Final Decision To Reissue the Vickery Environmental, Inc. Land ban Exemption PDF (5 pp, 207K) Final 80 FR 16374 – 16378 (3/27/15)

*The Modeling Period is the projected operational period of the well that was used in the demonstration of no migration. See the discussion of the containment of wastes under the land ban program mentioned above for more information.

**Notices are published in the Federal Register announcing all final decisions. Links will be added here as the documents are made available on the internet. If a document you wish to see is not linked, please contact us.

Withdrawn Petitions in Region 5

Withdrawn Petitions
State Facility Withdrawal Date
Indiana Inland Steel Corp., East Chicago, IN July 30, 1990
USX Corp., Gary, IN Jan. 12, 1990
Michigan BASF Corp., Holland, MI Nov. 9, 1990
Detroit Coke, Detroit, MI Nov. 20, 1991
Total Petroleum, Alma, MI Aug. 27, 1991
Ohio Aristech Chemical Corp., Haverhill, OH Sept. 29, 1990

Information for Petitioners

We have a detailed explanation of what is expected to be included in petitions (whether or not a UIC permit application is being submitted).

Information Sheet for Owner/Operators of Class 1HW Injection Wells Who Are Submitting Simultaneous Applications for Permit and Exemptions to the RCRA Land Ban PDF (55 pp, 161K) July 2006

Companies submitting petitions for exemption from the land disposal restrictions are required to submit copies of all external documents referenced with the petition. However, if the Region 5 UIC office has a copy of the document on file, the petition may reference the copy on file. In these cases, the petitioner does not need to submit a copy of the external document. The documents in this general land ban administrative record are found in the List of Documents.

U.S. EPA Region 6 (EPA's Dallas, TX office) UIC program has also prepared a web page about land ban issues.

Links to Land Ban Regulations and EPA Headquarters Guidance

Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR) contains the regulations applicable to these activities and can be searched over the Internet.

EPA headquarters has issued several guidance documents related to land ban exemptions.

# Date Title
69 6/19/90 Guidance for Case-by-Case Extension Petitions for Class I Hazardous Waste Injection Wells with Submitted No Migration Petitions (PDF) 5 pp, 184K)
71 10/17/90 Determination of "Hazardous Levels" for "No Migration" Demonstrations Pursuant to 40 CFR 148.20 (PDF) (51pp, 177K)
73 1/31/91 Incorporation of UIC "No Migration" Petition Conditions into Class I Hazardous Waste Injection Well Permits (PDF) (4pp, 150K)
74 2/13/91 Modification of Class I Hazardous Waste Injection Well "No Migration" Exemptions (PDF) (8pp, 369K)

EPA headquarters has also prepared a technical memorandum related to land ban exemptions.

Date Title
4/27/89 UIC Land Ban Petitions; Common Deficiencies (PDF) (11pp, 614K)

In addition, one short section of the Technical Program Overview: Underground Injection Control Regulations (PDF) (87pp, 1.16M) (pages 18 - 19) discusses land ban exemptions.

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