Household Hazardous Waste Program Alameda County — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admi'nistration 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 Mr. Bill Pollack Household Hazardous Waste Program Alaineda County 1 13 1 Harbor Bay Parkway Alameda, CA 94502-6577 Reference No. 09-0030 Dear Mr. Pollack: This is in response to your e-mail concerning State-regulated waste from households that does not meet the definition of a hazardous waste under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulations (40 CFR Parts 260-265)' but does meet the definition of a hazardous material under the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT'S) Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 17 1 - 1 80). You state that since 2006, California State law has required businesses within the State to use the EPA's uniform hazardous waste manifest as the shipping paper for State-regulated wastes. You ask if the word "Waste" must precede the proper shipping description of this material. The answer is no. As defined in the HMR, a "hazardous waste" is any material that is subject to the hazardous waste manifest requirements of the EPA specified in 40 CFR Part 262. See 5 171.8. Materials that are not subject to the EPA manifest requirements are not hazardous wastes under the HMR. Note that nothing in the HMR prohibits a State from managing these materials as State-designated hazardous wastes so long as the State does not require the material to be identified as a "hazardous waste" on the manifest. Note as well that hazardous "household waste," also defined in 5 171.8, is not subject to the HMR when collected directly from households in accordance with state, local, or tribal requirements, or when consolidated and transported in a motor vehicle operated by a government employee solely for non- commercial government purposes. See 5 173.12(f). However, household hazardous wastes consolidated into shipments from collection centers and transported by a commercial motor carrier under contract to a government entity or a commercial business are subject to the HMR because this is considered "commercial" transportation for purposes of the HMR. Under 6 17 1.1, a hazardous material transported in commerce is subject to all applicable HMR requirements for each DOT hazard class, as defined in Part 173. Shipping descriptions from the HMR may not be used to describe a non-EPA waste material on a State manifest document. Thus, the word "waste" may not precede the basic description#

Page 2for a DOT-regulated hazardous material when the material is not an EPA hazardous waste. Use of the word "waste" preceding the basic description indicates that the material is a federally regulated hazardous waste. (See fj 172.101(~)(9).) However, for a nonhazardous material, a shipping name from the HMR may be used following the word "waste" so long as the hazard class number or LJN or NA identification number, is not included in the description of the waste material. (See fj 172.202(e).) Nothing in the HMR prohibits a State from imposing requirements on EPA-designated waste materials that are in addition to those required by EPA regulations so long as these additional requirements do not interfere with the actual movement of the waste. Thus, States may require certain additional information on the manifest form. However, this additional information may not be made mandatory during transportation of the material, and States may not apply enforcement sanctions on the transporter during transportation for any failure of the manifest to show optional State information entries. I hope this satisfies your inquiry. Sincerely, )us'& Gorsky (i. - Regulations officer Office of Hazardous Materials Standards#

Page 3Edrnousd n Page 1 of 1 Drakeford, Carolyn <PHMSA> From: INFOCNTR <PHMSA> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 12: 18 PI1 To: Drakeford, Carolyn <PHMSA> Subject: FW: use of the word waste on a manifest From: Pollock, Bill, Env. Health [mailto:bill.pollock@acgov.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 6:56 PM To: PHMSA HM Infocenter Subject: use of the word waste on a manifest Use of the word waste on a manifest My California County government Environmental Health agency operates a Household Hazardous Waste program which is exempt from RCRA under 40CFR261.4, and from a federal standpoint I am not required to use a Uniform Hazardous Waste manifest even though the wastes I ship are Hazardous Materials found in the HMT However under California State law I am required to ship waste using a Hazardous Waste manifest. Pre 2006 we would use a California Hazardous Waste Manifest, obviously with 2006 change in manifesting regulations we are required by our state EPA to use the Uniform Hazardous Waste manifest. Does your following interpretation on the use of the word waste "As specified in § 171.8, a hazardous waste is any material that is subject to the hazardous waste manifest requirements of the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as specified in 40 CFR Part 262. Ifa hazardous waste manifest is required under EPA regulations for the material, Q' 1 72.101 (c)(9) of the HMR speciJies that ifthe word "waste" is not included in the hazardous material description, the proper shipping name for a hazardous waste must include the word "waste "preceding the proper shipping name. via highway and rail. " apply to waste (found in the HMT)on a hazardous waste manifest, the use of which is required by a State EPA, but not the Federal EPA. Bill Pollock Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste program 1131 Harbor Bay Parkway(Mailing address only) Alameda CA 94502-6577 510-670-6460 Fax 510-293-9374#