New EPA Rule on Solid and Hazardous Waste: Updated Compliance With 83 Fed. Reg. 24664

Description

On May 30, 2018, the EPA promulgated a final rule revising the definition of solid waste under the RCRA. The rule change accepts, without comment or public notice, the July 2017 and March 2018 orders issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the matter of American Petroleum Institute v. EPA (D.C. Cir. No. 09-1038).

Under RCRA, the EPA and states partner to manage the treatment, storage, and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. The statute redefines solid waste to include “discarded material.” Waste that sidesteps the definition of “solid waste” because it is never discarded may not be regulated as hazardous waste.

As such, parsing out the meaning of “solid waste,” and more specifically “discarded material” becomes critically important for companies in the business of waste recycling. The new rule not only redefines “solid waste” but also makes optional one of the four core legitimacy factors in place—whether the product of the recycling process is comparable to a legitimate final product.

Listen as our distinguished panel of environmental practitioners offers critical guidance on each of the changes delineated by the D.C. Circuit, the EPA’s codifying of those issues, and their implications for compliance at the state and federal level.