Revisions to Standards for the Open Burning/Open Detonation of Waste Explosives

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Parts 124, 260, 264, 265, 270, and 271</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0397; FRL-8592-01-OLEM]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2050-AH24</RIN> <SUBJECT>Revisions to Standards for the Open Burning/Open Detonation of Waste Explosives</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) proposes to revise regulations that allow for the open burning and detonation (OB/OD) of waste explosives. This allowance or “variance” to the prohibition on the open burning of hazardous waste was established at a time when there were no alternatives for the safe treatment of waste explosives. However, recent findings from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the EPA have identified safe alternatives which are potentially applicable to treat some energetic/explosive waste streams. Because there may be safe alternatives available and in use today that capture and treat emissions prior to release, regulations would be revised to describe specified procedures for the existing requirements to evaluate and implement alternative treatment technologies. These proposed revisions would reduce OB/OD of waste explosives and increase control of air emissions through improved implementation of existing requirements that facilities must evaluate and use safe and available alternative technologies in lieu of OB/OD. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before May 20, 2024. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), comments on the information collection provisions are best assured of consideration if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) receives a copy of your comments on or before April 19, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0397, by one of the following methods: • <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • <E T="03">Mail:</E> U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, OLEM Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. • <E T="03">Hand Delivery or Courier:</E> EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays). <E T="03">Instructions:</E> All submissions received must include the Docket ID No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/,</E> including any personal information provided. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For further information regarding specific aspects of this document, contact Sasha Lucas-Gerhard (email address: <E T="03">gerhard.sasha@epa.gov,</E> phone number: (202) 566-0346) or Paul Diss (email address: <E T="03">diss.paul@epa.gov,</E> phone number: (202) 566-0321), in the Program Implementation and Information Division, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> The information presented in this preamble is organized as follows: <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. General Information</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Does this action apply to me?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. What action is the Agency taking?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. What are the overall economic impacts of this action?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Summary of the Proposed Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Detailed Discussion of the Proposed Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Scope of Applicability</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Waste Characterization</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Alternative Treatment Technology Evaluations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Timing for Rule Compliance</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Permitting of Alternative Technologies</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Technical Standards for OB/OD Units</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Wastes Prohibited or Restricted From OB/OD</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Delay of Closure for OB/OD Units</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Minimum Safe Distances for Treatment of Waste Explosives</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Explosives or Munitions Emergency Provisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Mobile Treatment Units for Waste Explosives</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. State Authorization</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. General Information</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Does this action apply to me?</HD> This proposed rule potentially affects owners and operators of facilities that use OB/OD to treat waste explosives. This includes facilities that currently treat waste explosives in a miscellaneous unit permitted under 40 CFR part 264, subpart X; facilities that treat waste explosives under 40 CFR 265.382 (interim status); and other entities that use or would use OB/OD to treat waste explosives, for example, as part of emergency responses conducted under an emergency permit, or as part of cleanup actions. To determine whether your entity is affected by this action, you should carefully examine the changes to the regulatory text. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person listed under <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> . <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. What action is the Agency taking?</HD> EPA is proposing revisions to regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) related to use of OB/OD to treat waste explosives. This includes proposed changes to clarify how facilities would assess whether safe alternatives are available in lieu of OB/OD. In addition, for instances where OB/OD remains the only treatment method for waste explosives, the Agency is proposing minimum technical standards for OB/OD units. The Agency is also proposing a framework for permitting mobile treatment units (MTUs, proposed definition in § 264.10), which could be used as an alternative to OB/OD. EPA finds that these proposed changes would increase protection of human health and the environment by reducing the amount of waste explosives currently being open burned and open detonated and, where OB/OD remains the only available treatment method, by strengthening protections for OB/OD activities. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?</HD> These regulations are proposed principally under the authority of section 3004(n), and supported by authorities under sections 2002, 3004 generally, 3005, and 3006 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA). This statute is commonly referred to as “RCRA.” <HD SOURCE="HD2">D. What are the overall economic impacts of this action?</HD> EPA estimated the costs and benefits of the proposed rule in a Regulatory Impact Analysis, which is available in the docket for this action. Overall, EPA estimates that the proposed rule would result in quantifiable annual costs of approximately $6.3 million to $28.0 million (annualized at a discount rate of seven percent). The proposed rulemaking's requirements and costs apply to all owners/operators conducting or seeking to conduct OB/OD of waste explosives under RCRA. EPA requests comment on the cost estimates and analysis of this proposed rulemaking. Details of this analysis and requests for comment are presented in the Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Revisions to Standards for the Open Burning/Open Detonation of Explosive Waste Materials Proposed Rule, available in the docket. <HD SOURCE="HD2">E. Summary of the Proposed Rule</HD> EPA is proposing revisions to the RCRA regulations to clarify and add specificity to existing requirements for owners/operators of OB/OD units, including how and when to apply and implement the requirements in the permitting process. It also proposes new procedures for the permitting of mobile treatment units for waste explosives and new technical standards for OB/OD units. Specifically, EPA is proposing to create new Subparts for OB/OD units in Parts 264 (applicable to permitted facilities) and 265 (applicable to interim status facilities). The new Subparts would contain requirements that would apply to all owners/operators conducting or seeking to conduct OB/OD of waste explosives, including activities conducted as part of RCRA cleanup and closure. EPA is also proposing limited requirements for OB/OD emergency permits. EPA is also proposing an exemption from the alternative technology evaluation and implementation regulations for the <E T="03">de minimis</E> treatment of waste explosives by OB/OD. This rulemaking proposes new provisions that would specify how and when owners/operators and permit authorities are to evaluate alternative treatment technologies for OB/OD, including specific information that would be required for facilities to demonstrate whether safe modes of treatment are available for specific waste streams. This rule also proposes new and revised regulatory provisions on timelines for implementing alternative technologies, permitting for alternative technologies, waste analysis/characterization, wastes prohibited/restricted from OB/OD, technical standards for OB/OD units, delay of closure applicability to OB/OD units, clarifications to emergency provisions, and procedures for permitting MTUs. The components of this proposal may be finalized, or not, independently of eac ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 601k characters. 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