This section presents the shipping and record keeping requirements of RCRA. Facilities that are conditionally exempt small quantity generators (CESQGs) are not required to submit any reports pertaining to hazardous waste (see 40 CFR 261.5). In addition, it is important to note that some states, including Massachusetts, have more stringent requirements than the Federal requirements for hazardous waste record keeping.

SQG and LQG facilities must have EPA identification numbers (40 CFR 262.12(a)). Identification numbers are obtained by submitting EPA Form 8700-12, Notification of Regulated Waste Activity (40 CFR 262.12(b)). Laboratories that ship wastes directly to a TSDF must have a generator number unless they are a CESQG.

Before hazardous waste is shipped the facility that is authorizing shipment is required to ensure the shipping containers meet applicable DOT regulations for shipping hazardous waste. (49 CFR 173, 178, 179). There are specific requirements for packaging, labeling and vehicle placarding, depending on the type and quantity of hazardous waste to be shipped. All containers of 110 gallons or less that are used for transportation must be marked: "HAZARDOUS WASTE - Federal Law Prohibits Improper Disposal. If found, contact nearest police or public safety authority or the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency", the generator's name, RCRA generator number and a manifest document number.

CESQG facilities are not required to use manifests, but are nonetheless required to ensure delivery of the hazardous waste to a permitted hazardous waste treatment or disposal facility or to a facility that reuses, recycles, or reclaims the hazardous waste (40 CFR 261.5(g)(3)). CESQG facilities should obtain receipts from hazardous waste contractors that list the EPA or state identification numbers of the transporter and the facility to which the waste is to be taken. SQG and LQG facilities must consign hazardous waste only to transporters and hazardous waste management facilities that have EPA identification numbers (40 CFR 262.12(c)). SQGs are excused from the manifest requirement under the following circumstances (40 CFR 262.20(e)):

• The hazardous waste is reclaimed under a contractual agreement.
• The agreement specifies the type of waste involved and the frequency of pickup by the reclaimer.
• The agreement specifies that vehicles to be used to transport the waste to the recycling facility and to deliver regenerated material to the generator are owned and operated by the reclaimer.
• The generator maintains a copy of the reclamation agreement in its files for at least 3 years after termination of the agreement.

Hazardous waste must be transported with a waste manifest, typically on a form established and provided by the state authority in the state where the waste was generated. The manifest system allows generators, transporters, TSD facility personnel and regulators the ability to track the waste shipment. Therefore, there should be at least the number of copies which will provide the generator, each transporter, and the owner or operator of the designated facility with one copy each for their records and another copy to be returned to the generator. (40 CFR 262.22)

If a SQG has not received a signed copy of the manifest from the hazardous waste facility within 60 calendar days of the original shipment, the generator must submit a legible copy of the manifest to the appropriate state regulatory officials with a note indicating that confirmation of delivery has not been received (40 CFR 262.42(b)).

If an LQG facility has not received a signed copy of the manifest from the hazardous waste facility within 35 days from the date of shipment, the generator must contact the transporter or hazardous waste facility to determine the status of the shipment (40 CFR 262.42(a)(1)). If a LQG facility has not received a signed copy of the manifest from the hazardous waste facility within 45 days of the original shipment, the generator must file an "exception report" with EPA's Regional Office (and in some instances to the appropriate state regulatory authority) (40 CFR 262.42(a)(2)). This report includes a legible copy of the manifest and a cover letter describing efforts made to locate the shipment and the results of those efforts.

SQGs and LQGs must retain copies of hazardous waste manifests for at least 3 years from the date the waste was accepted by the initial transporter, or until the generator receives a signed copy from the designated facility that received the waste. This signed copy must be retained for at least 3 years from the date the waste was accepted by the initial transporter (40 CFR 262.40(a).

Each time an employee signs a hazardous waste manifest, however, he or she makes the following certification:

Since the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires a certification of this type on every manifest (42 USC 6922(b)), each SQG facility must make a good faith effort to minimize generation of hazardous waste. Also, EPA has determined that having a hazardous waste transporter sign the manifest is not allowed since this individual probably does not have knowledge of the waste minimization efforts of the generator.

A hazardous waste biennial report must be submitted to the appropriate state regulatory officials by March 1 of each even-numbered year for each facility that was a large-quantity generator in any month of the preceding (odd-numbered) year (40 CFR 262.41). The previous even-numbered year plays no part in determining if a biennial report must be submitted, and information from the previous even-numbered year is not included in the report. Each biennial report must contain the following information (40 CFR 262.41):

• The identification number, name and address of the facility.
• The calendar year covered by the report.
• The identification number, name and address of each facility to which hazardous waste was shipped during the year.
• The name and identification number of each hazardous waste transporter used during the year.
• For each waste shipped to each hazardous waste facility, a description of the waste, the hazardous waste number, the DOT hazard class, and the quantity shipped.
• A description of efforts the generating facility made during the year to reduce the volume or toxicity of its hazardous waste.
• A description of changes in volume or toxicity actually achieved during the year.
• A certification signed by the generator or an authorized representative of the generator.

Hazardous waste biennial reports must be retained for at least 3 years from the due date (40 CFR 262.40(b)).

SQG and LQG facilities must maintain copies of any test results, waste analyses, or other determinations of the characteristics of their waste for at least 3 years from the date the waste was last shipped out (40 CFR 262.40(c)). This will generally be much longer than 3 years after these records were created. The regulations allow these records to be kept in a centralized environmental office rather than at each facility.

Small containers of hazardous waste intended for disposal in an approved landfill must be placed in overpacked drums ("lab packs") meeting the following requirements (40 CFR 265.316):

• Hazardous waste must be packaged in non-leaking inside containers that are compatible with the waste
• Inside containers must be tightly and securely sealed
• Inside containers must meet applicable DOT hazardous materials regulations
• Inside containers must be overpacked in an open-head, DOT-specification metal shipping container of no more than 110-gallon capacity and surrounded by, at a minimum, a sufficient quantity of sorbent material determined to be nonbiodegradable in accordance with 40 CFR 264.314(e), to completely sorb all of the liquid contents of the insider containers.
• Sorbent material used must not be incompatible with or capable of being decomposed by or being ignited by the contents of the inside containers
• Incompatible wastes must not be placed in the same outside container
• Reactive wastes (with some exception) must be treated or rendered non-reactive prior to lab packing

Land disposal of certain hazardous wastes generated by laboratory facilities may be prohibited, even in permitted hazardous waste landfills (although CESQGs are exempt from LDR requirements). For each type of hazardous waste it generates, the facility must first determine whether or not the waste has to be treated before it can be land disposed. A facility would do this by determining (either by testing the waste or by generator knowledge) whether the waste in question meets the treatment standards in 40 CFR 268.40, 268.45, or 268.49. If it is found that the waste does not meet the treatment standard, then with the initial shipment, the generator must send a one-time written notice to each treatment or storage facility and the generator itself must maintain a copy of the notice. The notice must state that the waste is subject to land disposal restrictions and must include the following information (40 CFR 268.7(a)):

• The hazardous waste number (EPA Waste Numbers) of the waste (40 CFR 261.20 through 261.24) and the manifest number
• The applicable "wastewater" or "nonwastewater" category associated with the waste, and subdivisions made within a waste code based on waste-specific criteria (e.g., D003 reactive cyanide). For purposes of this regulation a waste is a wastewater if its total organic carbon content and its total suspended solids content are both below 1 percent (10,000 milligrams per liter).
• Waste analysis data, if available

In addition, information pertaining to hazardous debris to be treated using an alternative treatment technology specified in 40 CFR 268.45 and contaminated soil is required.

Generally, the notice need only be sent once to each facility that receives a waste subject to LDRs (although many waste transporter/disposal facilities require the LDR form with each shipment). However, if the waste or the disposal facility changes, then a revised notice must be sent (40 CFR 268.7(a)(2)). Although hazardous waste disposal contractors generally prepare and submit the required notices of land disposal restriction, the hazardous waste regulations make the generator responsible for complying with this requirement.

For the complete text of the regulations (40 CFR 261, 262, 264, 265, and 268), click here: