Environmental Compliance 101

A reprint of one of our popular articles:

Hazardous material regulations are often found to be confusing and dense, and in our experience people often are not even clear on the delineation between a hazardous material and a hazardous waste. In response to the frequent questions we receive on this topic we have prepared a brief primer on hazardous materials management.

First, a few key words need to be defined:

• Solid Waste - any discarded material that is (1) abandoned, (2) recycled, burned to recover energy, used to produce fuel or contained fuels, reclaimed or accumulated speculatively (40 CFR 261.2 (a)-(c))
• Hazardous Material - a material that is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has been designated as  hazardous (49 CFR 105.5)
• Hazardous Waste - a solid waste that is not excluded from regulation and exhibits any of the characteristics of a hazardous waste (ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic) (40 CFR 261.3)

To further complicate the matter, hazardous waste and hazardous materials are regulated under two different sets of Federal Regulations and by two different regulatory agencies. Confused? Do not worry, you are not alone! 

August Mack is routinely called upon by our clients to help them navigate these regulations and provide answers to their questions concerning the management of hazardous materials and waste. With that said, here are some basic hazardous materials management guidelines. First, identify and inventory all hazardous materials at your facility, regardless of whether or not you generate hazardous materials/waste or use them in your processes. This will indicate if you need to complete an annual Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act(SARA) Tier II report. If your operations generate hazardous waste you need to keep tabs on the quantity of waste you generate each month. This will determine your generator status (conditionally exempt, small or large quantity); as well as what reporting and recordkeeping requirements you may be subject to. Now that you know how to manage these materials at your facility, you need to determine how to remove these materials from your facility, under U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) hazardous materials transportation requirements (labeling, packing, marking, transportation security, etc.). As you can see, there are several necessary steps in managing hazardous materials.