Big Changes Coming – EPA Publishes Its Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule

Seyfarth Synopsis: The EPA's new "Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule," while containing some changes that industry welcomes, also contains new requirements that present challenges for the regulated community. We will be publishing a series of blogs on the more complex and important compliance issues coming out of these rules prior to the May 2017 effective date of the rules.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finally published its Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule, 81 Fed. Reg. 85732 (November 28, 2016).  The Agency is promoting the idea that the final rule updates the hazardous waste generator regulations to make the rules "easier to understand, facilitate better compliance, provide greater flexibility in how hazardous waste is managed, and close important gaps in the regulations."