EPA Significantly Revises Regulations Affecting Hazardous Materials Recyclers

On December 10, 2014, EPA released a prepublication version of its long-awaited final rule revising regulations affecting hazardous materials recyclers under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA").  The rule, known as the Rulemaking on the Definition of Solid Waste ("2014 DSW final rule"), is expected to be published in the Federal Register by the end of December 2014 and will go into effect six months after it is published.  The final rule may be challenged in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia within 90 days of the date the final rule is published in the Federal Register.

As anticipated, the 2014 DSW final rule adds a number of new requirements to an existing exclusion, codified at 40 CFR § 261.4(a)(23), that EPA promulgated in 2008 for hazardous secondary materials that are reclaimed under the control of the generator (i.e., spent materials, by-products, and sludges).  Specifically, the 2014 DSW final rule (1) adds