Updates In Industry Challenge To Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule

As we previously reported, industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council, challenged the final Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule ("Final Rule") in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on February 24, 2017.  The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2016 (a discussion of the Final Rule and its potential impacts can be found here).  Since our previous post, some updates have occurred in the pending challenge.

On April 3, 2017, separate filings were made by the American Chemistry Council, together with other industry petitioners ("ACC"), and the EPA.  First, the ACC submitted a Statement of the Issues, which raises as the ACC's sole concern that based on language used in the Final Rule, a "generator's noncompliance with even a single requirement as identified as a 'condition for exemption' . . . means that the generator is operating unlawfully as a storage facility without a . . .  a [RCRA] permit . . . ."