January 27th, 2022 by Dakota Software Staff
Every organization creates waste in some form. Whether it’s emptying the trash cans in a break room or collecting residual materials from a manufacturing process, waste is an inevitability. Businesses must make every effort to ensure their waste is managed properly—and the stakes are especially high with hazardous waste.
2022 is an important year for some hazardous waste generators, as Biennial Reports for 2021 are due to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by March 1. If your organization generates hazardous waste, are you subject to this reporting requirement? The answer begins with waste identification and determination of your organization’s generator status.
Waste identification (also known as waste determination) is of paramount importance to your hazardous waste management program. Properly identifying a hazardous waste forms the basis for all of your facility’s related compliance obligations, as it is this identification that will help determine your organization’s waste generator status. Ensure that you identify every potential waste stream at your business and analyze the waste to determine whether or not it qualifies as nonhazardous, hazardous, or acutely hazardous.
Nonhazardous waste (think of the break room trash can) is not terribly complex to manage—but when the waste is hazardous, things can get tricky. Certain substances are specifically identified as hazardous on regulatory lists maintained by the EPA, while others are identified because they exhibit a hazardous characteristic (i.e., ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity). Any waste identified as an acute hazardous waste poses an even greater threat to human health and the environment and is subject to greater regulation in smaller amounts. Organizations may opt to identify their waste themselves, but many choose to work with a consultant, waste management company, or other partner to ensure thorough and proper waste identification.
After waste identification, it’s time to determine your facility’s generator status. The three categories of hazardous waste generator are differentiated by the total weight of hazardous waste in kilograms (kg) that an organization generates in a calendar month. The categories are:
Very small quantity generators (VSQGs). Formerly known as conditionally exempt small quantity generators (CESQGs), VSQGs generate 100 kg or less of hazardous waste, or 1 kg or less of acute hazardous waste, per month.
Small quantity generators (SQGs). These organizations generate more than 100 kg, but less than 1000 kg, of hazardous waste per month, and they never generate more than 1 kg of acute hazardous waste per month.
Large quantity generators (LQGs). LQGs generate 1,000 kg or more of hazardous waste per month, or more than 1 kg of acute hazardous waste per month.
For those facilities that calculate waste in pounds (lbs), 1 kg is approximately equal to 2.2 lbs, 100 kg is approximately equal to 220 lbs, and 1,000 kg is approximately equal to 2,200 lbs. And remember, EPA allows the weight of the container itself to be backed out of this total, so be sure you aren’t adding unnecessary weight to your calculations!
Different requirements regarding waste accumulation, personnel training, and emergency preparedness apply for the different generator categories (a comprehensive regulatory library would be helpful to understand all of the necessary obligations for your specific situation). For example, the total amount of waste allowed to accumulate onsite as well as the time frame before waste must be shipped to a treatment, storage, and disposal facility (TSDF) vary depending on the generator category. VSQGs are the least regulated entities, but it is widely considered a best management practice to follow SQG requirements to better ensure the safety of employees and the environment as well as to be prepared in case the facility finds itself crossing the threshold into SQG status should production or operations expand.
If your facility is an LQG, however, you have an important deadline coming up—the organization must file Biennial Reports with the EPA by March 1, 2022.
Federal regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) require LQGs to submit reports by March 1 of every even-numbered year. It outlines the type, quantity, and disposal of hazardous waste generated at the facility during the previous year. The EPA calls this the National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report or, more simply, the Biennial Report.
The Biennial Report form, EPA Form 8700-13A/B, must be submitted to either the EPA regional office or to the EPA-authorized state agency. The form and detailed instructions for its completion are available on the EPA’s website, and LQGs should be prepared to provide the following information:
Name and address of the reporting facility;
The facility’s EPA ID Number;
Details on the quantity and nature of all hazardous waste(s) generated; and
How the waste was properly managed after generation (i.e., whether it was sent for recycling, treatment, storage, or disposal).
The data from these reports help EPA better understand the specifics of hazardous waste management nationwide, and the data collected from LQGs and TSDFs are eventually made available to the public via RCRAInfo Web and other EPA outlets. The Site Information listed on the biennial report (specifically EPA Form 8700-12) must also be submitted within 30 days of a change in: 1) the site contact, 2) site ownership, 3) type of RCRA activities conducted, or 4) closure of a central accumulation area.
Note that the Biennial Report is a federal requirement, but there is always a chance that environmental regulation may be stricter at the state level. Be sure that you are aware of any other hazardous waste reporting requirements in your state to ensure compliance—and this goes for VSQGs and SQGs, too.
EHS executives and managers have a lot on their plates, and even relatively small missteps in hazardous waste management can be costly not only to company finances but also to the health of employees and the environment. Partnerships are essential to maintaining enterprise-wide environmental compliance, and organizations must be able to trust that their EHS solutions are able to identify potential compliance issues, keep managers informed of regulatory changes and related action items, and ensure necessary training is on point.
As we steadily move through the 2022 EHS compliance calendar, managers can confidently address their environment, health, and safety obligations with Dakota Software as that trusted partner—request a demo today!
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