The Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) Hazardous Waste Subcommittee respectfully requests a 60-day extension of the comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) supplemental proposal to revise the definition of solid waste (DSW) rule. The current 60-day comment period is insufficient to allow full analysis and debate among State waste managers, and so we are formally requesting an extension. The extended comment period would end November 29, 2011. EPA has committed to publishing a final rule by December 31, 2012. Therefore, granting a 60-day extension will still allow EPA plenty of time to review comments and publish a final rule.
Hazardous Waste
Pricing Factors White Paper and Spreadsheet
In January 2007, the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) Board of Directors released the State RCRA Subtitle C Core Hazardous Waste Management Program Implementation Costs Final Report (2007 Core Report), which examined the “nature and costs of implementing a complete and adequate [RCRA Subtitle C] Program.” The Core Report is currently posted on-line <a href=”https://astswmo.org/Files/Policies_and_Publications/Hazardous_Waste/Final%20Report%20-
%20RCRA%20Subtitle%20C%20Core%20Project.pdf” target=”_blank”>here</a>. The 2007 Core Report concluded that there is a significant gap between current federal funding levels and the actual costs associated with administering adequate state hazardous waste (RCRA-equivalent) programs.
Final Performance Systems Survey, Developed by the Performance Systems Task Force
The Performance Systems Task Force of the Hazardous Waste Subcommittee of the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) has engaged in activities to coordinate States’ efforts in identifying opportunities for facility specific flexibility under the RCRA program to be implemented by States that is designed to result in more protective, yet enforceable, environmental management and outcomes. As such, the Task Force has concluded that there exists to “one size fits all” performance system that would satisfy the goal of needed flexibility among the different State programs.
State RCRA Subtitle C Core Hazardous Waste Management Program Implementation Costs
At the direction of the ASTSWMO Board of Directors, the ASTSWMO Hazardous Waste Subcommittee has evaluated the RCRA Subtitle C Program (hereafter referred to as “RCRA C” or “RCRA” in this report) administered by States to determine the nature and costs of implementing a complete and adequate Program. As a part of this effort, the Subcommittee and its Task Forces have identified the major components of the RCRA C Core Program, established a consistent methodology for collecting program implementation cost information, and collected detailed cost information from ten States as a pilot study to estimate the national cost of implementing the RCRA C Core Program. The RCRA C Core Program consists of permitting, remediation (closure, corrective action), compliance, enforcement, and program development activities.