Learn the Issues
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Amtech Corp. Title V Air Permit
Permit and support documents for EPA's Title V air permit for Amtech Corp. in Wapato, Washington (Yakama Reservation).
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EPA RCRA ID: ORD009227398
Information about EPA's hazardous waste cleanup activities at Univar Solutions USA, Inc. in Portland, Oregon.
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A Year in Review
Storymap created in ArcGis and embedded on a page within the EPTD web area
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Definition of "environment"
How is the term "environment" defined? CERCLA section 101(8) defines "environment" as "(A) the navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, and the ocean waters of which the natural resources are under the exclusive management authority of the United States under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976…
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Choosing the chemical name to list on the List of Hazardous Substances
How does EPA choose the chemical name(s) to list for each substance on the List of Hazardous Substances at Table 302.4 of 40 CFR 302.4? A single chemical may often be known by several different names. To avoid confusion, the Agency has limited the chemical names listed in 40 CFR…
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Definition of "release"
How is the term "release" defined? CERCLA section 101(22) defines "release" as any "...spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant)...."
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Determining quantities / concentrations of hazardous constituents released in waste stream
Are facilities required to determine the quantities or concentrations of hazardous constituents released within a waste stream that is listed under CERCLA? No. The determination of the exact quantities of hazardous substances released in a mixture, solution, or waste stream may be difficult; such a determination is not required by…
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Who must be notified of a release under EPCRA?
Who must be notified of a release under Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)? The notice required by section 304 of EPCRA is to be given by the owner or operator of a facility (by telephone, radio, or in person) immediately after the release of a CERCLA hazardous substance…
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Who must be notified of a release under CERCLA?
Who must be notified of a release under CERCLA? One call to the NRC fulfills the requirement to report releases of hazardous substances under CERCLA and several other regulatory programs, including those under the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 311, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the U.S. Department…
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Who is the owner or operator for purposes of EPCRA 304 release reporting?
Who is the owner or operator? EPCRA section 304 allows either the owner or operator of a facility to give notice after a release. Owners and operators may make their own arrangements concerning which party is to provide release notification; however, under EPCRA section 304 both the owner and operator…
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What items are covered by the term "rolling stock"?
The definition of "facility" under EPCRA Section 329 states that "(f)or purposes of Section 304, term [i.e., facility] includes motor vehicles, rolling stock, and aircraft." The term "rolling stock" is not defined further. For purposes of EPCRA Section 304, what items are covered by the term "rolling stock"? The term…
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Waste streams and the mixture rule
Where there are several waste streams with the same identification number, is it sufficient to know the average quantities, or the maximum observed quantity, of hazardous constituents of the waste streams in order to apply the mixture rule to all of them? No. The mixture rule provision applies only to…
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Tests to determine RCRA characteristic of toxicity
What tests can be used to determine whether a waste exhibits the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) characteristic of toxicity? In 1990, EPA replaced the extraction procedure test for determining whether wastes exhibit the toxicity characteristic with the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). Currently, a waste is considered toxic…
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Specific substances excluded under CERCLA petroleum exclusion
What substances are specifically excluded from CERCLA regulation by the petroleum exclusion? EPA interprets CERCLA section 101(14) to exclude crude oil and fractions of crude oil - including the hazardous substances, such as benzene, that are indigenous in those petroleum substances - from the definition of hazardous substance. Under this…
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Responsibility of transportation owners or operators in the event of a release
What is the responsibility of transportation owners or operators in the event of a spill or release of extremely hazardous substances or CERCLA hazardous substances? Although owners or operators of facilities in transportation or those that store substances under active shipping papers are not required to notify state and local…
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Scope of federally permitted release exemption
What is the scope of the federally permitted release exemption? CERCLA section 101(10) defines federally permitted releases in terms of releases permitted under a number of other environmental statutes. Releases that are federally permitted are exempt not only from CERCLA section 103 and EPCRA section 304 notification requirements, but from…
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Reporting spills of FIFRA registered pesticides
If a pesticide registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is accidentally spilled, must it be reported? Yes. Accidents, spills, improper application, and improper disposal are within the scope of the release notification provisions of CERCLA and must be reported. EPA's interpretation of the pesticide exemption in…
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Reporting radionuclide mixtures if composition is unknown
How are mixtures of radionuclides reported if the composition of the mixture is unknown? If the composition of the radionuclide mixture is unknown, there are two main possibilities: (1) the identity of the radionuclides is known but the quantities of one or more of the radionuclides released are not; or…
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Reporting releases to State and local response authorities
When is a release reportable to State and local response authorities? EPCRA State and local emergency notification requirements apply to the release of a CERCLA hazardous substance or an EHS in an amount equal to or greater than their RQs. EPCRA exempts from State and local reporting releases that result…
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Reportable release time period
Over what time period must a Reportable Quantity (RQ) of a hazardous substance be released for that release to be reportable? EPA has stated that the period during which the person in charge must measure whether an RQ or more has been released is 24 hours. Reporting must occur immediately…