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PA PETROLEUM REFINING WASTES ADDED TO HAZARDOUS WASTE LIST

Release Date: 07/02/98
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EPA finalized a rule June 29 that adds four hazardous wastes from the petroleum refining industry to its hazardous waste list. These wastes present unacceptable risks under existing management practices and this rule specifies that these materials be handled as hazardous and managed safely. The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 required EPA to study and make a hazardous waste listing determination for “refining wastes.” This final rule adds four Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste codes to its current list:

•Crude oil storage tank sediment from petroleum refining operations;
•Clarified slurry oil storage tank sediment and/or in-line filter/separation solids from petroleum refining operations;
•Spent hydro treating catalyst from petroleum refining operations, including guard beds used to desulfurize feeds to other catalytic reactors (excludes inert support media);
•Spent hydro refining catalyst from petroleum refining operations, including guard beds used to desulfurize feeds to other catalytic reactors (excludes inert support media).

EPA is also finalizing treatment standards under the land disposal restrictions for these four new hazardous waste. This listing determination is based on risk assessment results that show that benzene, arsenic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contained in these wastes may be released to the environment when disposed of in landfills and land treatment units. EPA has made a final determination not to list the 10 remaining petroleum refining wastes evaluated. The Agency also promulgated some exclusions from the definition of solid waste related to the petroleum refining industry:

•An exclusion for oil bearing secondary materials that are generated at petroleum refineries and are inserted into petroleum refining processes to facilitate continued hydrocarbon recovery;
•An exclusion for certain types of recovered oil from petrochemical facilities, when the oil is recycled by being returned to a co-located petroleum refinery for insertion along with normal refinery process streams;
•An exclusion for spent caustic generated by petroleum refineries when used as feedstock in the manufacture of certain commercial chemical products;

The rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register within the next two weeks. For more information about this rule, visit EPA’s homepage at: www.epa.gov or call the RCRA Hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or 703-412-9810.

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