Abstract |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is directed by Congress in Section 3001(e)(2) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 U.S.C Section 6921(e)(2)) to determine whether to list as hazardous waste a number of different wastes including those from the inorganic chemicals industry. A lawsuit by the Environmental Defense Fund in 1989 resulted in a consent decree approved by the court that sets out an extensive series of deadlines for making the listing determinations required by Section 3001(e)(2). The deadlines include those for making final listing determinations as well as for concluding various related studies or reports on the industries of concern. The antimony oxide, titanium dioxide, sodium chlorate, sodium phosphates, and inorganic hydrogen cyanide production processes are five of the 14 specific production processes identified within the inorganic chemicals industry in the consent decree and are the only five processes that generate wastes that EPA, based on its risk assessment, found reason to model for risks. The production processes generate numerous different wastes for which the Agency is required to make specific listing determinations. This report provides analytic support to the Agency's notice of proposed rulemaking effort. |