Abstract |
In its January 25, 1996 Supplemental Proposed Rule, the Agency assumed that landbased storage units historically have been a significant part of the production process of the mining and mineral processing industries, primarily because of the large volumes of materials managed by the industry. EPA believed that the quantities of secondary materials were too large to be managed in anything other than land-based units. Based on new data and further analysis, however, EPA has found that generation rates of wastes from the mineral processing industry are similar to other industrial wastes currently regulated under RCRA.In the Supplemental Proposed Rule, the Agency also raised the issue of whether to allow mineral processing secondary materials to be recycled in units generating Bevill-exempt wastes. The Agency has found many cases in which environmental damages were caused by these Bevill-exempt wastes, including several cases in which non-Bevill feedstocks were being added to units generating the exempt waste. (See Damage Cases and Environmental Releases, EPA, 1997). Because of these cases, the Agency is concerned about the contribution of contaminants from non-Bevill feedstocks. |