La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § V-4301

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024

Section V-4301 - Purpose and Applicability

A. The purpose of interim status is to allow existing facilities to operate in an appropriate and responsible manner during the period of time required to process and review permit application or until certification of final closure or, if the facility is subject to post-closure requirements, until post-closure responsibilities are fulfilled. Interim status facilities shall, when required by the administrative authority, submit to the Office of Environmental Services a permit application in compliance with the requirements of these regulations. Failure to submit an application is a violation of interim status and will result in revocation of a facility's interim status designation. Once revoked the facility will be treated as an unpermitted facility and appropriate legal action will be taken.

B. Qualifying for Interim Status. Any person who owns or operates an existing HWM facility or a facility in existence on the effective date of statutory or regulatory amendments under the Act that render the facility subject to the requirement to have a RCRA permit shall have interim status and shall be treated as having been issued a permit to the extent he or she has:

1. complied with the requirements of section 3010(a) of RCRA pertaining to notification of hazardous waste activity; and

COMMENT: Some existing facilities may not be required to file a notification under section 3010(a) of RCRA. These facilities may qualify for interim status by meeting paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

2. complied with the requirements of LAC 33:V.Chapter 5, Subchapter A governing submission of part I applications.

C. Except as provided in LAC 33:V.4719, the standards of this Chapter and of LAC 33:V.Chapter 26 apply to owners and operators of facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste who have fully complied with the requirements for interim status under Section 3005(e) of RCRA and LAC 33:V.501 until either a permit is issued under section 3005 of RCRA or until applicable LAC 33:V.Chapter 43 closure and post-closure responsibilities are fulfilled, and to those owners and operators of facilities in existence on November 19, 1980, who have failed to provide timely notification as required by section 3010(a) of RCRA and/or failed to file part A of the permit application as required by LAC 33:V.303.K and 501.C. These standards apply to all treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste at these facilities after the effective date of these regulations, except as specifically provided otherwise in this Chapter or LAC 33:V.Chapter 49.

COMMENT: As stated in section 3005(a) of RCRA, after the effective date of regulations under that section (i.e., LAC 33:V.Chapters 3, 5, and 7), the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste is prohibited except in accordance with a permit. Section 3005(e) of RCRA provides for the continued operation of an existing facility that meets certain conditions, until final administrative disposition of the owner's and operator's permit application is made.

D. The requirements of this Chapter do not apply to:

1. a person disposing of hazardous waste by means of ocean disposal subject to a permit issued under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act;

COMMENT: These LAC 33:V.Chapter 43 regulations do apply to the treatment or storage of hazardous waste before it is loaded onto an ocean vessel for incineration or disposal at sea, as provided in Subsection C of this Section.

2. the owner or operator of a POTW which treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste;

COMMENT: The owner or operator of a facility under Paragraphs D.l and 2 of this Section is subject to the requirements of LAC 33:V.Chapters 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, and-37 to the extent they are included in a permit by rule granted to such a person under 40 CFR 122 and by 144.14.

3. a person who treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste in a state with a RCRA hazardous waste program authorized under subpart A or B of 40 CFR part 271, except that the requirements of this Chapter will continue to apply:

a. if the authorized state RCRA program does not cover disposal of hazardous waste by means of underground injection; or

b. to a person who treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste in a state authorized under subpart A or B of 40 CFR part 271 if the state has not been authorized to carry out the requirements and prohibitions applicable to the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste at his facility which are imposed in accordance with the Hazardous and Solid Waste Act Amendments of 1984. The requirements and prohibitions that are applicable until a state receives authorization to carry them out include all federal program requirements identified in 40 CFR 271.1.j;

4. the owner or operator of a facility permitted, licensed, or registered by the state to manage municipal or industrial solid waste, if the only hazardous waste the facility treats, stores, or disposes of is excluded from regulation by LAC 33:V.1009;

5. the owner and operator of a facility managing recyclable materials described in LAC 33:V.4105.A.1-3, except to the extent they are referred to in LAC 33:V.Chapter 40 or LAC 33:V.4139, 4141, 4143, or 4145;

6. a generator accumulating waste on-site in compliance with LAC 33:V.Chapter 10, except to the extent the requirements are included in LAC 33:V.Chapter 10;

7. a farmer disposing of waste pesticides from his own use in compliance with LAC 33:V.1003.C;

8. the owner or operator of a totally enclosed treatment facility (as defined in LAC 33:V.109);

9. the owner or operator of an elementary neutralization unit or wastewater treatment unit (as defined in LAC 33:V.109), provided that if the owner or operator is diluting hazardous ignitable (D001) wastes (other than the D001 high TOC subcategory defined in LAC 33:V.2299.Appendix, Table 2, Treatment Standards for Hazardous Wastes) or reactive (D003) waste to remove the characteristic before land disposal, the owner/operator shall comply with the requirements set out in LAC 33:V.4321.B;

10. except as provided in Subparagraph D.10.b of this Section;

a. a person engaged in treatment or containment activities during immediate response to any of the following situations:

i. a discharge of a hazardous waste;

ii. an imminent and substantial threat of a discharge of hazardous waste;

iii. a discharge of a material that, when discharged, becomes a hazardous waste; or

iv. an immediate threat to human health, public safety, property, or the environment from the known or suspected presence of military munitions, other explosive material, or an explosive device, as determined by an explosives or munitions emergency response specialist as defined in LAC 33:V.109;

b. an owner or operator of a facility otherwise regulated by this Chapter shall comply with all applicable requirements of LAC 33:V.Chapter 43, Subchapters C and D;

c. any person who is covered by Subparagraph D.10.b of this Section and who continues or initiates hazardous waste treatment or containment activities after the immediate response is over is subject to all applicable requirements of this Chapter and 40 CFR 122-124 for those activities; and

d. in the case of an explosives or munitions emergency response, if a federal, state, tribal, or local official acting within the scope of his or her official responsibilities or an explosives or munitions emergency response specialist determines that immediate removal of the material or waste is necessary to protect human health or the environment, that official or specialist may authorize the removal of the material or waste by transporters who do not have EPA identification numbers and without the preparation of a manifest. In the case of emergencies involving military munitions, the responding military emergency response specialist's organizational unit shall retain records for three years identifying the dates of the response, the responsible persons responding, the type and description of material addressed, and its disposition;

11. a transporter storing manifested shipments of hazardous waste in containers meeting the requirements of LAC 33:V.1063.A at a transfer facility for a period of 10 days or less;

12. the addition of absorbent material to waste in a container (as defined in LAC 33:V.109) or the addition of waste to absorbent material in a container, provided that these actions occur at the time waste is first placed in the container and LAC 33:V.4321.B.1 and LAC 33:V.Chapter 43, Subchapter H are complied with;

13.universal waste handlers and universal waste transporters (as defined in LAC 33:V.3813) handling the wastes listed below. These handlers are subject to regulation under LAC 33:V.Chapter 38, when handling the following universal wastes:

a. batteries as described in LAC 33:V.3803;

b. pesticides as described in LAC 33:V.3805;

c. mercury-containing equipment as described in LAC 33:V.3807;

d. lamps as described in LAC 33:V.3809;

e. electronics as described in LAC 33:V.3810; and

f. antifreeze as described in LAC 33:V.3811.

E. Facilities having interim status are subject to all applicable federal and state laws and regulations, including these regulations.

F. The requirements of this Chapter apply to owners or operators of all facilities which treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste referred to in LAC 33:V.Chapter 22, and Chapter 22 standards are material conditions or requirements of the LAC 33:V.Chapter 43 interim status standards.

G. Interim status is not available to any facility that has been previously denied a permit for the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste or for which authority to operate has been previously terminated.

H. EPA hazardous waste nos. F020, F021, F022, F023, F026, or F027 shall not be managed at facilities subject to regulation under LAC 33:V.4301-4547 unless:

1. the wastewater treatment sludge is generated in a surface impoundment as part of the plant's wastewater treatment system;

2. the waste is stored in tanks or containers;

3. the waste is stored or treated in waste piles that meet the requirements of LAC 33:V.2301.C as well as all other applicable requirements of LAC 33:V.Chapter 43, Subchapter K;

4. the waste is burned in incinerators that are certified pursuant to the standards and procedures in LAC 33:V.4522; or

5. the waste is burned in facilities that thermally treat the waste in a device other than an incinerator and that are certified pursuant to the standards and procedures in LAC 33:V.4534.

I. Failure to Qualify for Interim Status. If the department has reason to believe upon examination of a part I application that it fails to meet the requirements of these regulations, it shall notify the owner or operator in writing of the apparent deficiency. Such notice shall specify the grounds for the department's belief that the application is deficient. The owner or operator shall have 30 days from receipt to respond to such a notification and to explain or cure the alleged deficiency in his part I application. If, after such notification and opportunity for response, the department determines that the application is deficient, it may take appropriate enforcement action.

J. LAC 33:V.5309 identifies when the requirements of this Chapter apply to the storage of military munitions classified as solid waste under LAC 33:V.5303. The treatment and disposal of hazardous waste military munitions are subject to the applicable permitting, procedural, and technical standards in LAC 33:V.Chapters 1-37, 41-49, and 53.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § V-4301

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Solid and Hazardous Waste, Hazardous Waste Division, LR 10:200 (March 1984), amended LR 10:496 (July 1984), LR 13:84 (February 1987), LR 16:220 (March 1990), LR 17:362 (April 1991), LR 18:1256 (November 1992), LR 20:1000 (September 1994), LR 21:266 (March 1995), amended by the Office of Waste Services, Hazardous Waste Division, LR 24:1743 (September 1998), LR 25:482 (March 1999), amended by the Office of Environmental Assessment, Environmental Planning Division, LR 25:1466 (August 1999), LR 26:2498 (November 2000), LR 27:713 (May 2001), amended by the Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 31:2474 (October 2005), LR 31:3121 (December 2005), LR 32:612 (April 2006), LR 33:2126 (October 2007), LR 34:632 (April 2008), Amended by the office of the Secretary, Legal Division, LR 431146 (6/1/2017), Amended by the Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs and Criminal Investigations Division, LR 4442 (1/1/2018), Amended by LR 46947 (7/1/2020).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq., and specifically R.S. 30:2180 et seq.