Texas Plans January 2022 Effective Date for RCRA Generator Improvements

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has released projected milestone dates for a rulemaking that will adopt three updates to the RCRA hazardous waste regulations—including the landmark Generator Improvements Rule.  

Like most states, Texas is authorized to run its own RCRA hazardous waste program. To keep that authorization, the state must maintain hazardous waste rules that are at least as stringent as the Federal RCRA requirements. 

In addition to re-organizing the RCRA regulations, EPA’s Generator Improvements Rule added stricter management requirements for hazardous waste generators, including but not limited to:

• Expanded contingency plan and emergency preparedness requirements;
• New marking/labeling requirements for hazardous waste containers and tanks;
• A re-notification requirement for large and small quantity generators; and
• Stricter requirements for incompatible wastes in satellite areas.

The GIR also clarified the recordkeeping requirements concerning hazardous waste determinations and added a new exclusion for episodic events that generate hazardous waste (such as lab clean outs or spills).

Under Rule Project 2019-086-WS, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) plans to propose an update rule by the end of July 2021. TCEQ will collect public comments throughout August and publish an official notice of adoption by year’s end.

The projected effective date of the rulemaking is January 6, 2022. 

Be ready when new RCRA rules take effect in Texas! Join an expert instructor when the RCRA & Texas Hazardous and Industrial Waste Management Workshops return to Houston and Dallas in August 2021. 

Also in this Rule Project: HWP and DSW

This rule project will adopt two other recent updates to the hazardous waste regulations as well: EPA’s management standards for hazardous waste pharmaceuticals (HWP) and a revision to the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) made in 2018.

The new standards for HWP prohibited discharge of pharmaceuticals into public sewer systems and created streamlined, mandatory management standards for healthcare facilities and reverse distributors of pharmaceutical hazardous wastes. The restriction on sewer disposal is already in effect nationally.

The Definition of Solid Waste, which impacts recycling provisions for hazardous wastes, was updated in 2018 following a legal challenge to a previous DSW revision made in 2015. In brief, the 2015 rule created new requirements for recycling or reclaiming hazardous secondary materials.

A D.C. Circuit Court later invalidated parts of the 2015 rule, but upheld new containment and contingency planning requirements.

Lion News covered the DSW revisions in more detail in June 2018.

August 2021: Lion Workshops Return to Texas

Be ready when new RCRA rules take effect in Texas! Join an expert instructor when the RCRA & Texas Hazardous and Industrial Waste Management Workshops return to Houston and Dallas in August 2021. 

This in-depth three day training covers the latest requirements for managing your site's waste. It is designed to help satisfy annual training mandates for hazardous waste personnel under 40 CFR 262.17 and 30 TAC 335.69(a)(4)(A). 

Tags: generator improvements rule, hazardous waste, Texas