Texas Adds New RCRA Hazardous Waste Rules

As you probably know if you manage hazardous waste—or if you read Lion News—most states in the US are authorized to create and enforce their own hazardous waste rules. State rules may be unique, but they must be at least as stringent as the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements. So, when US EPA finalizes new Federal RCRA hazardous waste rules, states must implement the new requirements into their own rules to maintain equivalency with Federal standards.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) routinely updates the Texas hazardous and industrial waste rules to reflect changes to State law and Federal RCRA requirements. On May 6, 2016, TCEQ adopted a new Final Rule to bring Texas’ hazardous waste rules up-to-date with Federal RCRA regulations.

The adopted rulemaking initiative updates 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 335 (30 TAC 335) to include mandatory and optional Federal rule changes set forth in parts of RCRA Clusters XXIII and XXIV. Specific parts of RCRA adopted in the latest TCEQ rulemaking include:

• RCRA Checklist 231—authorizing the use of electronic manifests once US EPA establishes a system
• RCRA Checklist 232—revising certain export provisions or cathode ray tubes (CRT)
• RCRA Checklist 233—adding new and revising existing hazardous waste recycling provisions associated with the definition of solid waste and reclamation of hazardous secondary materials in Subtitle C of RCRA.

By adopting all mandatory and optional Federal regulations, the TCEQ remains the primary RCRA enforcement agency in Texas.


TCEQ has also made other miscellaneous changes to 30 TAC 335 to implement State law and correct errors, omissions, and outdated citations. Specifically:

• To implement the requirements of House Bill (HB) 2598, 84th Texas Legislature, 2015 and codified in Texas Health and Safety Code (THSC), §361.040.—steel slag is exempt from regulation as a solid waste if it is not discarded, is introduced into the stream of commerce, and is managed as an item of commercial value.  

Unless challenged, these updated 30 TAC hazardous waste rules will take effect on June 16, 2016.

Master TCEQ and RCRA rules

Stay up to speed with the latest requirements for hazardous waste generators in Texas, including recently added Federal standards, rules for industrial waste, STEERS reporting, and more, when Lion presents Federal and State hazardous waste training in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas this August. 

Tags: hazardous, RCRA, state rules, TCEQ, waste