What Is a HAZWOPER Hazardous Substance?

Environmental and safety regulations intertwine to a point that makes clear answers hard to come by, even for seemingly simple questions.

Hazardous material, hazardous waste, hazardous chemical, hazardous constituent—you can find any of these terms in the Code of Federal Regulations, but none of them alone are the answer to this article’s titular question.

What Is a Hazardous Substance?

The Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard, also known as HAZWOPER, is an OSHA health and safety standard relating to hazardous substance cleanup, treatment, and emergency response.

Funnily enough, to define “hazardous substance” under the HAZWOPER Standard, OSHA simply adopts three of its four parts from other agencies’ “hazardous” materials.

Hazardous Substance, Part 1: CERCLA Substance

Hazardous substances as defined under CERCLA. This is a list that EPA curates to include substances that can damage the environment when released. CERCLA hazardous substances include chemicals such as acetamide, aldrin, benzene, chlorine, and many others. A full list of hazardous substances defined under CERCLA can be found at 40 CFR 302.4

Hazardous Substance, Part 2: Disease-causing Agent

“Biological agents” and “other disease-causing agents.” Exposure to these materials can lead to death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions, or physical deformations. This is the only definition that was not directly adopted from another agency, but you can almost think of these as “things the CDC would care about.”

Hazardous Substance, Part 3: Hazardous Materials

“Hazardous materials” as defined by the US DOT. Anything covered by the DOT’s Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) is subject to HAZWOPER if a cleanup or emergency response needs to take place. This could include materials such as acetone, gasoline, sulfuric acid, and turpentine.

To get a feel for what could be considered hazmat under DOT regulations, you can check out the DOT’s Hazardous Materials Table found at 49 CFR 172.101. In the Hazmat Shipper Starter Guide, Lion details the DOT's hazard classes and divisions in Step 1.

Hazardous Substance, Part 4: Hazardous Waste

“Hazardous waste” as defined by the EPA. Wastes that could endanger humans or the environment have specific rules in terms of managing and disposing of those hazardous wastes. This could include spent xylene, contaminated wastewaters, used acid baths, or unused chemicals being disposed of. The EPA’s criteria for hazardous wastes are found at 40 CFR 261.3.

Online HAZWOPER Training: Convenient and Effective

HAZWOPER training is required if you deal with cleanup, treatment, or emergency response of these substances. Lion's HAZWOPER courses can be completed 100% online, and are designed to help satisfy training mandates for employees subject to OSHA's HAZWOPER Standard at 29 CFR 1910.120.