9 Ways the New EPA Regulation for Solvent-Contaminated Wipes Affect Your Operation
The next time you clean equipment at your printing operation, double check before you throw away the towel! The solvent-contaminated towel, that is. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has passed new hazardous waste regulations that affect the way your operation needs to manage solvent-contaminated wipes.
With little fanfare, the Federal Solvent-Contaminated Wipes Rule took effect January 23, 2013. Our Environmental, Health, and Safety department has been involved with this rule from the beginning and has been closely following its development. They have been keeping members educated and answering question about the new requirements.
Since not all states have yet adopted this rule, you may still have to follow your current state policy, but just about all states will be adopting the new rule during 2014 and into 2015. Its purpose is to provide a minimum uniform set of requirements designed to protect human health and the environment, while providing for operational flexibility. This rule strikes the perfect balance.
The rule allows wipes managed according to the rule can be excluded from hazardous waste regulations, and this means the overall compliance cost for the industry will be reduced.
The bottom line is, if your state has adopted this rule, follow the regulations to be in compliance and save your company money.
Here are the most important facts you need to know about how this new rule can affect your operation.
1. It provides for more uniformity and consistency across the country as each state had its own policy or regulation that had different requirements.
2. It addresses both reusable wipes and disposable wipes. While all state policies and/or regulations addressed reusable wipes, only a couple of the states address disposable ones.
3. The rule reduces the amount of solvents that are released into the environment.
4. As long as reusable wipes are managed according the requirements, they’re completely excluded from regulation as a solid and hazardous waste.
5. The rule also excludes disposable wipes from being regulated as a hazardous waste as long as they are managed according to the requirements and the use of one chemical, trichloroethylene, is avoided.
6. It covers wipes that are used for cleaning equipment and spills. Under the previous rule, wipes used to clean up spills were always regulated as a hazardous waste. Now they are excluded based on the type (reusable or disposable) and if the proper management practices are followed.
7. The EPA has established flexible management and compliance demonstration requirements, which include:
- All containers that store solvent-contaminated wipes must be properly labeled and firmly closed while being collected and sealed when the wipes are being removed from the facility.
- There is a 180-day time limit to remove the wipes from the facility once they are contaminated.
- The wipes must contain “no free liquids” when they are removed from the facility.
- Complete documentation must be kept for all wipe containers with information such as destination facility and how the facility is meeting the accumulation time and the “no free liquids” policy.
8. Even though the EPA issued a national rule, it is considered de-regulatory. That means it will not become effective in any state until all states and territories adopt it.
9. As of January 31, 2014, the rule has already gone into effect in Alaska, Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, and the Virgin Islands. Minnesota said that they do not plan on adopting the rule, as their current rule is more stringent than EPA’s rule.
Printing Industries of America members through their affiliate can click here to access the full article, “Federal Solvent-Contaminated Wipe Rule Provides Regulatory Relief,” from Printing Industries of America: The Magazine Forecast Part 1: Trends and Tactics.
More Resources
New EPA Rules for Solvent Contaminated Wipes (Shop Towels) (Webinar)